What is the UK UCAS & UCAS Clearing Service?

Firstly, what is UCAS in the UK?

The University & College Admissions Service, or more commonly known as UCAS, is the United Kingdom’s primary university and college student admissions system. This centralised service is what students in the UK, or wishing to study in the UK, apply through for an undergraduate degree. The UK UCAS Clearing Service forms part of UCAS and is provided as a last attempt to get you on to a course.

The service is fee based and allows you to choose up to five education establishments to study at. In general distance learning and academic institutions that provide online courses, such as Expat College, do not form part of the UK UCAS.

What happens through UCAS?

As a centralised service, once you have completed your application form and submitted it, you then simply wait for your exam results. Each UK University and UK College will have their own course entry criteria. If you get the grades required and meet the entry criteria, you will receive a placement through UCAS for the academic course.

What if I don’t get the academic grades?

If you do not get the required grades, don’t panic! There are always solutions and other courses to apply for. Sometimes, the original academic course you applied for, may still even offer you a placement. Your first point of call should be to contact the universities or colleges you applied for to confirm whether or not they’ll accept you onto their academic course.

If they do not, then you will have the opportunity to enter into the UK UCAS Clearing Service and find a relevant course this way.

What is the UK UCAS Clearing Service?

UCAS clearing is designed to allow students without university or college placements to apply for university and college placements that are still available. Available academic courses may be due to low demand, or few students managed to obtain the entry grades – there could be numerous reasons why.

UK UCAS clearing is available from the 5^th July until 21^st October. You may apply for clearing after the 30^th June and if you did not receive a formal university of college placement offer in the United Kingdom.

You may also apply to go through the UK UCAS Clearing Service if you rejected any offers made to you and find yourself without a study course, or you failed to meet the conditions set out in your original informal conditional offer. To apply simply use the UCAS system to find a relevant study course at a UK university or college that interests you.

Expat College recommends you contact the UK University or UK College of choice to enquire about the study course you want, whether they’d be willing to make you an offer, and to find out more information about the academic institution, the course and any requirements.

Need to boost your qualifications?

Often students unfortunately do not get onto the academic courses they desire and this could be due to many reasons, including inadequate experience or grades. An online course can sometimes help immensely to bolster your applications attractiveness. Online courses show commitment to your desired field, and distance learning especially helps in allowing you to fit your study around other commitments.

Use Expat College to compare UK online distance learning courses that are offered by various online colleges in the United Kingdom – you can also view their durations, costs and academic level. Making sure the course you choose counts towards your UCAS credits. Ultimately, it’ll always add value to your application and curriculum vitae.

Expat College provides loads of informative How-to guides, so have a look today.