Parent and supporters' guide to Clearing
Clearing 2024

• Make a list of the courses (and UCAS codes) they are interested in.

If the person you are supporting is considering a course but doesn’t have the required subject A levels (or equivalent qualifications), check if we offer a with Foundation Year option.

If they are from outside the UK and don’t have British or equivalent qualifications to go directly onto a degree, our International Foundation Programme can provide them with a pathway to do so. You can check eligibility by country.

• Encourage them to set up a UCAS account if they don’t have one already. A UCAS account is needed to accept an offer made via Clearing, so creating one in advance will save time and stress.
• If you have questions about what it’s like to study with us, chat with a current Reading student or ask us a question if you want to contact our Recruitment and Admissions teams directly.

Students who receive their final results on Results Day will find out if their Firm choice university has confirmed their place with them.

If their Firm choice university is unable to confirm their place, they will be released to take up their Insurance place.

If their Insurance choice is also unable to confirm their place, they will be released into Clearing.

Many students choose to enter Clearing to explore other options. Clearing allows them to apply to universities that still have places available on courses after results are released.

**We will not be accepting Clearing applications until 08:00 on Thursday 15 August.

From 12:00pm on 9 August until 8:00 on 15 August the Admissions Office will be closed for enquiries while we process results from UCAS.**

When the person you are supporting receives their final results they can apply to us by two ways:

• Call us on our Clearing hotline number +44 (0) 118 402 0900
• Complete our online application form

Please wait until they have their final results (A levels/BTECs/IB and GCSEs or equivalent) as we won't be able to process applications without them.

If applying by phone, we would ideally like to talk to the applicant themselves, as this will be easiest for us to confirm their details. We are bound by all applicable Data Protection laws so may not be able to talk to you unless they give us permission to do so.

To accept an offer from us, they will need to:

1. Sign into your UCAS account. If you have not yet registered with UCAS, you will need to do so.
2. Your application status will say You are in Clearing or Clearing has started. If you are already Firm at another institution, you will need to decline your Firm place before your status changes.
3. Go to Your Choices and click Add Clearing choice. Enter the University of Reading Institution code R12 and your UCAS course code (which will be in the offer email we send you). If the course code doesn’t appear, select Other and manually type in the course code.
4. Your status will now show under Waiting for decisions with the status text The university or college is currently considering your application (Referred). The Referred status confirms you want to take your place with us and you’ve done everything you need to do for now. It will display as Referred for a few days while we verify your results, and then it will update to Unconditional.
5. Once your status is Unconditional, you will receive an email to apply for accommodation. This can take up to a week, so please be patient.

They will need to accept their offer by the deadline stated in their offer email. If they don’t accept their offer by then, it will expire. They’ll then need to call us back so that we can check if there are still places available and whether we can re-issue their offer.

Visit us

• Get a feel for living and studying at Reading on our Virtual Experience Hub. Explore our campuses, view inside departmental buildings, facilities, and accommodation using our 360-degree tours, or watch one of our students show you around.
• You are welcome to visit our campus on a self-guided tour and explore our award-winning Whiteknights campus. Please note this is an outdoor experience and you will not have access to any University buildings.
• Check out the local area. Reading is a vibrant and diverse community. As a central train hub to the southwest, southeast, midlands, and London, our students find travelling home or to other parts of the UK really convenient.

Learn more on our Open Days and visiting the University pages

Accommodation

If the person you are supporting applies to the University of Reading and is offered a place on a course from 15 August, we will be able to offer a room to some of our main Clearing applicants, but we cannot guarantee accommodation to all.

If the person you are supporting applies to the University of Reading and is offered a place in Clearing between 5 July and 7 August, they are guaranteed accommodation if they need it.

Student Finance England (SFE)

If the person you are supporting gets a place through Clearing and hasn’t yet applied for a student loan, don’t worry. They can apply via the SFE online service. Please note that there is a different process if they’re a student from Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland, so be sure to check with their relevant student finance authority.

Remind them to check their email

Email is how we’ll contact them with information about their application and next steps. They can also log onto Me@Reading Applicant to find lots of useful information about the start of term, Welcome Week, and updates from their department.