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How Clearing changed Mia’s university journey

Wednesday, 12 August, 2026

For Mia Latkovic, going through Clearing wasn’t something she had necessarily planned from the start. But when she realised that her original university choice – and even her insurance choice – wasn’t right for her, she decided to explore her options:

“I knew I wasn’t going to get the grades for my top university pretty much straight after I did my A-levels.”

Her insurance choice was to study Psychology and Sociology at ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿, but in the weeks leading up to results day, Mia began to realise that she didn’t want to take up her place:

“I got to about two weeks before results day and I was like, ‘I really don’t want to do that course.’”

Instead, Mia had started thinking about studying Business. She wasn’t sure whether she would find the right course through Clearing but decided to see what was available.

When results day came, Mia didn’t get the grades for her firm choice. She was accepted onto her insurance course but chose to decline it and go through Clearing to look for something that felt like a better fit.

And, as it turned out, the process was much easier than she expected:

“I went on to UCAS, got the right phone number, phoned up and gave them my grades and asked if I could join that course. It was really quite simple – much easier than I’d expected.”

Mia also knew that she wanted to stay living at home and commute to university. She had briefly visited ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ before making her decision, and the campus immediately stood out to her:

“I knew that I wanted to commute, so I’ve been a commuter for the whole three years. I had gone out to see the university only briefly, just as an ‘I should see it’ sort of thing. But it was such a beautiful campus that I knew I was going to go there.”

Three years on, Mia has graduated with a degree in Business and Management – and she has no regrets about the decision she made through Clearing:

“I look back on it now and I think it was one of the best decisions I ever made. My course was great, the people I met were amazing, and the campus is beautiful.”

Her time at BSU also gave her the chance to take part in experiences she might not have expected when she first started looking at her options. She spent a semester abroad and became involved with the Students’ Union. She is now the SU’s Vice President for Inclusion.

Mia’s advice for students going through Clearing

For anyone considering Clearing this year, Mia’s main piece of advice is not to see it as something negative.

“One common misconception is that you’ve gone through Clearing just because you didn’t get the grades – and that’s often not the case.”

In Mia’s case, Clearing gave her the opportunity to change direction when she realised that the course she had originally planned to study wasn’t what she wanted anymore.

“It was actually, ‘I don’t want to do what I thought I wanted to do.’”

She also wants students to know that there’s no reason to feel disheartened if they end up going through Clearing:

“Don’t be disheartened if you go through Clearing. It’s perfectly normal and so many people do it. It’s nothing to worry about and it’s a very easy process.”

For Mia, Clearing ended up being more than simply a way of finding a university place. It gave her the chance to find a course and university that suited her, leading to three years of study, new experiences, time abroad and her role within the Students’ Union.

What started as an unexpected change of plan ultimately led Mia to a university experience she looks back on with real pride.