Clearing Case Study

31/07/2017  -  11.21

Andrew Rigby - Multimedia Journalism Degree

In the Beginning

"I took a leap of faith and it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me..."

Well, where to begin? It was certainly a mad year all round for me personally. From the disappointing lows to the incredible highs. Last year in May I was just a 17-year-old lad from Scotland who had just finished his final school exams and was hoping to move on to bigger and better things. That whole summer I was constantly thinking about my exam results and wondering like thousands of others around the country if I had done enough in my exams to be accepted onto my chosen University. Those past few months had been spent making an account on UCAS and filling in my application form which would be sent off to a few Universities in the hope of getting a positive response back. I definitely will never forget getting an email back from one University, offering me to come for an interview. Just the thought that they would have been sent loads of application forms yet they took notice of me was an incredible feeling. I’ll be honest the interview did not go perfect but in life nothing usually does but never the less I left that interview knowing that I was desperate to work hard on my exams to try and get fully accepted.

Getting Results

So, after a great summer in August the thing that you have been both dreading and wanting to hear come through the letter box comes. Remember I mentioned the lows? Well unfortunately as I read the results and realised my grades were not high enough my whole world collapsed around me. As I told my parents they were devastated for me but my mum got me up and we together logged back in to apply for clearing on the UCAS website. To see that my conditional offer for my chosen University had been withdrawn was the hardest sight I have ever witnessed. As well as applying for clearing I contacted a couple of colleges too but if I am really honest with myself my heart was not set on going to college at all. After that horrible day, it was about 2 weeks of literally nothing really happening.

Getting an Offer

There was light at the end of the tunnel though and even today I still cannot believe how quickly things changed. I was sitting in a restaurant in Glasgow with my family when I hear my phone ring and out of nowhere someone from the University of Wolverhampton is ringing me up. That day I had planned to go up to a college so amazingly I had all my results and stuff right there with me.  It was incredible. The man I am talking to on the phone is explaining that UCAS had been in contact with them through clearing and that if I can clarify all my details like my exam results they would like to offer me a place for Multimedia Journalism.

Before this I had been feeling very down and that day my Uncle had pulled me to one side and told me that things were going to get better and that something was going to happen for me. It was so important for me to have my family around at this time just to compose me a bit so I didn’t sound like a screaming kid on the phone. After this phone call, I had a lot of preparation to do and also more to the point I had never been to Wolverhampton before but I still accepted the offer straight away when I read more about the course and the University and how great it all looked. You might think I am mad for accepting the offer without even checking the place out but I took a leap of faith and it has turned out to be the best decision I have ever made. When I arrived at Wolverhampton I felt right at home it felt like a really nice place and the University was just brilliant and so close to where I would be living.

Clearing Advice

If I want others who are reading this to take anything from my story is that even when things don’t go your way and it looks like nothing good is coming, pick yourself up and keep going until you get where you want to be. UCAS clearing has literally kept my aspirations of becoming a sports journalist on track and living and studying in Wolverhampton makes it all the better. So be prepared for your results to not go the way you want because applying for clearing might actually land you in a much better place.