University clearing: busting the myths

There can be a lot of anxiety around exam results, especially when they influence a young person’s future decisions. As ‘A’ level results day approaches, most school leavers will be looking towards starting work, undertaking an apprenticeship or heading to university.

If their results mean they can’t go to their chosen university, the clearing system can help them find another option. This situation can arise for anyone, as it did for the Trust’s Chief Executive, Dr Hannah Vickery.

Hannah finished school in 2003 and says: “Your ‘A’ level results don’t dictate your trajectory forever, but at the time it can be really upsetting not to get the grades you were aiming for. It felt catastrophic when I didn’t get the results I was predicted.

“There can be huge pressures around academic attainment at this stage of a young person’s life. To compound this, there is often a sense that such attainment is the only predictor of future success in life, which is not necessarily the case at all. This pressure can be felt by young people in their school or social group, even if parents or carers are trying to mitigate against it.

Hannah had applied to Durham University, among others, to study psychology. She was predicted AAB in her ‘A’ levels but got BCC (the B was subsequently re-marked as an A). Hannah had had her own difficulties with her mental health in the sixth form, which contributed to her experience of the exam period.

“My initial feelings going through clearing were embarrassment and shame” she says. “There certainly used to be a real stigma to it. You think you’re going to go to one of your chosen universities and then you end up in clearing – it's very ‘othering’.”

With the support of her headmaster, Hannah secured a place at Swansea University: “I loved the course, made really good friends and came out with an upper class 2:1; again exams were not my forte!”

Exams might not have brought the best out of Hannah but just two years later, she was the youngest student ever to be accepted onto the clinical psychology doctorate course at Southampton University.

At age 34, she had worked hard clinically and academically to became an Associate Professor and, four years later, CEO of the Charlie Waller Trust.

Her message is clear: “Don’t think because you got Cs at A Level that your life is over! It doesn’t mean you won’t succeed if you go down the academic route, or any other route you choose.

“People have different routes into university, or into the profession they love, or into becoming a full-time parent or carer – success in life looks different for different people.

“Exams are only one means of assessing students. It’s OK not to be good at exams – either because of personal circumstances or neurodiversity or anxiety or any other reason.”

We recognise that there are many other routes through life a young person can take, including entry level jobs or becoming an apprentice. Those can, of course, be equally challenging, and we have a wide range of resources for young people and those who support them at home, in school, college and university. 

View our University Clearing resource

View all our resources