The definitive source for UK Clearing data
Clearing Signal is University Data's live view of the UK Clearing market. It is built on the sector releases that UCAS publishes on every working day of Clearing, aggregated into one place and measured against the last ten cycles. It is free to use.
What is UCAS Clearing?
Clearing is the part of the UCAS undergraduate cycle that matches applicants who do not hold a confirmed place to courses that still have vacancies. It runs from early July, when the main application scheme closes, through results days in August, and on to the end of the cycle in October. Applicants enter Clearing if they applied after the 30 June deadline, if they were not placed with their firm or insurance choice, or if they choose to release themselves from an offer to look for an alternative.
Key dates for Clearing 2026:
- 30 June 2026 — final day to apply in the main scheme; later applications go to Clearing.
- 2 July 2026 — Clearing opens and vacancies are published.
- 4 August 2026 — Scottish (SQA) results day.
- 13 August 2026 — A-level (Level 3) results day, the busiest point of Clearing.
- Mid-October 2026 — the cycle closes.
How many students are placed through Clearing?
In the 2025 cycle, around 70,000 applicants were placed through Clearing by 28 days after results day: 51,490 through Clearing and a further 18,460 who applied directly into Clearing. A further 140,310 applicants were free to be placed in Clearing at that point. Clearing now accounts for a meaningful share of the roughly 512,000 applicants placed across the whole cycle, and includes a growing number who decline their original place and use Clearing by choice.
Total placed applicants, 2016 to 2025
Placed applicants across the full UCAS cycle, measured 28 days after results day (all entry routes, UK and international, all providers). 2025 sits near the ten-year high.
| Cycle | Placed applicants |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 511,980 |
| 2017 | 505,680 |
| 2018 | 495,410 |
| 2019 | 495,620 |
| 2020 | 515,650 |
| 2021 | 507,610 |
| 2022 | 502,710 |
| 2023 | 493,940 |
| 2024 | 498,340 |
| 2025 | 512,270 |
Clearing 2025 in numbers
- 512,270 applicants placed by 28 days after results day, up 2.8% on 2024.
- 447,740 UK and 64,530 international applicants placed.
- Largest subject groups placed: subjects allied to medicine (67,440), business and management (64,050) and social sciences (53,710).
- By provider tariff: higher tariff 189,910, medium 164,090, lower 158,260.
- On the supply side, national A-level top grades (A*–A) reached 29.0%, up 0.7 percentage points on 2024.
How this data is compiled
The figures come from the UCAS Daily Clearing Analysis, the official sector release published on each working day of Clearing. University Data ingests every release, holds ten years of history for like-for-like comparison, and sets each figure against the same day in previous cycles. The Clearing view sits alongside University Data's wider evidence base, which draws on HESA, the Office for Students, the National Student Survey and the Graduate Outcomes Survey across 100-plus institutions. Figures are UCAS-rounded acceptance counts and are sector level.
Frequently asked questions
What is UCAS Clearing?
Clearing is the UCAS process that matches applicants without a confirmed place to courses that still have vacancies. It runs from early July to mid-October and is busiest around A-level results day.
When does Clearing 2026 open?
Clearing 2026 opens on 2 July 2026. Scottish results are released on 4 August and A-level results on 13 August 2026, which is the busiest day for Clearing.
How many students are placed through Clearing?
Around 70,000 applicants were placed through Clearing in 2025 (51,490 through Clearing and 18,460 direct to Clearing), out of roughly 512,000 placed across the whole cycle.
Is Clearing growing?
Total placements in 2025 were near their ten-year high, and Clearing routes have grown, including a rising number of applicants who decline their original offer and use Clearing by choice.
Where does this Clearing data come from?
It is compiled from the UCAS Daily Clearing Analysis sector releases and benchmarked against ten cycles by University Data, a free UK higher education data portal operated by Blairgowrie HE Advisory.
Explore the wider evidence base on the University Data home page or read how each dashboard is built in the methodology.