Confirmation and Clearing
When applicants reply to conditional offers and hold conditional firm (CF) or insurance (CI) choices, they're then waiting for Confirmation – the process of considering exam results to make a final decision on accepting or rejecting the applicant. Alternatively, Clearing is the final opportunity for applicants not holding a place, to be considered by providers who still have courses available.
Confirmation decisions
There are three Confirmation decisions that can be entered, and providers can also request more time to consider the applicants.
Here are your Confirmation options, depending on an applicant's current situation.
What these decisions mean
- Unconditional – confirms that the applicant has been accepted with no changes to their offer
- Unconditional Change at Confirmation – the offer of a place with changes to the course, date of entry or point of entry. To accept the place the applicant must firmly accept the new offer
- Reject – the applicant has been unsuccessful
- Stops – these can be recorded to prevent applicants, awaiting conditions of their offer, from being rejected by default in September (further details on the timing of these can be found in the admissions calendar)
- Delayed Confirmation decisions – these can be recorded against applicants who won't receive their exam results by the RBD at the end of October
- Reason(s) for pending confirmation – these can be added to conditional offers to explain to the applicant which information is outstanding in order for the provider to make a confirmation decision (New for 2024 entry)
What happens next?
If a conditional firm applicant has met the offer conditions
The provider is committed to confirming the applicant’s place on the course with the year of entry and point of entry they accepted.
Decision and reply – unconditional firm (UF)
- Applicants who are required to confirm their intention to attend the course will have 14 days to respond.
- When the applicant becomes UF any insurance choice will be declined.
If a conditional firm applicant hasn't met the conditions
Providers have three options.
- If they wish, the provider can confirm the applicants place on the course with the same year of entry and point of entry they accepted.
Decision and reply – unconditional firm
Applicants who are required to confirm their intention to attend the course will have 14 days to respond. - You can make the applicant an unconditional offer with a change to the course, year of entry or point of entry, or a combination of these.
Decision and reply – Unconditional Change at Confirmation (UCC)
The applicant will be notified of the changes to the offer in their application. The time applicants have to reply varies, but they will have between five and 21 days to confirm whether they wish to accept or decline the place. Their application, and web-link, will confirm exactly how long they have to reply If they accept the place their status will change to UCCF. - You can reject the applicant.
Decision and reply – Unsuccessful (REJ)
The applicant will be advised they've been unsuccessful, and will either await their decision at their insurance choice if they have one – or apply elsewhere through Clearing
If a conditional firm applicant is still awaiting exam results
If the exam results are due to be published after late October, you can enter a Delayed Confirmation decision to prevent the applicant being rejected by default.
Decision and reply – Delayed Confirmation (DCF) decision
The applicant will be notified of this in their application. Applicants will be rejected by default if you don't enter a Confirmation accept or reject before the DCF RBD date, usually in December.
If a conditional insurance applicant has met the offer conditions
The provider is committed to confirming the applicant’s place on the course with the year of entry and point of entry they accepted.
Decision and reply – unconditional insurance (UI)
- The applicant will become unconditional firm with you if their original firm choice enters an unsuccessful decision or offers them a Change at Confirmation offer which the applicant declines.
- Applicants who are required to confirm their intention to attend the course will have 14 days to respond.
If a conditional insurance applicant hasn't met the conditions
Providers have three options.
- If they wish, the provider can confirm the applicants place on the course with the same year of entry and point of entry they accepted.
Decision and reply – unconditional insurance (UI)
The applicant will become unconditional firm with you if their original firm choice enters an unsuccessful decision or offers them a Change at Confirmation offer which the applicant declines. Applicants who are required to confirm their intention to attend the course will have 14 days to respond. - You can make the applicant an unconditional offer with a change to the course, year of entry or point of entry.
Decision and reply – Unconditional Change at Confirmation (UCC)
The applicant will only be able to accept this offer if they are rejected or declined a Change at Confirmation offer at their firm choice. - You can reject the applicant.
Decision and reply – Unsuccessful (REJ)
If the applicant is rejected or declines a Change at Confirmation offer at their original firm choice, they will be eligible for Clearing.
If an unconditional insurance applicant doesn't get their firm choice
If they're rejected or decline a Change at Confirmation offer at their firm choice, you're committed to providing the applicant a place.
- You don't need to do anything.
- The applicant will become unconditional firm with you if their firm choice enters an unsuccessful decision or offers them a Change at Confirmation offer which the applicant declines.
- Applicants who are required to confirm their intention to attend the course will have 14 days to respond.
Replying to Unconditional Change at Confirmation offers (UCC)
This time period is gradually reduced from 21 days throughout Confirmation and Clearing to five days. If you're unsure about a reply by date, look at the individual applicant’s record in web-link. The date will be displayed there for each applicant.
Information is sent out in July in provider bulletins to inform you of the timescale for replying to UCC Change at Confirmation offers, as extra days are given for offers made during the embargo periods when the application is suspended for updates.
UCC Confirmation decisions and applicant replies
Conditional firm offer with no insurance offer
Provider's Confirmation decision – from CF to UCC
The applicant can:
- accept UCC and go UCCF
- decline UCC and go into Clearing
Conditional firm offer with an unconditional insurance
Provider's Confirmation decision – from CF UI to UCC UI
The applicant can:
- accept UCC and go UCCF
- decline UCC to go UF at insurance choice
Provider's Confirmation decision – from CF UI to UF UCC
Awaiting Confirmation decision from firm choice. Applicant must wait for CF choice to update – if CF goes to UF, applicant will be placed there and UCC offer is no longer available.
Conditional firm with a conditional insurance
Provider's Confirmation decision – from CF CI to UCC UCC
The applicant can:
- choose which UCC offer to accept (the other offer will be declined)
- decline both offers to go into Clearing
Provider's Confirmation decision – from CF CI to UF UCC
The applicant is placed at their firm choice, so UCC offer at insurance is no longer available
It's your responsibility to contact:
- our Customer Success Team to explain the error that has been made
- the admissions contact at the insurance provider, if there is one, to advise of your error. Close to C&C we’ll also publish a list of Confidential Clearing contacts for you to use
- the applicant, to provide an explanation of the error and the action being taken to correct it – however, they must not be contacted until after results day and you must be certain that they've received their results
- our Customer Success Team again to explain the action agreed between yourself, the applicant and the insurance choice (if applicable)
What to do for these errors
CF choice accepted in error on either side of the embargo
Although you should honour the place, UCAS is unable to advise the provider about its obligation to the applicant. It's for the provider to resolve the situation with the applicant.
If the applicant agrees the offer can be corrected, you must contact the Customer Success Team to change the choice back to conditional firm, to allow you to confirm that they have been unsuccessful.
In this circumstance, even if the conditions of the insurance choice have been met or exceeded, the provider doesn't have to accept the applicant. In fact, the place may have already been given to another applicant, based on the place being confirmed at the firm choice.
CF choice rejected but applicant has met or exceeded conditions
You should accept the applicant. After you have contacted the applicant and the insurance provider, UCAS can change the choice back to conditional firm so you can confirm the place as unconditional.
The insurance provider isn't obliged to accept the applicant. If the applicant agrees not to take up the place with yourselves, you must contact the Customer Success Team to either:
- enter the applicant into Clearing if there's no insurance choice, or the insurance provider is unable to accept them
- accept the applicant on an alternative course
CI choice rejected in error
If the applicant hasn't been confirmed as unconditional at their firm choice, either because they've been unsuccessful or received a Change at Confirmation offer that they've declined, you should confirm their place. After you have contacted the applicant, UCAS can change the choice back to conditional so you can confirm the place as unconditional.
If the applicant agrees not to take up the place, you must contact the Customer Success Team to either:
- enter the applicant into Clearing
- accept the applicant on an alternative course
Errors made during the embargo periods
For errors made when processing Confirmation decisions during the SQA and JCQ embargoes, the self-serve unpicking facility is available in web-link for all Primary Correspondents, and users having editing capabilities.
Any errors made during the embargoes, and subsequently unpicked, will not be seen by applicants.
Some scenarios, however, are not covered by the self-serve facility. Please check our self-serve unpicks web page for more details of availability timings and scenarios.
Withdrawals
Once an applicant is holding a confirmed place, they can no longer completely withdraw their application.
Providers can use the Confirmation withdrawal to withdraw the entire application for any applicant who no longer wishes to attend the course or continue through Clearing to obtain a place elsewhere. We'll send an email (AS5A) to the applicant to confirm the withdrawal.
What if you're not sure?
If you don't know whether the applicant wants to completely withdraw or continue through Clearing, you should use the Release into Clearing transaction.
If you want to give an applicant an offer
- university or college name
- university or college code
- course name
- campus
- start date
- start year
You may want to give them a deadline – although you shouldn't put undue pressure on to them to accept. And before you submit an acceptance you should use the applicant's Clearing number in web-link to check their eligibility. You can also access their application in web-link. You can use a Clearing Form Request (RQ) to receive a digital copy form if required.
Once an applicant has referred themselves to you, their record will appear on the Outstanding Clearing Decision list in web-link.
The Clearing process
1. Applicant checks search tool for Clearing vacancies
Courses with vacancies will be displayed in the UCAS search tool, and available for applicants to apply through Clearing.
If you need any help with course vacancies, please contact our Data Collection Team.
2. Applicant contacts providers to discuss vacancies
- You can establish if an applicant is in Clearing by asking for their Clearing number.
- You can view their application in web-link by entering the applicant’s Personal ID.
- You must select ‘All’ to search for an applicant who applied to other providers.
3. Provider considers the applicant
- You may wish to view evidence of the qualifications they hold before offering a provisional place.
- A digital copy form will be available to providers who request them (RQ transaction).
- This will be available the next working day provided the applicant has referred themselves by 18:00.
4. Provider makes the applicant a provisional offer and gives them:
- permission to enter the provider code and UCAS application code to enter in the application
- a date by which time they must add the course as a Clearing choice if they wish to accept the offer
- a reasonable length of time to add the choice, bearing in mind the embargo periods when the application is unavailable
5. The applicant decides which offer to accept
- If they have received more than one provisional offer, and adds the course details in their application.
- Applicants referred to you in Clearing will show on the Outstanding Clearing Decisions management information list in web-link.
6. Provider either accepts (Clearing Acceptance) or rejects (Clearing Reject) the applicant
- If rejected the applicant is free to apply elsewhere in Clearing.
Releasing applicants into Clearing
Despite holding an unconditional firm (UF) place or being accepted through Clearing (CLA) and therefore being committed to a provider, we know a number of applicants want to seek or take up a place at another provider.
So we recognise there may be circumstances that could justify an applicant taking up a place elsewhere without following the accepted procedure of withdrawing from the scheme and reapplying the following year.
How the release procedure works
The release procedure can only be used for applicants who are UF, UCCF or CLA
Providers should not use a Confirmation Reject decision, as this will update the insurance choice to UF. Even if the applicant wants to go to their insurance choice, the release procedure should be followed.
How to release an applicant into Clearing
If you agree to release an applicant you should send a Release into Clearing transaction. A reason for release should be included.
On receipt of the Release into Clearing transaction, we will set the applicant’s record to UD (Unconditional offer, declined) to enable the Clearing number to be produced. Electronic data confirming the release will be made available to the releasing provider.
Applicants are also able to release themselves into Clearing by clicking the 'decline my place’ button in their application. This option will only be available to them once they have a confirmed place (UF/UCCF/CLA). . They're then taken to a page which explains what they’re about to do, with a drop-down list of questions they complete, before confirming.
Release into Clearing reasons
- R1 financial hardship
- R2 personal (for example, death of a relative or other strong personal reason)
- R3 significant changes to the course at the UF provider (for example, discontinued or changed in content)
- R4 sponsorship or scholarship award
- R5 other
- R6 change of level of qualification
- R7 change of subject area to be studied
- R8 wish to defer
- R9 transfer to another provider
- RZ online self-release into Clearing