Zuzanna’s Clearing Story: From Poland to the University of Chester

Why Chester?

July 2020, the middle of the pandemic, chaos, lockdown. All of a sudden everything seems more complicated and stressful, what a time to be going through a university application process!

I have always known I wanted to study abroad, but because of Brexit I could not take a gap year – if I wanted to pursue the dream of studying in England, the decision had to be made now. So, I spent the next weeks researching options and looking for the university that would be the one for me. Finally, two institutions appeared on my ‘final choice’ list, one of them was University of Chester. I sent an email to the Clearing team (clearing@chester.ac.uk) and so my journey began.

The Process

Checking my emails now, I can see that the Clearing team came back to me the next day with all the information I needed. I applied for the BA (Hons) Acting course, so apart from the personal statement and other documents, I had to prepare two monologues to go with my application. I had a few questions about them and the clock was ticking, so I decided to call this time. I do not remember much from the call other than the person who answered was lovely and helpful. My application was sent off the very next day. Now all I had to do was wait for the Department of Music, Media and Performance to decide whether to offer me a place and then pass the University’s English language test (the pandemic meant I could not take an IELTS as I originally planned). The next week was filled with me constantly checking my email and googling information about Chester. I have been to the UK before, but not Chester itself, so I was curious and excited (maybe a little bit nervous). One day, as I was doing my daily email check I noticed an email from University of Chester – I got the place! I quickly confirmed and booked a time slot for the University of Chester English Language Test (UoCELT) via a link sent to me by the International Centre (international@chester.ac.uk). The test was on Skype and consisted of four parts: speaking, listening, reading and writing. The tutor who led my test was friendly and it did not feel like an official exam at all! I finished the test feeling confident and happy – I passed!

Accommodation

Everything was set, all that was left was the accommodation. I definitely knew that I did not want to rent a studio as I wanted to meet people and living by myself in a pandemic and possible lockdown sounded very lonely to me. I started looking for rooms in student houses. I joined the Facebook accommodation group and found a house close to the Creative Campus, Kingsway that had a spare room. All the other flatmates were girls, which was important to me. They all turned out to be lovely people and we became good friends even before I moved in.

Final Thoughts

Clearing sounded like a complex and stressful process and I imagine it could sometimes be like that! Luckily, University of Chester had an amazing Clearing team that made my experience as easy as possible. I would say that if you consider applying to university through clearing, do not be afraid to ask questions – there are people there to help you.

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