My experience applying through Clearing after a gap year

During my A-levels, I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life. So much so, I took a gap year. I thought this would give myself the time to work out how I would become immensely rich and successful. Spoiler alert (if you hadn’t guessed already) that didn’t happen! Ok, you’re going to have to stick with me here, because there are messages to this story. But first you’ll need some context.

ALL STEPS FORWARD ARE AN OPPORTUNITY

Now, although I had little direction at the time, I had adamantly convinced myself that I would never go to university. This was mainly because I had seen YouTubers talking about how university was a waste of time and money (I’ve now learnt this isn’t true). From hearing this I thought I should immediately jump into my career and begin my rapid ascension to the CEO of one of the largest companies in the world. Simple right? Of course, that hasn’t happened…despite my best efforts! After months of applying for jobs online, I secured a position working in NHS Admin. I did this for a few months, and while it was rewarding work, I realised admin wasn’t what I wanted to pursue as a career. However, this job was a step forward and helped to direct me on my path to university.

FOLLOW YOUR INTERESTS

At the same time as my NHS Admin job, I was also developing my own business, which I later turned into a limited company. I didn’t continue the business long-term, but it taught me a huge amount. For example, I learnt how to create and run a company, basic legal principles, basic accountancy, and many other things which were invaluable when deciding what I wanted to pursue as a career and finding out what interests me.

Now, by this point in time, I was really considering the options for my future and attending university. I spoke to my friends and several of them who had already started their courses in Leeds told me about how amazing the city was. If I decided to go to uni, the thought of having friends local to me was a great comfort, so I began to look at options for studying in Leeds. I was confident pursuing a practical based course would help prepare me for a good career and give me the hands-on experience I wanted. This led me to look at Leeds Beckett and their diverse range of courses. I’d heard that at Leeds Beckett, students are taught technical skills and receive real-world experience in the field of their choice. I knew a practical based course was perfect for me because I wanted to study a degree which would prepare me for the world of work. Now I knew where I wanted to study, I just needed to choose which course.

CHOOSING YOUR COURSE

When choosing my course, I thought about my interests, what I’ve enjoyed from my previous work experiences and most importantly, what career I would want to pursue long-term. After much thought, I decided that I wanted to enter the property industry. I thought over everything I had learned about myself during my gap year, and my decision to enter the property industry made a lot of sense. The property industry appeals to my entrepreneurial nature, and what I had learnt about creating a limited company. With this future career goal in mind, I made my decision to look at Building Surveying courses at Leeds Beckett. So, my top tip here is to look into everything that interests you when you’re thinking about which course to study. Regardless of how random the idea may be, you might just stumble upon your passion and find there’s a course for it, much like I have.

APPLYING THROUGH CLEARING AT LBU IS EASY

As it took me time to decide what I wanted to do, I missed the initial UCAS application deadline, so I ended up applying to Leeds Beckett through Clearing. Luckily, my Clearing experience was smooth sailing and the process simple. I actually applied the day before the Clearing deadline for my course. So, I was very happy when the university offered me a place the very next day. That I could apply in a day is a testimony to how supportive Leeds Beckett was about my application, and how swift they are with the Clearing process.

On the day, I called LBU’s dedicated telephone clearing line very flustered. I was afraid that I was too late to be accepted onto my course for the upcoming academic year. Thankfully, the person on the end of the phone was reassuring. They even said I could have extra time to apply if I needed to, which was encouraging. They gave me a very clear list of everything I needed to apply with, this included my A Level, AS and GCSE results certificates and my personal statement. I got a hold of all the documents I needed that day and the next day I received a call from my course manager offering me a place at Leeds Beckett. After receiving this verbal offer I formally accepted it by signing into my UCAS Hub account, clicking on ‘Add Clearing Choice’ and filling in the course details.

I can say with certainty that accepting my offer was the best decision of my life and I haven’t regretted it once - even during exam season! I suppose then that final message is, don’t be afraid to make that life-changing decision, because it might just be the best decision you ever make.