UCAS: waiting for exam results

Dates and deadlines

As international results are received outside the UK results windows, it can be a little difficult to list all the global dates and deadlines. However, here are some key UK dates that students may need to be aware of. Hopefully they will allow you to see how your regional results days fit in the picture.

5 July – Clearing opens. For more information on confirmation and clearing, why not read our detailed breakdown of what to expect during this time. If you prefer, you could watch our International Adviser Live focused on this topic.

29 July (18:00 BST) until 6 August (09:00 BST) – SQA (Scottish Qualifications Authority) embargo period*

6 August – SQA results day**

9 August (14:00) until 15 August (08:00) – JCQ (Joint Council for Qualifications) embargo period*

15 August – JCQ results day**

4 September – All remaining offer conditions should be met, and also the last date to use decline my place***

25 September (18:00) – Last date to receive applications for 2024***

21 October – Last date to add a clearing choice***

*During the embargo periods, applications will not be updated. This is to protect against any breaches or accidental result releases. It is important to remember that even if your students are not studying for a qualification from the SQA or JCQ boards, they will still not be able to access or receive updates on their applications at this time.

**These UK-based results days will be incredibly busy on the phones at UCAS and the universities. We would strongly recommend trying to get your questions in ahead of these dates to avoid long waits wherever possible.

***While these are the official latest dates, many universities will have their own internal policies for international students, particularly if a visa is required. Therefore, we recommend that you check with the individual universities to confirm their internal timelines.

What should counsellors be doing now?

As an adviser working with international students, it’s likely that your students will receive their results outside the UK results window. It’s also possible that your students may have additional offer conditions to meet, for example an English language test.

The best thing to do at this time (if you haven’t already) is support your student in making sure that they fully understand the information in their offer letter. It’s important that they know what information they need to provide to the university, how they provide this, and the deadline to submit it. If you know your student will need to get documents translated into English, they can also start looking for somebody to do this now – translators can get a lot of requests around this time of year, so booking someone where possible can prevent a stressful rush later.

Any other conditions outside the qualification results that your students are waiting for can be provided as soon as your student has them. For example, if they achieved the grades they needed in an English language test, get them to send that information to the university as soon as possible – universities will be getting busier and busier the closer it gets to August; anything that can be sent in advance will really help in terms of getting those decisions out quickly.

Most international exam boards do not send results directly to the university, so make sure that you know how to get these to the right person in the admissions team. This is normally as an attachment to an email, or an upload to the university’s internal portal, but the method should be explained in the offer letter. Make sure that you’ve attached the official certified translation, if required, to prevent delays.

For students taking the IB (International Baccalaureate), results can be sent directly to the university by the exam board, but your internal IB coordinator needs to activate the sharing permissions for this to happen.

You should also encourage your students to think about other things they need to organise, including finances and visa preparation, if applicable. Hopefully your student already has some awareness of the funds they will need to show for a visa, but as money needs to be held in accounts for a certain number of days, it’s important that preparations are made in advance. For more information on this, check out UKVI or speak to the visa team at the university the student is planning to go to.

Likewise, individuals from some countries require a TB (tuberculosis) certificate to be submitted to the university – if your student is from a country where this is required, they should investigate this as soon as possible as doctors can get very busy with these requests. If your student is ever unsure about what they need, the admissions, visa or international teams at the university will be happy to hear from them and clarify.

We also get a lot of requests over confirmation and clearing from students who need to update their passport details. If your student has had a new passport since they submitted their UCAS application, make sure they let us know as soon as possible, so we can get this processed quickly for them.

If you are working with a student who has any additional support needs and they have not already made the university aware of this, now would be a great time for them to reach out to the university student support services. This means that the university will be aware of any adaptations that need to be made ahead of the student’s arrival. Even if your student doesn’t need anything specific immediately, it’s always good to let the university know, in case support is needed in the future.

Tough conversations

Everyone working in education knows the mix of emotions that results days can bring – your students are likely to be experiencing everything from extreme excitement to tears, anger or confusion that their results were not as expected. While there are always circumstances where universities will still be able to accept students who didn’t quite make the grades, or students are able to take up their insurance place, there are also students who will need to act quickly to assess the change in their options.

The other side of this are those students who have done much better than expected and might want to look again at what’s available to them – whatever the reason, your role is to support them to make sensible and informed decisions.

In these emotional situations, many people rush to act in some way – doing something helps them to feel that they are taking back control of a situation that has slipped out of their hands. As an adviser, your role is to support them while making sure that this action is measured and researched, not a panicked reaction.

A great way to prepare for this throughout the year is to gently talk to your students about the “what ifs”. This can be framed positively by explaining that they may change their plans after receiving results for many reasons, and not all of these are negative – why not use this list of potential outcomes as a conversation starter?

This can then be used to speak to your students and their families about the process of clearing in advance and get them to start thinking about how flexible they would be prepared to be in terms of course and location. While there is no denying that for some students it can be an upsetting time, bringing them back to the plans you made together will help to return them to that logical thinking and give them positive steps to take.

What comes next?

Once the student has a place confirmed, there will be quite a few steps they need to take. This will include firming up accommodation, sorting out a visa if required, booking flights and packing! In our newly released parent guide, we have a specific international section (page 24) on what to prepare for in those first few days, which you might want to direct your students and their families to.

The key thing to remember is that while this is an exciting time for your students, it can also be quite scary to think of moving to another country, or even another continent. Being on hand to direct them to places where they can get answers to all the questions they’re bound to have is probably the most helpful thing that you can do. Our Getting Ready for Higher Education page is a good place to start.

If you’re regularly sending students to the UK, and have a close relationship with your student, now might also be the time to ask if they’re happy to send you a quick email to let you know how they’re getting on – not only can it be a source of great satisfaction to see the results of your hard work, but it’s also helpful to be able to connect other students who might be considering UK study to your alumni.

Sign up for UCAS emails to receive updates on the application cycle, unique UCAS insight, tips from your peers and the latest UCAS news.