Clearing University of Leicester makes hundreds of offers

Clearing and Adjustment Hotline:
 UK Students: 0116 373 6000
International/EU Students: +44 (0)116 223 1888
Confirmation: 0116 252 2222

Visit www.le.ac.uk/clearing for more information.

More than 7,600 calls have been made to the University of Leicester's Clearing numbers.

The lines opened at 6.30am on Thursday 18th August. This year, the number of advisers able to make offers during the Thursday morning peak period has been increased by nearly 30%. "We're doing everything we can to ensure that we can talk to as many well qualified students as possible," said Director of Marketing and Student Recruitment Dr Tracy Carlton. "A specialist adviser team is being introduced this year who will make decisions on applicants with more complex profiles, for example, a mixture of BTECs and A-levels. This will free up the lines in the main call centre."

For two years in a row, the University of Leicester has been voted the most affordable student destination in the UK. That affordability, combined with Leicester's ranking as one of the top 1% of universities worldwide, is believed to have been the catalyst for the 5,700 calls which were made to the university's Clearing hotline last year as well as the 7,000 visitors to the university's Clearing website.

Since 6:30am, more than 7,600 calls have been made to the University of Leicester hotlines and more than 1,300 offers have been given out. The university has received a 25% increase in calls in comparison to last year's Clearing. (Last updated: 16:20, 18 Aug 2016)

Following a recent government announcement, the University of Leicester confirmed that students starting undergraduate courses at the university in September will not be affected by inflation on their tuition fees. The annual tuition fee for new students joining this September will remain at £9,000 for all years of full-time, campus based study.

What to do when you get your results

You might feel disappointed that you didn't get the grades that you were looking for, or you could be elated that you've done far better than was predicted. Either way, there's no need to panic: If you've got your results and they weren't what you expected, here's a helpful guide from staff and students at the University of Leicester to help you work out what to do next.

Please call our admissions hotline on 0116 373 6000 or email admissions@le.ac.uk if you have already received your results, would like further advice, or have any questions at all about Clearing and Adjustment. More information available at www.le.ac.uk/clearing.

Get a place and really go places

Last year, the university recruited more than 600 students through Clearing - roughly 1 in every 4 students.

University of Leicester Provost and Pro-Vice Chancellor for Access, Recruitment and Transition, Professor Mark Peel, leads the decisions about entry grades during Clearing: “[Clearing] allows us to actually run a process of offering students places based on what we know about their actual achievements and that actually helps the student be much more certain about what they want to do.”

"For us, it's a very exciting day because we're hearing from thousands of students who are interested and excited and keen to think about the kind of university they want to come to...I think it's really important for current applicants to reflect on the fact that universities are really keen to hear from them," he added.

Tara Smith-Shelton got her place at Leicester via Clearing in 2012. She says that she couldn't have been happier about receiving an offer: "I'd been so downhearted by the fact that I hadn't achieved what I wanted and then for me to come out the other side with an offer was amazing and it turned out for the best..." Now a graduate, Tara is staying on at the University of Leicester to study a PGCE.

During the peak period of Clearing phone calls, BBC Radio Leicester's Dale Neal came to the university to interview Professor Peel and Tara Smith-Shelton.

Ben Hart is a 3rd year Sociology student. After not achieving the grades that he was expecting at A-level, he said that he was "elated" to be offered a place at university: "I ended up studying at a better place than I would have been in the first place!"

Throughout his four years at the University of Leicester, Natural Sciences student Osarenkhoe has been blogging about his whole experience. He also came to the university via Clearing himself, describing it as "a blessing". "If things don’t go as planned, keep your chin up," Osarenkhoe writes. "You have options."

"It's really important for current applicants to reflect on the fact that universities are really keen to hear from them." - University of Leicester Provost and Pro-Vice Chancellor for Access, Recruitment and Transition, Professor Mark Peel

Student Recruitment Manager Monica Kulkarni says that even if you haven't got the grades that you were looking for, you should remain calm: "Check UCAS Track, because you might still have actually got your place. If you haven't...charge your phone and then actually revisit the old list of universities that you applied to through UCAS - you must have liked something about them!"

Elliot Newstead is a Senior Student Recruitment Officer at the University of Leicester. He's a Team Leader for a selection of the Clearing call handlers, managing difficult queries, keeping the team up to date with the qualifications required, and making sure that the offers are processed as they should be. He says that it's really important to take some time to think about your decision: "It's a stressful day. If you haven't quite got the grades that you were hoping for, take a step back, think about exactly what you want to do...take your time again and really consider where you might want to study. Try and think about visiting that university."

For more information about Clearing, including information on the late applicant open day, please visit our dedicated website, www.le.ac.uk/clearing.