My Clearing experience

Adult Nursing student Tiffany shares her experience and advice for those considering applying to university through Clearing.

Okay, tie your shoelaces, buckle your seatbelts and let’s go for a ride. I went through the Clearing process last year to get onto ARU’s Adult Nursing course and let me tell you, I wish I had read a blog or watched a video because I just wasn’t prepared. I panicked all the way up until the first day of Welcome Week.

However, that’s not what you’re going to do throughout this process. Looking back at it again now, everything for me moved really quickly, but for you, it may feel like everything is moving slow and that nothing is being done. But I promise you, there’s a lot more going on in the background.

Securing your place

I applied to Clearing last year, and I had my university interview at the end of July. I had my interview on a Thursday and I received a conditional offer on the Friday morning.

Within that email I was also sent a number of forms to fill out, which I completed almost immediately and sent through within the hour.

You too may have a lot of forms to fill out, but don’t panic. Just be prompt with everything you are asked to complete.

Because Clearing is so busy, it took the Admissions team a couple of days to process my information and boy was I anxious! After they processed all my information, everything really started kicking off.

Applying for your student loan

I would suggest that the moment you receive your offer, get onto Student Finance if you haven’t already. Although I already had a Student Finance account, I hadn’t submitted any of my information because I thought I would attending university a year later.

So I would recommend you get your Student Finance application sent off as soon as you possibly can, then you can tick that off the list of things to do.

Additional requirements for Nursing students

As I was studying Nursing, I also had to complete a DBS check and undertake an Occupational Health form. Occupational Health is the tricky part. Speak to your GP surgery and ask their process on getting these forms filled out and whether they have a charge or not.

You’ll also need two references, one professional and one personal. Let me tell you, getting these references were an adventurous time for me, I felt like I was dancing for days to get them done and sent through.

Once you’ve sent off your documents, which may include your DBS, your Occupational Health and Student Finance forms, it becomes a waiting game.

Make the most of your free time

I urge you, just have fun in this time, obviously keep a track of everything and make sure that everything is sent off and dealt with for your peace of mind. But other than that, enjoy your family and friends, enjoy your free time, enjoy not having any alarms set for early in the morning.

Enjoy not dreaming about body systems because you hear about them so much, enjoy not thinking about whether you’d put the right part of your Harvard referencing in italics or not.

I panicked throughout my entire Clearing experience, but there was always someone on the end of the phone to speak to and there is always someone willing to answer an email too.

You are about to start the most challenging, rewarding, fun and most DEFINITELY worth it degree. I am proud of you, so you should be proud of you too!

What is Clearing?

Clearing is an opportunity to reconsider your options, and join a university where you can study a subject you're passionate about.

You can apply through Clearing if:

• you didn’t apply before the UCAS deadline
• your grades are different to what you expected
• you’ve only just decided to go to uni
• you’ve changed your mind about what or where you want to study since you originally applied.

Find out more about Clearing at ARU