Applying to university can be daunting, not only for the students, but for their parents too. The fear of rejection, having to wipe tears when they don’t get into their first choice university, or get the grades they’d worked so hard for; it’s a nerve-wracking experience for the whole family.
Maybe they didn’t get the grades they’d hoped for, or maybe they didn’t get into the university they’d been planning to go to ever since they were a kid. Thankfully, UCAS Clearing offers students a second chance. Courses open for clearing on the 2nd July 2026 and close on the 19th October 2026. This means that any university that has not filled the places on their courses, will usually lower the entry requirements and give more students the opportunity to study there.
Same course, lower requirements
In some cases, this means that if a university’s original entry requirements were AAA for the course your child wanted to do, but your child didn’t meet those requirements, the course may reopen during clearing with lower entry requirements, such as ABB. This basically offers a second chance for those who maybe didn’t quite meet the grades they needed.
Similar/same course, different university
However, Clearing does not open for every course at every university. Therefore, it may be a case that the course your child wanted to study at one university is not open to Clearing, but the exact same (or a very similar) course may be available at a different university.
Obviously, this can often be disheartening at first, but it is important to remind your child that they will come out with the same degree no matter where they study. And who knows, the university they end up in might actually be where they belonged the whole time, they just didn’t know it yet!
Other options
It is definitely a stressful time for the whole family, but UCAS Clearing offers so many options, and it’s definitely important to give everywhere a chance, even if it's not what you had hoped for. Plenty of students get into university through clearing and end up having the best years of their life!
At the same time, your child can also choose to defer and try again next year if they don't find a course that suits them.
The main thing to remember:
So all in all, don’t get disheartened; keep the encouragement coming, because although your child may be disappointed at the time, it will all work out in the end! You should be so proud of your child for getting here, and proud of yourself for raising such amazing children! They’ve got this, and so do you!
Next steps
To make sure you're ahead of the curve, after finding and selecting a university course, the next part is figuring out student accommodation.
