Confirmation and Clearing Guide
2015
CONTENTS
1. REGISTRY CONTACTS
2
2. KEY DATES
2
3. CONFIRMATION
3.1 Electronic Receipt of Results from UCAS
3.2 Contact with UCAS during Confirmation
3.3 Despatch of Confirmation Letters by UCAS
3.4 Applicant replies to change at Confirmation offers (UCC)
3.5 Outstanding Decisions - Rejection by Default (RBD)
3.6 Incorrect Confirmation Decisions
3.7 Transfers (Release) at Confirmation
3.8 Contacting Applicants
3.9 Applicant Acceptance Forms (AS12s)
3
3
3
3
3
4
4
4
5
5
4. CASCADE
5
5. ADJUSTMENT
5.1 The Adjustment period
5.2 Handling Telephone Enquiries regarding Adjustment
5.3 How the Process Works at UCAS
5.4 Advice to HEIs – weblink Management Lists
6
6
6
7
7
6. CLEARING
6.1 Eligibility for Clearing
6.2 Electronic Clearing
6.3 Clearing Vacancies
6.3.1 Clearing Vacancy Services
6.3.2 Internal Arrangements
6.3.3 Daily Update of Clearing Vacancies
6.3.4 Handling Telephone Enquiries during Clearing
6.3.5 University Clearing Website
6.4 Record of Prior Acceptance (RPA)
6.5 Fraudulent Applications
6.6 UCAS Transaction Processing & Year End
6.7 Call Centre Hours
6.8 Dealing with Email Correspondence
7
7
8
8
8
9
9
9
9
10
10
10
11
11
APPENDICES – available on website
http://www1.aston.ac.uk/registry/for-staff/admissionsandenquiries/clearing/
Appendix 1 – Copy of ABL Agreement
Appendix 2 – Sample Clearing Offer Letters
Appendix 3 – UCAS Clearing Vacancy Services
Appendix 4 - Admissions System Processing - SITS
Appendix 5 – UCAS Web-link
1
1. REGISTRY CONTACTS
Rob Spurling
Julie Adams
ext 4674
ext 4664
[email protected]
[email protected]
2. CONFIRMATION AND CLEARING 2015 - KEY DATES
Saturday, 8 August
Monday, 10 August
Electronic transfer of A-Level/AS level results from UCAS.
Confirmation Decision Makers and Deans meeting
(4pm - Council Room)
Tuesday, 11 August
Post Confirmation Meeting of UGAF (2pm – Council Room)
Wednesday, 12 August
Applications available for Cascade must annotated on ACD by 9am.
Registry to run report to be circulated to Schools. School decisions
to be returned to Registry by 1pm
University’s Full Clearing Web-site to go live.
Confirmation meeting (3pm – Council Room)
Thursday, 13 August
Publication of A-Level Results.
Clearing Call Centre to be operational from 8.00am.
Adjustment opens for registration.
Confirmation e-mails to be sent by Registry. (after 8am)
Cascade alternative course offer e-mails to be sent by Registry.
(after 10am)
Applicants can refer themselves to a Clearing course using Track
(from 5pm)
Confirmation meeting (3pm – MB4th Floor)
Friday, 14 August 2pm
Deadline for Cascade applicants to accept alternative course offer.
Monday, 17 August
Confirmation meeting (3pm – MB4th Floor)
Tuesday, 18 August
Confirmation meeting (3pm – MB4th Floor)
Clearing Call Centre closes 5pm.
2
Wednesday, 19 August
UCAS Circular sent to remind institutions to look at Confirmation
ODL on web-link for all applicants for whom decisions are due on
10 September 2015
Confirmation meeting (3pm – Council Room)
Thursday, 20 August
Confirmation meeting (3pm – Council Room)
Friday, 21 August
University/School/Subject Clearing Web sites to close down.
Monday, 31 August
Final date for receipt of Adjustment Confirmation decisions.
(Bank Holiday)
Deadline for applicants to meet academic conditions of offer.
Wednesday, 2 September
MAP enrolment details e-mailed to UF students by ISA.
Check ODL for applicants for whom decisions are still due
Use web-link to apply individual Stops to prevent applicants being
rejected by default on 10 September
Use web-link to enter a Delayed Confirmation (DCF) decision on
applications where results are published after the end of cycle.
Thursday, 10 September
Any remaining CF/CI Confirmation decisions rejected by default at
UCAS that have not been stopped. (Stops can be recorded from 2
September 2015)
Monday, 21 September
Last date for receipt of standard application forms for 2015 entry by
UCAS. RPA forms to be used for any accepted applicants not
already in UCAS.
Wednesday, 30 September
Close of UCAS Clearing vacancy information service.
Wednesday, 7 October
Last date for receipt of RPA forms
Wednesday, 21 October
Last date for any amendments to existing acceptances.
Final Reject by Default. All applicants who are still referred in
Clearing are RBD.
Thursday, 22 October
All outstanding replies from applicants declined by default,
including change at confirmation offers
Friday, 23 October
The 2015 entry UCAS admissions file to close.
3
3. CONFIRMATION
The detailed procedures for confirmation are given in the UCAS Admissions Guide for 2015
Entry in section 13. However, the following key points and details of arrangements specific to
Aston should be noted:
3.1 Electronic Receipt of Results from UCAS
A-Level and AS-level (GCE and Vocational) Results will be transmitted electronically by
UCAS on Saturday 9 August. We are hoping to have the results for Schools to download from
Infoview by midday on the Saturday.
3.2 Contact with UCAS during Confirmation
All enquires to UCAS should be made through Rob Spurling (Extension 4674) in Registry.
3.3 Despatch of Confirmation Emails by UCAS
It should be noted that although UCAS will process decisions sent by us between Monday 10
August and Wednesday 12 August, any resulting emails, such as the AS12s for successful
applicants will be held and despatched on Thursday 13 August. Any emails resulting from
decisions based on non-A-Level/AS qualifications received between the above dates will
also be held.
3.4 Applicant replies to change at Confirmation offers (UCC)
The length of time applicants are given to reply to UCC offers will be reduced from 21 days to
five days once Confirmation starts. This will assist you in calculating your vacancies. It is
important to remember:
The five day reply by date starts when an applicant has decisions from both their firm and
insurance choice (if applicable)

if an applicant has been confirmed at their firm choice they cannot then accept a UCC
offer at their insurance choice

applicants who are made UCC offers before periods of restricted Track service and
are due to DBD during this time will be advised to contact our Customer Contact
Centre to make their replies

there will be two periods of restricted Track service for applicants whilst exam results
are processed (27 July - 4 August for SQA; 7 - 13 August for A levels). Confirmation
decisions and UCC offers made against choices during this period will not be
displayed until 4 and 13 August, respectively.
3.5 Outstanding Decisions - Rejection by Default (RBD)
Any CF or CI applicants still unconfirmed by 10 September will be Rejected by Default at
UCAS. Decisions must be input onto the Admissions System no later than 4.00pm on the day,
in order to guarantee transmission in time to meet the UCAS deadline.
RBD date:
10 September ALL Outstanding CF/CI applicants
3.6 Incorrect Confirmation Decisions
If Schools become aware that an incorrect ‘accept’ decision has been transmitted to UCAS,
please notify Julie Adams in Registry immediately. As explained in the Admissions Guide
4
(Section 13, paragraph 13.1) it is not possible for UCAS to retrieve letters for decisions that
have been made in error.
As a general rule any decision erroneously transmitted to UCAS must be notified to the
Registry as soon as it comes to light. No action should be taken by School admissions staff
to correct such an error on the Admissions System. Registry will undertake necessary
consultation with UCAS and the applicant and deal with any remedial action required from the
system’s point of view.
3.7 Transfers (Release) at Confirmation
(Please also see Adjustment in Section 5 page 9)
UCAS discourages the practice of releasing committed applicants into Clearing. However in
recognition of the fact that there may be exceptional circumstances, which may justify a
request to transfer from one institution to another, a formal procedure is available to enable
such transfers to take place.
UF applicants who seek to be considered by another institution after they have become
committed to an institution should request a release from their UF commitment.
The applicant should have valid reasons for requesting release and they should fall into one
of the following categories:

Financial Hardship (R1)

Personal Reasons (eg death of relative or other strong personal reasons) (R2)

Significant changes to courses at the releasing institution (eg discontinued course
or changes in content (R3)

Sponsorship/scholarship award (R4)

Other exceptional reasons (R5)

Change of level of qualification (R6)

Change of subject area to be studied (R7)

Wish to defer admission (R8)

Transfer to another institution (R9)
Please use R5 or R7 instead of R2 if we think it is just a change of mind by applicant.
Admissions staff in the Schools/Departments must consider all requests for release into
clearing carefully and take the necessary action on the Admissions System to transmit a
release decision to UCAS. Release into Clearing is only applicable to UF applicants.
Transmission of a Release into Clearing decision to UCAS will cancel the current UF
commitment and enable the applicant to enter Clearing and seek an alternative place.
The procedure for release into clearing on SITS is as follows:
To release into clearing someone who is UF with us (but not via clearing) using ACD:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Select the Decision Stage 2 radio button on ACD
Change applicant status to W (withdrawn)
Change QST field to RR
Enter the appropriate reason code (R1-R9 in list above) in the offer field.
To release into clearing someone who is UF with us (via clearing using ACD):
1. Select the Decision Stage 3 radio button on ACD
2. Change applicant status to W (withdrawn)
5
3. Change QST field to RR
4. Enter the appropriate reason code (R1-R9 in list above) in the offer field.
Applicants who are UF with another institution but wish to transfer to us should be advised to
contact their UF institution to request release, before we can consider making a formal offer
through Clearing.
3.8 Contacting Applicants
A summary of conditions relating to the ABL agreement between UCAS and the Awarding
Bodies is attached for information (see Appendix 1). Please note that the agreement includes
a duty to report any request from third parties to access the information.
Confirmation decisions based on A-Level results cannot be discussed* with applicants until
Thursday, 13 August.
*Results should not be disclosed to applicants at any stage. Any applicant ringing in to
enquire about outstanding results should be advised to contact their Examination Centre.
Written or e-mail correspondence regarding acceptance or rejection of CF applicants only
may be received by them on or after Thursday 13 August. It is not valid to write to CI or UI
applicants until they become CF or UF with us. The only exception to this rule is in the case of
changed course offer, where it is recommended that the applicant be contacted to ascertain
the acceptability of the alternative course.
4. CASCADE
Cascade, the University’s internal process by which alternative programmes are offered to CF
applicants who do not satisfy the conditions of their original choice of programme, will take
place from Tuesday 11 August – Friday 14 August.
Schools determine who is a Cascade applicant – one whom you cannot offer in your School
but believe has the potential to be considered by another School.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The cascading School should ensure that any you cascade have a strong
likelihood of being accepted by another School. Both yourselves and Registry do not have the time to
reject lots of students who were never realistically going to be made a Cascade offer anyway and if we
find a lot of rejects need inputting because a School(s) have Cascaded a lot of low quality applicants to us,
we may require School staff to help input these decisions on Wednesday afternoon.
2) When a School has determined a Cascade applicant, bring up their record on ACD and
input “C CLEARING” into the Cascade? field on ACD as follows:
i) When a School has determined a Cascade applicant, bring up their record on ACD and
input “C CLEARING” into the Cascade? field on ACD as follows:
6
3) This must be done for all Cascade applicants by 9am on Wednesday 12th August 2015.
(Anyone who does not have this input by 9am on Wednesday 12th August 2015 will not be
considered by other Schools and it will be the original School’s responsibility to reject the
applicant.)
4) Shortly after 9am on Wednesday 12th August 2015, Rob Spurling will run a report similar in
layout to the Sunday A Level Confirmation Report but it will only show the applicants who
have “C CLEARING” input into the Cascade? field. It will be in Excel and look like follows:
7
5) This report will be emailed out to all the named contacts for Cascade (i.e. those people
who last year would have come to the room to look at the paper forms). Rob Spurling will
email to ask for a list of every person who would need this report. Please ensure you reply to
Rob with this information.
6) The named contacts for Cascade will then go through the report and look at the subjects,
grades, course initially interested in etc. to determine whether they wish to make a Cascade
offer to each applicant. Leave those you are not interested in blank and insert a proposed
course offer in those who you wish to – remembering to highlight in yellow to ensure we don’t
miss it like so:
7) All spreadsheets must be emailed back to Rob Spurling by 1pm on Wednesday 12th
August 2015. That gives you just under 4 hours to check over the spreadsheet.
Note: Anyone who does not email back their spreadsheet by 1pm on Wednesday 12th August
2015 will not have any of their offers input and none of their Cascades will count. It is
essential you email this no later than 1pm.
8) Rob Spurling and team will then input all the offers you have made and reject all those who
do not get made any offers. Some applicants may well get more than one offer once we
merge together the results of all the various spreadsheets that are sent out. If we find there
are lots of rejections due to a School sending a lot of low calibre applicants into Cascade, we
8
may require that School to help input rejections on Wednesday afternoon, as we have to input
all rejections by 4:30pm to be transmitted to UCAS ready for Thursday morning.
9) Registry will produce an SRL email from SITS for the applicants identified and e-mail them
on Thursday 14 August (after 10am).
The e-mail will give clear instruction to applicants about what action to take:

If an applicant wishes to accept the alternative course offer or to discuss the matter
further, they will be advised to contact the relevant Admissions Tutor.

If they want to decline the alternative course offer and be released into Clearing, they will
be advised to ring or e-mail Rob Spurling ([email protected]). Their reject decision
will then be entered onto the SITS by Registry staff as quickly as possible.

They will also be strongly advised NOT to contact the School which made them their
original conditional offer, as the staff of that School will be unable to provide
any assistance either in confirming an alternative course offer or in releasing them into
Clearing.
All Cascade ACCEPT decisions must be notified to Registry as quickly as possible so the
changed course offer can be transmitted to UCAS before the Cascade rejection deadline at
2pm on 14 August.
The deadline for holding borderline applicants in a pending category is 12:00 noon on Friday
14 August. After this, no School may hold onto CF applicants, with a minimum of 300 points,
(tbc) whose offer has not been confirmed. If any applications look suitable for another
course/School please refer these directly. Admissions Tutors may wish to ring any suitable
applicants, identified at this late stage, directly.
5. ADJUSTMENT
The Adjustment period allows applicants who have met and exceeded the terms of their
conditional firm offer and have been accepted on that course to be eligible to enter an
“Adjustment period”, which allows them to find a course at a different institution whilst still
holding their confirmed place (can include courses they were previously rejected on if results
now satisfy entry requirements).
It is important to note that applicants who enter this process but do not find a new
institution will keep their place at their original firm choice institution.
To be eligible to use Adjustment applicants must have:
 results that have met and exceeded the conditions of their conditional firm
(CF) choice
 had their offer confirmed
 paid the full application fee of £23.
Applicants are not eligible for Adjustment if:
 they are confirmed (UF) at their firm choice but did not exceed the conditions of
the offer
 they have a confirmed place on a changed course offer
 their original offer was unconditional
Applicants cannot adjust their insurance choice.
NOTE: it is our responsibility to check that an applicant is eligible for adjustment.
The following examples illustrate whether or not an applicant can be considered for an
Adjustment place.
9
Meeting and exceeding – eligible to be considered for an Adjustment place:
Offer
Actual grades
A level AAB
A level AAA
A level CCD (C in Chemistry)
A level ACD (A in Chemistry)
A level ABB (B in History)
A level ABB (A in History)
SQA Higher BCC
SQA Higher ABC
SQA Higher BBC (C in Chemistry)
SQA Higher ABC (B in Chemistry)
SQA Adv Higher D in Italian
SQA Adv Higher B in Italian
International Baccalaureate total 30 points
including 5 in Mathematics and 5 in Chemistry
International Baccalaureate total 30 points
including 6 in Mathematics and 5 in Chemistry
Irish Leaving Certificate (Higher level) grade B in
Mathematics and Grades BCC
Irish Leaving Certificate (Higher level) grade B in
Mathematics and Grades ABC
Not meeting and exceeding – not eligible to be considered for an Adjustment
place:
Offer
Actual grades
A level CCD (C in Chemistry)
A level BCD (D in Chemistry)
A level AA
A level AAA
A level BBC
A level BBCC
SQA Higher CCC
SQA Higher BCD
240 Tariff points overall including C in French
280 Tariff points overall including D in French
BTEC National Diploma MMM
BTEC National Diploma MMP
International Baccalaureate total 30 points
including 5 in Mathematics and 5 in Chemistry
International Baccalaureate total 32 points
including 4 in Mathematics and 5 in Chemistry
Irish Leaving Certificate (Higher level) grade B in
Mathematics and Grades BCC
Irish Leaving Certificate (Higher level) grade C in
Mathematics and Grades ACC
5.1 The Adjustment period




Adjustment is available from A level results day (13 August 2015) until 31 August
2015.
An applicant’s individual Adjustment period starts when their conditional firm (CF)
choice changes to unconditional firm (UF) or 15 August 2015, whichever is the later.
From this time they have a maximum of five calendar days (five 24 hour periods) to
register and secure an alternative course, if they decide this is what they want to do.
If they become eligible for Adjustment less than five calendar days before 31 August,
they only have the remaining time before then to have a place confirmed by the
provider. For example, if they become UF on 29 August they have three days to use
the process.
5.2 Handling Telephone Enquiries regarding Adjustment
All Adjustment enquiries will initially be dealt with by the Clearing Call Centre. Suitable
applicants will be transferred to the Schools and you will need to notify them of the
implications of registering for Adjustment. When a Call is transferred through to you check to
see if the caller has been registered for Clearing or Adjustment. If the caller says they are
registered for adjustment it is your responsibility to check that they are eligible. You should
10
do this by checking their status on weblink. To be eligible an applicant must have met and
exceeded their original offer and be UF at their original institution. Applicants are not eligible
to adjust from their UI institution.
5.3 For those Schools wishing to accept an Adjustment applicant
How the process works
1. Applicant registers on Track to use Adjustment
2. Applicant contacts institutions to find another place
3. HEI checks the conditions of their UF offer using weblink
4. HEI must make sure that applicant understands the implications of changing their choice at
this stage, e.g. accommodation/financial
5. HEI offers the applicant a place (verbally)
6. Applicant accepts offer at one institution
7. HEI must be satisfied that applicant wants to accept their offer (it is advisable to ask the
applicant to email confirming their acceptance of the place within a deadline).
8. HEI enters an Adjustment Acceptance using SITS (decision stage 2) or web-link
(adjustment tab).
5.4 Advice for HEIs - web-link management lists
HEIs can identify applicants that they may lose or gain in Adjustment, web-link will have three
management lists:
1. UF Registered Applicants that for Adjustment may move
2. Adjustment Applicants that accept have moved to you
3. Adjustment placed Applicants that have elsewhere moved away from you
6.
CLEARING
The detailed procedures for Clearing are given in the UCAS Admissions Guide 2015 Entry,
section 15. You can also access information at the Confirmation and Clearing Hub 2015 on
the UCAS website. The following key points and details of arrangements specific to Aston
should be noted:
6.1 Eligibility for Clearing
Applicants become eligible for Clearing at different times:
Early July for
 Late applicants who make their first application after 30 June 2015.
 Applicants who do not hold any offers and are NOT awaiting A-Level, AS or
Scottish results.
From 13 August for:


A-Level, AS or Scottish Highers applicants who do not hold any offers
Applicants who do not hold a place after the publication of A-Level, AS or Scottish
Highers
results.
11
6.2 Clearing in Track
When an applicant becomes eligible for Clearing an 'Add Clearing choice' button appears on
their Track 'choices' screen which they can use to apply for a course. Applicants do not need
to contact UCAS to request entry into Clearing. Applicants must have paid the full application
fee of £23.
How the process works
The applicant takes the lead to contact HEIs to discuss vacancies. It can be summarised as
follows.









Applicants will be eligible for Clearing if they have no offers.
A Clearing number will be visible on Track.
Vacancies will be seen on UCAS Clearing vacancy website and as well as institution
websites.
Applicants will contact HEIs to discuss vacancies, although you may get unsolicited
applications. Unsolicited applications will come in to SITS as new ACD records.
Registry will inform Schools, via email, of any that have been received. You are fully
within your rights to reject any applicant who has not approached you prior to
submitting a Clearing application (although you can of course contact any who you
think you may be interested in).
When applicants receive an offer of a place verbally or by email/letter, and they want
to accept the place, they will enter details of the institution and course in Track.
You can check for Clearing applications via the UCAS outstanding decision list on
Weblink. After logging into Weblink, select the 'Applicant Data' option from the main
menu, then click on 'Management Information', then 'Applicants - Outstanding
Clearing Decisions' (you'll see that we have some already). Although unfortunately
the applicants can't be listed by faculty code (they're alphabetical), the UCAS course
code is shown (which can be sorted alphabetically). Each Clearing application should
have a corresponding SITS record.
Only courses that have vacancies can be entered in Track.
If an HEI is entered as a Clearing choice the applicant details will be sent to the HEI
and a decision must be made - accept or unsuccessful. The offer is not formalised
until we accept the applicant.
If an unsuccessful decision is received another choice can be entered for
consideration.
You can check if an applicant is eligible for Clearing by checking their details on UCAS weblink. If you need access to this service and do not already have a login ID or require training,
please refer to Appendix 5 or contact Julie Adams.
If, before making an offer to an applicant, you wish to see a copy of their original UCAS
application, please use the UCAS web-link facility (see Appendix 5). This will also display any
examination results that have been processed by UCAS. It is possible to e-mail from web-link
by clicking on the applicant’s e-mail address, and this may be used as a quick means of
conveying a provisional offer to the applicant or a confirmed offer once the electronic record
has been received. (Examples of suggested wording of such e-mails may be found in
Appendix 3).
To accept a Clearing applicant, please use the UCAS web-link facility. Acceptances placed on
web-link will be confirmed by UCAS immediately and will be automatically transferred to SITS.
If you are unfamiliar with web-link, please refer to Appendix 5 and contact Julie Adams to
arrange training.
12
6.3 Clearing Vacancies
6.3.1 Clearing Vacancy Services
The official Clearing Vacancy Services will operate from Thursday, 15 August to mid
September and will include the following (further details can be found in Appendix 3):

The Daily Telegraph: Thursday, 14th, Saturday 16th and Thursday 21st August
Deadlines for Clearing information to be updated:
Clearing vacancy status for each course
needs to be correctly set by this date/time
(ie Course Collect must be updated by
specified time/date)
Wednesday 1 July 5pm
Monday 10 August, 5pm
Wednesday 12 August, 12 noon
Sunday 16 August, 5pm
For publication in …….
On………
Clearing vacancy listings on ucas.com and
the Telegraph app on 6 July (these will be
shut down of 27 July for embargo)
The Telegraph Clearing printed vacancy
listings on 13 August
Clearing vacancy listings on ucas.com and
the Telegraph app from 6pm on 12 August
The Telegraph Clearing printed vacancy
listings on 19 August
The UCAS Clearing website and Telegraph app will be updated continuously throughout
this period, vacancy setting can take up to an hour to display.
6.3.2 Internal Arrangements
As the copy deadline for notification of Clearing vacancies to UCAS and newspapers is
several days before results publication, we will need to make some very quick decisions
about Clearing. As in previous years, the Admissions Tutors (together with the Associate
Deans) should make an assessment of the need for Clearing activity on Monday (10 August),
for Schools to update on MAP, Course Collect and the University website by 5 pm that day.
Prior to clearing you will need to update your course information indicating: Clearing
vacancies, adjustment vacancies, minimum scores, specific course requirements, and
clearing keywords. You should do this on MAP for all of the courses in Clearing. This will
need to be done by Friday 7 August, at the very latest.
6.3.3 Daily Update of Clearing Vacancies
The majority of courses are expected to be in Clearing again this year. However, it is
anticipated that some, with limited space, will fill up very quickly. Please ensure that you keep
your clearing vacancies up to date on MAP, Course Collect and the University website.
6.3.4 Handling Telephone Enquiries during Clearing
A Clearing Call Centre will be established again this year to handle enquiries coming in on our
Clearing hotline (0121 204 4444). This will be staffed by members of student helpers and
located in MB473 this year.
13
The aim will be to provide:





Up-to-date information on the availability of Clearing places.
Advice on entry requirements for courses in Clearing and whether an enquirer has
the necessary points to be considered for the particular programme of their choice.
Advice on possible alternative courses, where first choice programme is full or the
enquirer does not have the necessary entry requirements.
Facilities for taking down details of applicants interested in and qualified for a
Clearing place this will be done via SITS using CCC (Clearing Call Centre)
Taking Cascade and Adjustment Calls.
The Call Centre will be operational from Thursday, 14 August to Tuesday, 19 August
(excluding Sunday) and will have 20 phone lines in operation for dealing with incoming calls.
Confirmation calls will be taken by Schools Liaison who will be located in MB480.
6.3.5 University Clearing Web Site
The University’s Clearing Web Site went live in mid-July. The vacancy listings will be updated
daily, based on information updated online by the Schools.
As in previous years, applicants will be able to submit their details via an on-line Course
Vacancy Enquiry Form. The details will be transmitted to the [email protected] inbox
which will be monitored by Schools Liaison. Suitable applicants will be brought to the
attention of the appropriate School.
6.4 Record of Prior Acceptance (RPA)
The RPA procedure (Record of Prior Acceptance) will continue to operate for 2015. There will
be two versions of RPA forms available:


RPA (Non-EU) - These forms have been available on UCAS web-link since last
November. They are to be used for overseas applicants who have not already applied
through UCAS, to confirm that an applicant has been offered and has accepted a
place.
RPA (UK and EU) - These are for use by applicants from the EU and will be available
on UCAS web-link from 2 February 2015.
They are intended to be used for very late applicants who approach us directly and have not
yet applied to UCAS for entry in the current cycle. The forms are only intended to be used to
confirm that an applicant has been offered and has accepted an unconditional place.
RPA forms are only available electronically via UCAS web-link.
If you are unfamiliar with UCAS web-link, please refer to Appendix 5 and contact Julie Adams
to arrange training.
The normal UCAS procedure allows applicants to submit a standard form for consideration in
Clearing up until 21 September and RPA (EU) forms should not be used as alternative to this.
Applicants should be advised to ring UCAS on 0870 1122211 for details on how to apply prior
to 21 September.
6.5 Fraudulent Applications
We are reminded by UCAS about the particular threat from individual fraudsters and
organised gangs during Confirmation and Clearing. No institution should consider itself to be
immune from the attention of those who seek to gain entry by deception. Experience has
shown that those intent on deceiving the admissions process will know just how difficult it can
be in penetrating an institution’s defences and will target those institutions they feel pose the
least risk in terms of checks on qualifications and identity.
14
Particular care should be taken when dealing with independent students who have not
recently completed studies at a recognised school or college. The correct route for those who
have not yet applied to UCAS is to complete and send a standard application form to UCAS.
If you have any concerns about the status or Clearing eligibility of any applicants who
approach you directly (and who are not able to provide a Clearing number), please check the
details on UCAS web-link or contact Julie/Rob in Registry.
UCAS will be issuing weekly ‘suspect’ lists throughout Confirmation and Clearing and these
will be available for reference in the Registry or from the UCAS website. It has been agreed
that applicants cancelled by UCAS as fraudulent will not be accepted in the current cycle.
Such applicants will have been informed that they are not to approach any institution for the
remainder of the cycle.
6.6 UCAS Transaction Processing & Year End
Decisions inputted on SITS will be batched together and processed for transmission to UCAS
at 4am, 1pm, 4.45pm, 5.45pm and 7.15pm on a daily basis (apart from weekends and bank
holidays) and an incoming file from UCAS will be received at 4.45am, 12.45pm, 2pm and
6.30pm each day.
The last date for changes to the 2015 admission file will be 23 October 2015 and the last file
for the current cycle will be transmitted to UCAS at 5.45pm that day.
A summary of how to perform key Confirmation and Clearing processing tasks on SITS may
be found in Appendix 4.
6.7 Call Centre Hours
The Clearing Call Centre will be open during the following times:
Thursday, 13 August
8.00am - 8.00pm
Friday, 14 August
8.00am - 7.00pm
Saturday, 15 August
10.00am - 4.00pm
Monday, 17 August
9.00am - 5.00pm
Tuesday, 18 August
9.00am – 5.00pm
Registry Admissions staff will be available throughout these times and School Admissions
staff should ensure that the Registry is notified of their arrangements for these periods (a
specific request for this information will be sent out).
If you cannot provide cover for admissions enquiries at any of these times, the Call Centre will
mark the caller’s CCC record with ‘CCC - School to Call Back’.
6.8 Dealing with E-Mails over the Peak Admissions Period
A special e-mail address, [email protected], will be in operation from Monday 3 August –
Wednesday 26 August inclusive. All the emails coming to this address will be dealt with by
Schools Liaison in the first instance.
Any suitably qualified enquirers will be forwarded to the following inboxes:
Aston Business School: [email protected]
Engineering and Applied Science: [email protected]
Languages and Social Sciences: [email protected]
Life and Health Sciences: [email protected]
15