I have not yet applied to BCU and need more help

We publish a list of courses which have places in Clearing on our website from early July and this is regularly updated throughout the summer.

You can check our latest Clearing course vacancies on our website from early July onwards.

If the course you are interested does not have any places available when you search the list of course vacancies, please keep checking the website as this may change as Clearing progresses. Please note that we won't be able to tell you whether or not a course may or may not enter Clearing at a later point, so we would encourage you to regularly check the course vacancy listing on our website for up to date information.

A-level results day is also a key date in Clearing when we would know whether any vacancies have become available on a course if it has not had any places available before then.

If you wish to be considered for a course through Clearing and already have your qualification results, you will need to check to see if there are any available places on your chosen course of interest once Clearing opens in early July.

A list of courses available to apply to through Clearing is published from early July on our website at www.bcu.ac.uk/clearing/courses.

You will need to have your exam results before you can apply. Once you have your results, you can apply for courses available in Clearing. If you are waiting for results for any qualifications that would count towards the entry requirements for the course you wish to apply for through Clearing, you will need to wait until you have received confirmation of the exam results for these qualifications before applying for a course in Clearing.

From early July until 3 August 2025:

If you want to apply for a place in Clearing between early July and 3 August, please apply using our online Clearing application form.

4 August – 13 August 2025:

No Clearing applications can be made to us between these dates – you can apply for a course in Clearing from 14 August.

Thursday 14 August – mid-October 2025:

Our Clearing Hotline opens on Thursday 14 August and the number is 0121 331 6777.

If you receive your results (or already have your qualification results) on Thursday 14 August, you can call our Clearing Hotline. You can apply through Clearing as long as we have vacancies on the course you are interested in.

Our Clearing Hotline operating hours are as follows:

Thursday 14 August 7.30am – 10.00pm

Friday 15 August  7.30am – 8.00pm

Saturday 16 August  9.00am – 4.00pm

Sunday 17 August  10.00am – 2.00pm

Monday 18 August  8.00am – 5.00pm

Tuesday 19 Aug – mid Oct  9.00am – 5.00pm (weekdays only)

You don’t necessarily have to have made an application through UCAS in order to be considered for a place in Clearing.

If you do not have a UCAS account when you apply through Clearing and are then provisionally offered a place that you want to accept, the University will register you with UCAS and details of what you will need to do in order for us to do this would be included in your offer email.

The lines will be very busy, but we have plenty of staff taking calls so please be patient and keep holding the line. We'll do our best to get to your call as quickly as we can.

If you are an existing UCAS applicant, you should only 'add a Clearing choice' to UCAS Hub if a university offers you a provisional place on a course through Clearing and you wish to accept that offer. If you add a Clearing Choice on UCAS but have not been provisionally offered a place for that course and/ or by that university, your application will likely be declined and until that university declines you, you can't add any another Clearing choices for offers that you may receive.

The period of time that your offer is guaranteed for is detailed in the offer email we send once we have offered you a place in Clearing.

Contact your firm choice again and ask them to process your request to be released into Clearing. Keep in touch with us and we will do all we can to try and keep your offer open, but we can only guarantee your provisional offer for the time specified in your Clearing offer email.

If you can provide email evidence of your request to be released that you have sent to your firm choice institution, you can send this to us so we can make a note of it on your application record. You can send this to admissions@bcu.ac.uk.

If you already hold an offer with Birmingham City University and want to see if you can change to another course with us, you must put this request in writing to our Admissions team via our course change request form.

Please do not use Clearing to try and change your course if you hold a firm or insurance offer with us as this can affect your eligibility for an undergraduate scholarship if you met the criteria for it. Applicants who receive an offer through Clearing will not be eligible for the scholarship.

We are able to offer accommodation within the University portfolio so long as your provisional offer of a place on a course has been confirmed by our Admissions team to UCAS, you have received confirmation from UCAS that you have a confirmed offer of a place with us and have applied for accommodation by 31 August 2025 (TBC).

If you are holding an Unconditional Firm offer, you will be able to self-release into Clearing via your UCAS Hub account.

Once you have received your exam results, if you have a Conditional offer with us you will need to contact UCAS to request to be released into Clearing.

If you already have a UCAS account in this application cycle:

1. Log in to your UCAS account.

2. Enter the following details in the 'Add a Clearing Choice' section of your UCAS Hub account: UCAS institution code B25, the course code for the course you have been offered a place on and entry point (these are shown in your provisional offer letter email).

3. Once you have added your Clearing choice on UCAS Hub, UCAS will then inform us of this. You will then receive a holding message in your UCAS Hub account notifying you that you’re waiting for a decision from us. This will state ‘the University or college is currently considering your application (Referred)'.

4. When we have received your application from UCAS, we will be able to accept you subject to you passing relevant Admissions checks on your application which includes: verification of your qualifications (including verifying that the qualifications recorded on your Clearing application meet the entry requirements for the course), disability support requirements, tuition fee assessment and any unspent cautions/convictions. If accepted, you will then receive an email from UCAS saying that your place is confirmed. Please do not apply for Accommodation until you have received the notification from UCAS to say that we have confirmed your place.

5. If you pass our admissions checks, we will then confirm to UCAS that we have offered you a place of study at Birmingham City University and you will be able to view our confirmation of your place on your UCAS Hub account. Wherever possible, we aim to do this within 48 hours (excluding weekends) from when you refer your application to us through UCAS.

6. Once your offer has been confirmed with UCAS, your application with then achieve Unconditional Firm (UF) status (a firmly accepted unconditional offer) and this will trigger an email which acknowledges your acceptance of a place at Birmingham City University. If required, you can then apply for accommodation.

Important: You should only 'add a Clearing choice' to UCAS Hub if a university makes a provisional offer of a place on a course through Clearing and you wish to accept that offer. If you add a Clearing Choice on UCAS Track but have not been offered a place for that course and/ or by that university, your application will likely be declined and until that university declines you, you can't accept any another Clearing offer that you may receive.

If the ‘add Clearing choice' button in your on-line UCAS Hub is not available, please check that you have definitely been released or rejected from your other UCAS commitments and are not holding a place at another University or institution.

If you haven't got a UCAS account:

1. If you haven't got a UCAS account, we will need to register you with UCAS. In your provisional offer email, there will be a link to a form on our website that you will need to complete.

2. When we have received your completed web form, we will be able to accept you subject to you passing relevant Admissions checks on your application which includes: verification of your qualifications (including verifying that the qualifications recorded on your Clearing application meet the entry requirements for the course), disability support requirements, tuition fee assessment and any unspent cautions/convictions. If accepted, you will then receive an email from UCAS saying that your place is confirmed. Please do not apply for Accommodation until you have received the notification from UCAS to say that we have confirmed your place.

3. If you pass our Admissions checks, we will then confirm to UCAS that we have offered you a place of study at Birmingham City University and you will be contacted by UCAS directly to be able to view your place. Wherever possible, we aim to do this within 48 hours (excluding weekends) from when you have submitted the web form to us.

4. Once your offer has been confirmed with UCAS, your application with then achieve Unconditional Firm (UF) status (a firmly accepted unconditional offer) and this will trigger an email which acknowledges your acceptance of a place at Birmingham City University. If required, you can then apply for accommodation.