Fancy a degree to go with that tan?

Universities are pulling out the stops in their student recruitment tactics ahead of next week's clearing dash.

Plymouth University is among a number of institutions trying out imaginative new initiatives to recruit the first top-up fee cohort from this autumn.

The university dispatched student ambassadors in a beach buggy to some of Cornwall's finest sandscapes to capitalise on the region's trendy surf culture and hand out branded sun block.

Andrea Walters, Plymouth's marketing manager, said: "We wanted a fun way to reach potential students that captured the essence of what this area has to offer."

Wolverhampton University announced this week that it had teamed up with a rock music radio station to promote unsigned bands as part of its clearing promotional campaign.

The university has been working with Kerrang! Radio to produce a multimedia CD-i featuring 16 tracks from bands sourced by the radio's popular Unsigned show together with promotional messages about clearing.

The CD-i will be handed out free at HMV stores throughout the West Midlands as well as being available at the university's clearing open day on August 19.

Bradford University placed an arcade-style game on its website, where visitors are invited to shoot bubbles to reveal a promotional message about the university and then to enter a competition to win an MP3 player if they complete a clearing application.

Staffordshire University posted a greetings card to students who have made initial inquiries about courses but have not yet applied. It also invested in advertising on search engine Google.