{"id":2194,"date":"2017-08-14T14:41:57","date_gmt":"2017-08-14T13:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/copyright.lboro.ac.uk\/students\/?p=2194"},"modified":"2017-08-15T14:41:32","modified_gmt":"2017-08-15T13:41:32","slug":"results-clearing-highs-lows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/students\/arts-english-drama\/results-clearing-highs-lows\/","title":{"rendered":"A-Level results day and clearing – the highs and lows"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re anything like me, the topic of A-Level Results Day<\/a> is one that was strictly off limits to everyone from the middle of June up until the actual day. <\/p>\n

I\u2019d written down every single piece of advice that BuzzFeed could offer, bought a notepad especially dedicated to the contact details of each university and the UCAS hotline number<\/a>, and was heartily sick of promotional emails from universities I\u2019d not even applied for but had been left on their mailing list from when I had been keenly searching courses.<\/p>\n

In the end, my results day experience was actually simpler than I\u2019d imagined. In fact, I\u2019d considered every other possible outcome of the day other than being accepted straight away. But what happens if results day doesn\u2019t quite turn out in the way you had imagined and what are the next steps you need to take?<\/p>\n

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Congratulations<\/h4>\n

I was in a very unique situation as my mum was my Head of Sixth Form (yep, it was awful at points) and she had to request that the results be withheld from her until 8 am on the morning of results day (she usually receives them a day prior). \u00a0I wasn\u2019t allowed in to pick up my results until 9 am so had to go to a friend\u2019s house whilst mum went into school. Whilst there, I checked my UCAS page just to see if anything had changed since 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 am.<\/p>\n

I thought I\u2019d misread it at first when the message flashed up, \u2018Congratulations, your place to study English at Loughborough University<\/a> has been confirmed\u2019. I logged in and out five times before truly accepting that I\u2019d done it! I then rang my mum in tears who had just been about to receive the results herself, but I managed to get to her first and, unashamedly, we both cried quite a lot.<\/p>\n

Collecting the results<\/h4>\n

All that was left then was to go down to school and pick up my results envelope, but it didn\u2019t really matter now; I knew I\u2019d gotten my place. There\u2019s no set time that UCAS updates on results day, the system crashes quite a lot with the pressure of thousands of people trying to log in. Most people know that they\u2019ve achieved their place from UCAS before they pick up their results envelope though.<\/p>\n

There will inevitably be a few people at your sixth form or college that haven\u2019t quite met the grade requirements of their firm choice offer. It is always worth phoning the university to speak to an admissions officer<\/a>, especially if you only just missed out on the requirements. There may be a slight chance that they have not filled all the places on the course you applied for, but unfortunately, it is a case by case basis and no one can guarantee anything until you have those results.<\/p>\n

Clearing – easy and stress-free<\/h4>\n

This happened to my friend Jenni who missed out on her offer by one grade. Despite doing everything she could, unfortunately, her firm choice was unable to offer her a place on the course. I felt awful for her, especially as there were people running around screaming with excitement at their results. She then decided to reject her insurance choice and had to go into Clearing<\/a> on UCAS and have a look at what other courses were available.<\/p>\n

After what must have felt like an age to her, she had a list of universities who would accept her grades and she finally accepted a place at Keele University. She told me later it was the best decision she had ever made and in the end, she was grateful that she had to go through Clearing as she\u2019s now happy at Keele. This is what she had to say about the process:<\/p>\n

\u201cClearing was a daunting experience, but everyone at all the Universities that I phoned were really helpful and reassuring which made the process as easy and stress-free as possible. Although not getting into my first choice university at first seemed heartbreaking, I know clearing was right for me as it helped me to find the perfect university.\u201d<\/p>\n