Levitate Student: August! Clearing & Adjustment Plan

A' level results are pending.

What many do not realise is that half of A' Level students do not get the results they were hoping for, while some of course will perform better than predicted. However given this scope for results differing from those anticipated, few prospective higher education students have a contingency plan for results day. 

Results day means potential for everything to change. Better grades could bring opportunities to consider institutions that may have seemed out of reach, lower than expected results brings different opportunities, but opportunities none the less. 

Its worth thinking about what you might do if.......

Universities take results day very seriously and most have crack teams of staff on hand all day from early hours on results day and through the following weeks until their courses are full. It is a stressful time for university staff to negotiate around the changes while dealing with anxious enquiries from worried/hopeful students.

Here a first year higher education student tells of his experience from A' Level results day 2015.....

I woke early, it's not easy to sleep in on the day your future gets decided right? Rewind a bit to my three university choices - by the time August came I had changed my mind about my second choice university, I knew I no longer wanted to go there, so my hopes, I thought were all pinned on my first choice university. I felt I had done okay in my exams - you never can tell though can you?

On the morning I logged onto my sixth from college student portal at 7 am and collected my result. It took me about ten minutes to slowly work out what I was looking at - my doomed future or so I thought. I was very sleepy so it really took some effort to compute that the results on screen were not what I had been relying on for my first choice uni. The problem was in my main subject I had done very badly in one paper - so while getting A's in the others my overall mark was lower than predicted. 

I didn't have the conditional grades to secure a place at my first choice uni -  I felt defeated. I spoke to my parents who were typical in saying all the right things about my results being very good if not what I had expected. They encouraged me to make an early call to my first choice university which I did. The staff member confirmed that my grades would not secure my place, they were great an guided me to call back if I asked for my paper to be remarked etc.

I had an offer from my second choice university but I didn't want to accept. My third choice had asked for a higher grade in my main subject - I called them and they quickly replied to say they too would still be happy to offer me a place.

Still I felt I had failed - but my mum reminded me that I had 3 good A' Level results and just had two university offers before breakfast!! 

Get over it! 

I headed into college to talk to teachers especially about the low grade paper. Mum stayed home looking at what unis were offering spaces on courses of my preferred subject through clearing. She made a list. 

When I returned from college we chatted and I decided to stick with my third choice university. My parents had always liked this one anyway for location, reputation and facilities. I phoned the uni clearing line back and told them I was happy to accept their offer.

The scary bit was having to decline the offer on UCAS from my second choice university. This was needed so that my third choice could make a formal offer. It felt strange on the strength of the phone call taking this step. However the verbal offer was backed up later with an email from the university.

I felt nervous but determined and soon I was coming to terms with the shift and feeling comfortable with it. I didn't have an accommodation place secured and was left with the option of finding a private rented or waiting until freshers week to see if a space in hall would come available. I attended an accommodation Meet and Greet session and meet another student who was in the same situation. We swapped numbers and agreed to go searching for accommodation together. We found a shared rented house along with two other first years so it all worked out okay. I liked it as my room was massive compared with hall - the only downside was being off campus especially in the early weeks.

There was no problem with Student Finance England - I just let them know of the change of circumstances, no hassle, no need to reapply - easy!

Really......now I can't imagine being anywhere else. I enjoyed my first year, made some great friends and am now looking forward to my second year sharing new accommodation with other students from my course.

Looking back I do wish I had thought ahead of results day about what I might want to do rather than just cross my fingers and hope for the best. However the support I got from parents, schools and in particular the university staff made it all okay. 

So embrace the day what ever it brings - uncross your fingers, think ahead, seek help and advice.

For more information visit UCAS Clearing