Confirmation and Clearing

Once you have an applicant's exam results and any other required information, you can make conditional offers unconditional, or reject them.

This process is known as Confirmation.

If an applicant is rejected at Confirmation (or they apply after 30 June), they enter Clearing.

Confirming or rejecting offers

Most conditional offers are based on GCE and SQA summer exam results, so the Confirmation timetable is geared to their publication dates.
Where results are available earlier, for example after a winter exam or BTEC award, offers can be confirmed as soon as you know the results.
Please make decisions on applications as quickly as possible after receipt of summer results, and always by the date notified by us.
If the applicant has fulfilled the conditions – you must confirm the offer (make it unconditional).
If the conditions have not been met – you may reject the applicant. But, you can still confirm the original offer or make an offer for an alternative course if you wish.
An Outstanding Decisions List is available eight days after we pass on GCE results to you.

We collect some exam results centrally and send them to you before the official publication date – see the Sending exam results page.
You need to obtain all other results direct from the applicants. We advise applicants to send the results of all other exams to you as soon as they are published.

Applicants are eligible for Clearing if they have no offers, applied after 30 June, or they decline their place to release themselves into Clearing.
Applicants don’t need to contact us to request entry into Clearing. If they're eligible, a Clearing Number and 'Add Clearing choice' button will be displayed in their application – they use this to apply for a course.
Vacancies will be listed on ucas.com, and on provider websites. Applicants contact providers to discuss course vacancies.
If an applicant is offered a place they want to accept, they enter the provider and course details in their application. (Only courses that have vacancies can be entered.)
Applicants who do not have access to their application can phone us on 0371 468 0 468.
Applicant details are sent to the Clearing choice and a decision is made – accept or unsuccessful.
If an unsuccessful decision is received the applicant can add another choice.