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How Clearing works

Whether you're a UK or International student, or someone supporting an applicant through Clearing, you'll find all the information you need to understand how Clearing works and complete the key steps of the process on this page.

Clearing has now closed, and we have no course vacancies for 2025 entry. You can still use this page to find useful information about the Clearing process.

What is Clearing at university?

Clearing is an opportunity for you to secure a university place, particularly if you:

  • are applying for university after Monday 30 June 2025
  • have changed your mind about what or where you want to study, and are rethinking your choices
  • are not already holding an offer from a UK university
  • have results which are different to what you expected – either because didn't meet the conditions of your offer, or you did better than you expected

You can learn more about the Clearing process on the UCAS website.

Who can apply

You can typically apply for an undergraduate course in Clearing if:

  • you have your results and, if applicable, your English language test results
  • you've not yet applied to any universities in this cycle
  • you've achieved higher grades than expected
  • your results are not as good as predicted for your original firm and insurance choice universities, and you've been rejected by both choices
  • you may have changed your mind about your subject or university

We can't make any conditional offers in Clearing so if you don’t have all your results, you’ll need to wait until they're available.

When Clearing opens

Clearing at the University of Southampton has now closed for 2025 entry. If we’re in Clearing for 2026 entry, we will update this page with key dates nearer the time.

How to apply through Clearing

Clearing at the University of Southampton has now closed for 2025 entry. If we’re in Clearing for 2026 entry, we will update this page with a step-by-step guide to our application process nearer the time.

How to contact us

Our Clearing hotline has now closed for 2025, but if you have any queries about Clearing, you can contact our admissions team by:

Phone lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, UK time.

If you're an offer holder and you need to request a change or update to your application, you can complete our short form.

Your next steps