Ucas Clearing 2026: How it works and what to do if you don’t get A-level grades you wanted

Hundreds of thousands of students will get their A-level results today, finding out their final grades after two years of hard work.For those students who have applied for university, these results will determine whether they will secure their preferred university choice, the insurance choice or if they have unfortunately missed out on them.If this is the case, there are many options still available. The most important to know is clearing: the process by which students can still get themselves onto a great university course at short notice.There are over 30,000 courses available through clearing, giving around 77,000 students a space to study last year alone. These courses span across the UK, include many subjects and are available at both Russell Group and non-Russell Group universities.C