What¡¯s it like to go through clearing? If anyone needs to understand the process and to know how it feels to navigate it, it¡¯s the National Union of Students ¨C and that¡¯s why president Toni Pearce decided to put herself through the trials and tribulations of securing a last-ditch university place.

Using her Twitter account () to keep her followers in the loop, Ms Pearce set about her ¡°social experiment¡±. ¡°I¡¯m going to see how hard it is to apply to clearing if you don¡¯t have any access to information, advice and guidance,¡± she tweeted.

After finding her way to the clearing website, she immediately had some queries about the Ucas registration form. ¡°The only options on the¡­form for gender are Male/Female. Which is awkward, given those aren¡¯t even genders,¡± she said.

¡°Not only do Ucas not acknowledge I¡¯m a woman. They also don¡¯t acknowledge my postcode. Probs less of an issue though.¡±

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In search of more information, Ms Pearce headed to the National Careers Service website ¨C which she described as looking ¡°like an offshoot of the Olympics¡±.

¡°Great, on the front page of the national careers service website today it doesn¡¯t mention the word clearing ANYWHERE,¡± she found, to her chagrin. ¡°In fact, the NCS website front page doesn¡¯t even mention the word university. Great.¡±

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Undeterred, she ran a search of the website for the phrase ¡°clearing¡±. ¡°The second result is about landmines.¡± Conclusion? ¡°Okay, the National Careers Service has been zero use in helping decide what to apply for.¡±

Next, Ms Pearce decided to go where we all go if we have a problem we can¡¯t solve and need some reliable, considered and well-informed advice: YouTube. The first video she found (¡°unfortunately¡±) was an Aberystwyth University taking students through the ¡°Emergency Procedure¡± for clearing. ¡°Take a deep breath, sit back and enjoy your flight to university,¡± it says, promising a ¡°total loss of pressure during clearing¡± and other air travel-inspired puns.

¡°That¡¯s right. Don¡¯t panic, just follow the same emergency procedure you¡¯d use if you were about to die in a plane crash,¡± Ms?Pearce said ¨C nerves clearly not eased by the comparison. Meanwhile, she only got 20 seconds into a University of Hertfordshire before she ¡°wanted to cry¡±.

The Unistats website () chipped in to help, offering ¡°comparable course data¡± and a ¡°course assistance tool¡±, which it said would be improved ¡°for our relaunch¡± later this year. Ms?Pearce was unimpressed. ¡°Really excited to hear that @UnistatsUK are relaunching their website in September. Great planning!¡±

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After opting to study maths, she returned to the Ucas form ¨C which continued to probe a little deeper than she had expected. ¡°I?have to remember the awarding bodies I?took my GCSEs with?! Oh dear¡­I have to give Ucas the results of my A level modules. Wowzer.¡±

When her ordeal was over, Ms Pearce tweeted her advice for those involved in the clearing process. ¡°Clearing is scary¡­No one should have to make a decision this important with no support in such a time pressured way.¡±

Send links to topical, insightful and quirky online comment by and about academics to chris.parr@tsleducation.com