Erin's Clearing Story: Finding a New Home in Chester

My experience of Clearing started when I didn’t get the grades at A-levels that I had hoped for and needed for my first choice university. I had gotten into my second choice, but on reflection I didn’t feel happy with going there, so after some thought I declined this offer and started looking at Clearing options. I already knew which course I wanted to study and had decided I didn’t want to be too far away from where I was from and where my family live. These two factors narrowed down my options. I then looked on the UCAS website and used the filters on the search engine on there to find where there were places available for the courses I wanted to do.

After a few searches, I found a couple of options for universities I was interested in. I then researched these options to find out more about the specifics of the courses, the universities and the cities they are in. I decided that the main university I was interested in was The University of Chester. One of the ways I found out more about the University and also the Clearing process was first to visit the University website, specifically the Clearing page and by calling the Clearing phone line where they were able to answer any questions I had, the number for which can be found on the University of Chester website.

I decided that before I fully committed to coming to the University of Chester that I would like to visit. Universities often hold Visit Days specifically for Clearing students to attend. I toured the relevant campuses, where I was able to get a feel for the University and see where my lectures would be held. It was also a good way to speak to current students, to find out more about their experiences and lecturers to find out more about the course subjects that are taught.

I also looked at the different accommodations both at the University as well as the partnership accommodation. The process was very easy. I then contacted a few accommodations over the phone and did internet research on them and decided on partnership accommodation. I then booked the accommodation online and moved in at the same time as everyone else.

On the Visit Day, I also took the opportunity to visit the city where the University is located. This gave me a chance to see what the city is like which is very important as fundamentally you will spend a lot of time not just in the University and on its campuses but also in the city.

After visiting, I accepted my Clearing offer at the University of Chester. Once I had accepted the offer I felt so much relief and was finally excited to start university knowing I had made the right choice of university for me.

Overall, the process of Clearing was surprisingly easy. Throughout the whole process, I kept a close eye on my UCAS and called the Clearing line at the University whenever I had questions about anything to get quick answers easily.

In hindsight, I have enjoyed my time at university, it has been a really interesting experience where I have done so many things I never would have expected to have done. I really love the city of Chester, as it has such a homely vibe, and I am so glad I chose to come to university here and live here.

If you’re considering Clearing, head to the Clearing section on our website, where you’ll find lots of useful information about the process.