By Izzy, studying BA French and Spanish
Just go for it!
The university clearing and adjustment processes gives students a second chance, whether you have just missed the grades needed for your firm or insurance university offers, if you are reconsidering applying to university in general or even if you have exceeded your previous predicted grades.
After much anticipation for results day, it can be extremely disappointing to find out that you haven’t achieved the grades you needed to meet your offers. With emotions running high, this is one of the hardest parts of the clearing process. It can be daunting to decide big decisions all within a few hours. The first thing to remember is to be kind to yourself. You have worked hard for your results and not reaching your university offer is not the end of the world. Take a deep breath and understand that you have not let anyone down. It’s important to know that browsing through your options on clearing and even accepting a place at another university through clearing does not undermine your work and revision!
Try not to get too disappointed and keep a clear head. The best piece of advice I can give is to just go for it.
Your university experience will be defined by what you put into it, no matter where you go.
I wish someone had told me to take some deep breaths and try to keep a clear head. Ultimately accepting a place through clearing will not change your university experience at all and most importantly your process to get to university is completely confidential and it’s your decision who you share this with! Accepting a position through clearing will not change your academic or social experience at university.
The clearing process exists for a reason, to give students a second chance to attend university that year and accepting the offer from the University of Exeter is one of the best decisions I made. I was told by family and friends that although Exeter wasn’t my first choice it was a great option to have through clearing and I made sure that the course was what I wanted to do before applying. It was definitely the right choice to go through clearing, rather than take an unplanned year out or to even consider resitting my exams! If you are unsure, try a pros and cons list for all of your options and I’m sure you will find a clear winner. I found the clearing process straightforward once I had made my decision and was so relieved to be going to a university with my age cohort.