Clearing is a process which matches applicants to available places and is open to all undergraduate students. There are many reasons why someone might come through Clearing – it may be that their A Level results have surprised them and they want to change their university or degree choice, or they have only decided to apply for further study at the last minute.

If you’re interested in applying to a course at the University of Bedfordshire via Clearing, visit www.beds.ac.uk/clearing or call the dedicated Clearing hotline on 0300 3300 073.

David Seaton – Assistant Director of Recruitment & Admissions – wants to help break the Clearing taboos and says there are some really simple steps which will help applicants feel prepared.

He said: “We understand that this can be a scary time for applicants but the most important thing to remember is not to panic – there are still places available at the University of Bedfordshire and we are here to support you every step of the way throughout the process. The best thing you can do is look into Clearing as early as possible and go in prepared with all the information you need.”

Here are his five top tips for making the most of the Clearing process:

1) Ask questions! Once you start speaking to universities the process can happen very quickly. Make sure you understand everything that's being said to you and if you don't, just ask questions. There's no such thing as a silly question - we are just here to help you.

2) Get ahead now and think about the things that are the most important to you when choosing a university. Do you want to study closer to home or do you have your heart set on living in a city? Is the type of course on offer the most important thing to you? Be clear about what you want out of your university experience as this will help you make decisions and feel comfortable with them.

3) Keep calm, have an open mind and do your research. Clearing is a great opportunity to find the course of your dreams and even if you don't get your first choice of course, there will be others that will be right for you. Why not take a listen to the new Clearing-themed episode of the University of Bedfordshire's podcast, Bits of Beds? In the episode you can hear from students and alumni who have been through the Clearing process themselves, as well as advice from the Admissions and Student Support staff who can tell you everything you need to know about what to expect from life at Bedfordshire.

4) Have your A Level results to hand. Once you have your results, get in touch with your chosen university through Clearing as soon as you can. Make sure you have your results, qualifications - including the full qualification name and UCAS ID (if you have one) - and a list of the courses you're interested in studying in front of you when you contact the admissions team. It'll make it so much easier and quicker for the Clearing team to help you if you can provide all the details they need straight away.

5) Think before you switch. You might be tempted to use Clearing to switch universities after receiving your A Level results, especially if you got better results than you expected. Be cautious with this - rushing to try your luck at a different institution, when you might have a place already secured somewhere else, might turn out to be the wrong decision. You need to really think through why you want to switch; is it just because you got better grades or would another university really be the best fit for you?