Students who don't make the Higher grades they need for a place at university are being advised not to panic as the results come out today (Tuesday, August 13). Places are still available on a wide range of courses at the University of Aberdeen.
The Clearing team at the University of Aberdeen will be on hand seven days a week to answer calls from prospective students looking for a place in higher education. The Clearing hotline is open from 8.00am to 8.00pm, Monday to Friday and 9.00am to 5.00pm on Saturdays and Sundays. The telephone number to call is: (01224) 273504, or e-mail: clearing@abdn.ac.uk
A special web site at http://www.abdn.ac.uk/clearing/ has also been created with up-to-the-minute advice and information on course vacancies.
Last year, over 40,000 students secured places at UK universities during the Clearing process and there were vacancies on over 30,000 courses.
Director of Marketing, Lori Manders, said that Clearing can be a time of confusion and stress for many students and their parents.
"Clearing is the last opportunity prospective students will have of obtaining a place this year, so it is very important that they go about it in the right way," she said.
"It may be that the student will not have gained the necessary qualifications for the course in which they were originally interested, but may have done better in subjects that they had not really expected to. This may allow them, therefore, to think about studying a totally different subject. That is what we are here to advise them on. The message that we want to get across is that we are ready to take their calls."
The University has achieved an increase of nearly 10% in undergraduate applications to Aberdeen. Lori Manders added: "We are all delighted with this increase in applications for entry this September. This increase is across all areas of study and confirms our place as one of the top choices for students from all over the UK and the EU. What is even more encouraging is the number of people who have confirmed Aberdeen as their first choice institution. Our number of acceptances has increased by 20% on this time last year."
Most recently, Aberdeen's ambition to join the top twenty universities in Britain was achieved when the University was ranked nineteenth in the UK and third in Scotland in The Times Good University Guide.
The University has also organised an event for students and their parents - its second University-wide pre-application Open Day on Tuesday August 27, 2002, following on the success of last year's event.
The aim of the Open Day is to provide an opportunity for prospective students to find out more about what the University has to offer. Parents, teachers and friends are also welcome and it is anticipated that over 3,000 visitors will visit, some from as far afield as Japan and Italy. An exciting programme has been devised, all relating to the theme, Innovation - Building on a History of Excellence.
For further information about the University's Open Day, please call the freephone telephone number:
0800 027 1495, or to speak to a member of the University's Clearing team call: (01224) 273504.