Student says Clearing at Cardiff Met was a like “a rainbow after a thunderstorm”

A student who was left devastated at losing a place at her first-choice university in 2020 due to the knock-on effect of the pandemic on A-Level marks, has graduated with first-class honours after securing a place at university through Clearing.

Alana Hann, 21, from Bridgend ended up studying BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science at Cardiff Metropolitan University. Alana went through the Clearing process after she initially received significantly lower grades in 2020 based on the Government’s predicted grades.

Alana said: “When the initial lockdown hit, I was in the final months of college and preparing to sit my exams. We were told to go home and that we’d no longer be able to sit exams with grades being predicted based on our work to date. Up to this point I had been getting As. When I opened my grades in August 2020, they were nowhere near as good as I had been on track to receive.”

As a result, Alana, who had initially opted for a place at Cardiff and Newcastle University to study Biomedical Science, had to reconsider her options. For Alana, Clearing Week was something she’d never heard of.

She continued: “I was a blubbering mess on results day. After years of hard work and consideration on where I would study, I thought I had lost my chance to go to university which is something I’d always wanted to do. It was my college tutor who introduced me to Clearing and when I discovered Cardiff Metropolitan University also did Biomedical Science, I decided to get in touch. I ended up speaking with a wonderful lady on the results line and that conversation felt like a rainbow after a thunderstorm. The reassurance and support I received and sense of relief I felt when I was told that my grades were good enough changed my mindset from thinking my future was ruined to realising I had somewhere else to go, and in the same city I had originally wanted to study.”

Clearing allows students who have not yet applied through UCAS, perhaps didn’t get the grades they expected or have changed their mind and decided to go to university at a later date, to still be able to apply. It runs from June to September.

Although the Government later corrected grades for students after a huge backlash which led to Alana getting the higher grades she had first expected, by this point, Alana had lost the place at her first and second choice universities.

She said: “Although we eventually had our grades retracted and corrected, by this point, I had already enrolled at Cardiff Met. I ended up hearing back from my second-choice university who offered me a place and I researched other universities through Clearing, but my heart was now set on Cardiff Met.”

Alana is now preparing to start her MSc Biomedical Science at Cardiff Met in September and would like to work in a toxicology lab one day. She said that despite the rocky start and starting university during the pandemic, her personal university experience has been a very positive one.

“Even though it was a worry at the time and I struggled to get here, it now feels like my route into university all happened for a reason. I have friends who went to a higher ranked university on paper and studied the same course but have not had the course satisfaction I do. Cardiff Met gave me a great experience so I would definitely recommend thinking outside of the box and not limiting options.

“And although it wasn’t my initial first choice, I don’t feel like I suffered studying through Covid. I actually feel like I got everything I needed as the university made the extra effort so I still got the university experience I always wanted, made great memories and friends. Cardiff Met has been my home - I enjoyed it so much I am coming back to do my masters here!”

Further advice on Clearing and how to apply is available on the Cardiff Metropolitan University website.