Clearing advice for parents and carers

Clearing can be stressful for both you and your young person. What if they don't get the grades they expected? What if they didn't apply to a university but would now like to?

The support and guidance of a parent or carer can really help prospective students to make the life-changing decision to go to university – here’s everything you need to know about Clearing and the support available to you.

Register your details with us and we'll send out useful and timely information that will help you to support your young person through the Clearing process.

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Your young person may need to go through Clearing if:

they haven’t got a place at their firm and insurance choices
they've changed their mind about what or where they want to study
they didn't apply to university before receiving their results, and are now assessing their options
they've done even better than expected and want to explore new opportunities.

They can apply through Clearing as soon as they get their results and they have either:

not met the conditions of their firm and insurance choices, or;
changed their mind about where or what they want to study, or;

Once they have their results, they can apply by calling our Clearing hotline or by completing our online application form.

It’s important that they make their Clearing application themselves. We are unable to discuss their application with you or anyone else, as this would breach the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Our how to apply through Clearing page will help them to understand the process of applying through Clearing at NTU.

Parents and student at offer holder open day

It's important to consider all practicalities if they are considering applying to a university through Clearing. Before Clearing opens, help them to research the courses, the universities, and the cities they're considering and look over the options together.

When it comes to applying, ensure they take the time to make an informed decision rather than accepting the first offer they receive. The decision doesn’t need to be immediate.

There are many useful websites available to help inform their decision, including WhatUni and The Student Room.

Each university's accommodation is different, but our Accommodation team will be there to help find their new home from home. This may be in university-owned halls of residence, a residence run by our partner providers or private companies, or accredited shared housing.

After receiving an offer from NTU, they can request accommodation online. Visit our how to book accommodation pages for more information.

If your young person has applied already for student finance, they will need to update their student finance application with their chosen course and university. If they haven’t applied yet, they can find out more at the student finance website.

See the UCAS advice pages on Clearing for more information.