Frequently asked questions

Clearing is a service you can use to find university courses with vacancies if you've applied late or your results are not as expected. If you're eligible to use Clearing, a clearing choice button will automatically be added to your UCAS Hub screen.

You’ll be able to search for course vacancies on UCAS from 5 July and information will also be available on individual university sites. Once you’ve found a course you’re interested in, you’ll need to contact the university directly to get a verbal offer. Once you’ve received this, you’ll need to decide if you want to accept the offer and then enter the details of the university and course into UCAS Hub. Find out more about accepting your Clearing offer. 

You’re eligible for Clearing if:

• You’ve accepted an offer but have changed your mind about your chosen course or university
• You haven’t applied for a university place for September, or you applied for a place after 30 June
• You did apply via UCAS but didn’t receive any offers, or declined all your offers
• You don’t achieve the grades you need for your firm or insurance places and your offers have been withdrawn.

Course vacancies are listed on university websites, on the UCAS website and in the national press. Details of our vacancies at Royal Holloway will be published on our website and the UCAS website prior to A-level results day on 15 August, 2024.

This is a UCAS-run service for applicants who don’t hold any offers. It provides a list of universities with vacancies where required grades are similar to those the student has achieved. Students can then indicate to these universities that they’re interested in joining them through Clearing. If you’ve used the service and have expressed an interest in joining Royal Holloway, we’ll be in touch if we’re able to make you an offer

You can call us to ask us about Clearing once you have your results. For most people this will be 15 August, A-level results day, but you can call us any time from 5 July if you have results from other qualifications (e.g. Scottish Higher, International Baccalaureate) or if you completed your A-levels in previous years.

Call us on  +44 (0)1784 772455.

Hotline opening hours:

• 5 July - 14 August 2024: Monday to Friday 10am-4pm
• Results day Thursday 15 August: 8am-7pm
• Friday 16 August: 8am-6pm
• Saturday 17 August: 9am-2pm
• Sunday 18 August: Closed
• Monday 19 August: 9am-5pm

No, Clearing offers can only be made directly to applicants so you'll need to call yourself.

When we have your results we’ll make one of four decisions:

• Unconditional Firm (UF): Congratulations! This means that your application has been successful and your place at Royal Holloway is confirmed
• Unconditional Insurance (UI): This means that your application has been successful. Your place at Royal Holloway will be confirmed if your application to your first choice university is unsuccessful. If you are confirmed at your firm choice university, this offer will become invalid
• Change of Course Offer: If we’re unable to confirm your offer on the original course you applied for, we might make you an offer on a different course instead. You should accept or decline this offer via UCAS Hub once you’ve received decisions from both your Firm and Insurance choice. If you decline the offer, you won’t be made an offer on your original choice of course
• Unsuccessful: This means we’re unable to confirm your place at Royal Holloway and are no longer able to offer you a place on the course you applied for.

We’ll let you know our decision by email, or in some cases by text message, as early as 8.30am Thursday 15 August.

If you’ve met the conditions of your offer, you'll receive a confirmed unconditional offer from us. We’ll send any other information you need, including details about enrolment, in late August.

We aim to make all decisions by Thursday 15 August if we've received all of your results.

We encourage you to consider carefully whether you really don’t want to go to the university you’ve secured a place with. If you're certain you want to reject your unconditional firm offer, you'll need to go to your UCAS Hub to release yourself.

You need to have met the conditions of your offer by 4 September 2024.If you know you won’t be able to meet the conditions by this date, let our Admissions team know by calling us on +44 (0)1784 772455

We'll need to wait for your GCSE results before we’re able to confirm your place. As soon as you receive them you'll need to email them to us at applicants@royalholloway.ac.uk

If you had extenuating circumstances you should contact our admissions team by 31 July 2024. We'll need you to provide documentary evidence (e.g. a letter from your school and/or doctor etc.) Applications are considered on a case-by-case basis. We also recommend you approach the relevant examining boards and provide evidence to them of your extenuating circumstances.

If you’ve narrowly missed our English language requirements please send them in and we'll reconsider your application. Email a scanned copy of your results to applicants@royalholloway.ac.uk.

If you’ve not met the academic conditions of your offer we can refund your deposit. If your results haven’t already been sent to Royal Holloway, please email a scanned copy of your final results to applicants@royalholloway.ac.uk and request a refund.

Give us a call on +44 (0)1784 772455. You'll be able to speak with an adviser about your personal circumstances.

It may be possible for you to defer your place until September 2025. If you'd like to defer your place, you should inform us in writing, by emailing applicants@royalholloway.ac.uk. You'll still need to meet all of the conditions of your offer by 4 September 2024.

Once you've referred yourself to Royal Holloway on UCAS, your status will change to Unconditional Firm. You'll then be able to register and apply using our Online Accommodation System. 

Find out more about our Halls. 

We have a number of rooms across all of our undergraduate halls which are available for students who join us through Clearing. If you apply for accommodation by 11.59pm on Tuesday 20 August, you're guaranteed an offer of a room. 

Students can move in from Friday 20 September ready to start term on 23 September. You'll be asked to complete an induction and arrival module online in September to book your arrival slot. You can find out everything you need to know about moving in here. 

Yes. If you don't meet your offer conditions and are no longer going to study at Royal Holloway, your accommodation contract will be cancelled and your pre-payment will be refunded.

If you defer your place, your accommodation contract will be cancelled. 

For your room we'd advise bringing bed linen (sheets, duvet, duvet cover, pillow, pillow cases etc). For shared kitchens, we'd advise bringing cups, plates and bowls, pots, pans, roasting tins and cooking utensils, cutlery, washing up materials and tea towels etc. You can also purchase packs for your bedroom, bathroom and kitchen through UniKitOut. 

It can take up to 10 hours after your place has been confirmed before you can apply for accommodation. If you’ve waited 10 hours and still aren’t able to register on the portal, the best thing to do is contact studentaccommodation@rhul.ac.uk

Alternatively, you can call +44 (0)1784 911695.

The Student Accommodation phone line has extended opening hours around A-level results day:

• Thursday 15 August: 8am-7pm
• Friday 16 August: 8am-6pm
• Saturday 17 August: 9am-2pm
• Sunday 18 August: Closed
• Monday 19 August: 9am-4pm

You can find out more about living in private accommodation on our accommodation pages.

Yes, we run campus tours for students who receive a Clearing offer. We'll let you know the details of how to book a place once you receive your offer.

If you're an international student joining us through Clearing you can find out more about visiting our campus here.  

This is the nine-digit number starting with 100 or 101 you’re given when you apply for one of our courses. Your number will be printed on any emails or letters you’ve received from our Admissions team.

Term starts on Monday 23 September 2024.

If you need to update your contact details, please contact UCAS who'll update your application and send them over to us. 

If you’ve already applied for student finance but have changed your course, or your university or college, you must let Student Finance England know as soon as possible as this could affect the amount of student finance you can get.

If you haven’t applied for student finance yet, you need to apply now. The sooner you apply, the sooner your application will be processed. You might not get all your money in time for the start of your course but Student Finance England will make an initial assessment so you have some money as close to the start of your course as possible.

For more information visit the Clearing student finance guide.