Happy results day! If you get results back today (August 15), you’ll fall into one of three categories: pleased, a bit disappointed, and ‘I don’t want to talk about it, please stop reminding me’. If you didn’t quite manage to make the grades for your dream uni and Jeremy Clarkson’s annual tweet isn’t doing much to ease your worries, you might be glad to know that there are still spots available through clearing for loads of the country’s top universities.
That’s right. You might not have gotten the grades you thought you needed, but clearing offers you another chance. Basically, universities have places that they didn’t manage to fill in the first round of applications, so they open them up to a wider range of students. This means you can get into a great uni even if you didn’t get three As.
We’ve already compiled a list of all the Russell Group universities who are taking part in clearing, but there are loads of other highly rated institutions who we didn’t get to mention in that list. According to the Complete University Guide (CUG), this is the top five rated universities who have spaces available which you can claim right now.
The highest ranking uni on the list is Loughborough, which was rated sixth in the country overall. Famous for its sporting scene, you’ll leave Loughborough with not only a great degree but probably abs too. Find out more about what courses are available here.
Next was Durham, a city full of a mix of miners and teenagers who drink red wine at pres. It gets a bit of a hard time for being full of people who didn’t get into Oxbridge, but it’s genuinely a very good university, reflected by its placement as seventh highest ranked. Here is what’s available up in the northern town.
Bath, which ranked eighth overall, is highly regarded for its teaching school, as well as its Bridgerton-esque scenery. They’ve got openings in 13 different subjects, which you can check out here.
UCL, which was ninth in the CUG, announced this morning that they had vacancies in a pretty wide breadth of courses from literature to medical sciences, and you can have a look at the full range here. Warwick, which came tenth overall, is a campus uni making it perfect for anyone who wants a five minute commute to their lectures. Check out what you could study at Warwick on their website here.
Other respected schools with places open include the University of Edinburgh, University of Bristol, University of Exeter, and loads more. If you want to have a look at the full list of CUG ranked unis with options for people going through clearing you can check it out here, or if you don't trust their judgement for some reason we've compiled a mega-list of all the different uni rankings you could possibly want which you can read here.
Russel Group universities with clearing spaces
Earlier this week we covered the news that quite a few universities in the respected Russell Group still had places open for Clearing 2024. You can read more about the full list here, but these are some of the universities included:
- University of Birmingham
- University of Bristol
- University of Cardiff
- Durham University
- University of Edinburgh
- University of Exeter
- University of Glasgow
- University of Liverpool
- University of Manchester
- Newcastle University
- University of Nottingham
- Queen Mary University of London
- Queen’s University Belfast
- University of Sheffield
- University of Southampton
- University of Warwick
- University of York
Good luck at uni, wherever you end up!
Ready for student life?
Did you know that Manchester is one of the best cities in the world for nightlife, student and beyond? If you're heading off to uni in a brand new city, don't worry about not being able to find cool things to do, we've got you covered. We've got guides to all the biggest uni cities like London, Liverpool, Bristol, Edinburgh, and pretty much anywhere you can think of.
ICYMI: The UK’s best (and worst) seaside towns for food and drink have been named by Which?
Plus: The UK’s oldest pier has just had a £10 million revamp.
Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out UK newsletter for the latest UK news and the best stuff happening across the country.