Clearing Plus: Five things you need to know

1. Clearing Plus is available to everyone in Clearing
   As soon as an applicant becomes unplaced and enters Clearing, the ‘see matches’ button will be visible from their Track homepage – meaning it isn’t available to applicants holding offers.
   
   Like traditional Clearing, all unplaced applicants can view their matches to see the courses on offer to them. But to enable a university or college to see an application, they must have paid the multiple choice application fee of £25.
2. Matches are unique and real-time
   The matches an applicant sees are unique to them and constantly updated. We match applicants to every course and determine the relevance based on:
   • what we know about your students – their choices and qualifications
   • what universities and colleges have told us they’re looking for
   • what previous students, like them, have gone on to study
   If you have students in Clearing now they can express an interest in courses right away – even if they haven’t got their results. Then, when their results come through and their application is updated, their eligibility for courses will be updated and their list will be refreshed.
3. Expressing interest does not guarantee a place
   Universities and colleges can see which applicants have shown an interest in their course. If they still have spaces available, they’ll contact suitable applicants to discuss their eligibility for courses. But it’s up to each university and college to decide which students they’ll contact.
4. Clearing Plus should be used alongside traditional Clearing
   While Clearing Plus provides students with access to personalised support and options, applicants can still browse the thousands on offer using our search tool.
   
   Some courses may appear in both our search tool and a student’s Clearing Plus matches. However, if a university/college has specific criteria set to attract certain applicants, these matched courses will appear in Track to your unplaced students.
5. Students need to secure an informal offer before adding their Clearing choice
   Clearing choices should only be added in Track after a student has contacted a university or college and secured an informal offer.

As always, we have a dedicated Clearing hub available to support students – this includes the following pages dedicated to Clearing Plus:

• What is Clearing Plus?
• Clearing Plus – five things you need to know
• The magic of matching

Best of luck!