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The results day playbook

What to do, in order, on results morning when you have medicine, dentistry and veterinary applicants in the building: what to check the night before, the exact sequence when a student misses an offer, what clearing looks like in these three subjects, and what to say to a student who has no offers at all.

Written by Dr Akash Gandhi, NHS GP and founder of TheUKCATPeople. Updated 28 September 2026.

Key facts for results morning

  • A level results day falls in mid-August. UCAS Hub normally shows the university's decision before results are handed out in school, so many students know the outcome before they know the grades.
  • A narrowly missed offer is often still confirmed, so check UCAS before anyone rings a university.
  • The usual order is firm choice, then insurance, then clearing.
  • The applicant normally makes the call, because most universities will not discuss an application with anyone else, including a teacher or parent.
  • Medicine, dentistry and veterinary places in clearing are rare, appear at very short notice and go within hours, so treat one as a bonus, not a plan.
  • Leave anything irreversible until later in the day. Declining a place is very hard to undo.
  • A resit is a real route, but medical schools treat resits very differently. Roughly half accept them on stated terms and the rest only with mitigating circumstances, so the four choices usually have to be rebuilt around those policies.

A level results day is in mid-August. The exact date and times change each year, so check UCAS for the current cycle. The parent-facing version of this page is results day for parents.

For your school

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The day before

What to have ready the night before

Most of the stress on results morning comes from not having something to hand. None of this takes long, and it is far easier the day before than at eight in the morning.

Know when UCAS Hub updates, for this year

UCAS publishes the time its Hub updates on results day, and it is normally early in the morning, before results are handed out in school. It shows the university's decision, not the grades. Look up this year's time on UCAS the week before, because it changes.

Some teachers tell applicants the night before what they will see and what it means. A student who opens the Hub at seven and finds nothing has changed may assume the worst, when usually it has not been processed yet.

Have the list ready before you need it

One sheet, one row per applicant: subject, firm choice, insurance choice, the exact conditions of each offer, and whether the student is on a contextual or widening participation offer. Contextual offers are often lower than the standard one, and on results morning it is easy to look at a student's grades and think they have missed when they have not.

Add a column for anything your school has already submitted on their behalf, such as special consideration or mitigating circumstances. If a student rings an admissions office, they should mention it.

Find the results day phone numbers

Main switchboards are jammed on results day. Most medical, dental and veterinary schools publish an admissions or results day line that only runs that week. It can take some finding, so put it on the sheet the day before.

While you are there, note the university's stated position on near misses if it publishes one. Several say they will review applicants who miss by a grade before releasing the place, which changes what you tell a student at half past eight.

Agree who is doing what

Who is on site, from what time, and who a student goes to if the news is bad. Give students that name the day before.

Agree with your exams officer how a priority review of marking is requested and what the deadline is. Someone usually asks before nine o'clock.

A word with students beforehand

The night before, while everyone is calm, is a good time for a few reminders: not to decline anything, not to accept a clearing place before talking it through with school, to check UCAS Hub before ringing a university, and to bring a charged phone and their UCAS log in details.

Tell parents too, through whatever channel you use, that the university will want to speak to the applicant, not to them. It goes down much better the day before than on the morning.

Results morning

Hour by hour

How a normal morning runs. Timings are from when results are handed out in your school, because the national times move each year.

  1. 1

    Before you arrive

    • UCAS Hub updates and students check it in bed. Some will message before school opens, and a few of those will have misread it.
    • If you are happy to be contacted, tell them in advance between which times. If not, tell them who is.
  2. 2

    The first hour on site

    • Results are handed out. Go down the sheet and match each applicant's grades against their offer conditions before anybody reacts.
    • Many teachers sort them into three groups: confirmed, missed but the Hub still says conditional, and unsuccessful. Most of your morning goes on the middle group.
  3. 3

    Mid morning

    • Decisions continue to land through the morning for students in the middle group. A place that looks lost at half past eight is sometimes confirmed by ten.
    • This is when calls to firm choices happen for students whose UCAS Hub says unsuccessful. Many teachers sit with them while they ring.
    • Clearing vacancies come and go. Have a look for these subjects, but do not let a student build the morning around it.
  4. 4

    By lunchtime

    • Most outcomes are settled. The afternoon is for the few that are not, and those conversations need time.
    • Check that anyone who has had bad news has eaten and sat down. Nobody decides well after four hours on their feet.
  5. 5

    Before they go home

    • Every student with an unresolved outcome should leave with a named person, a time to speak again, and one thing to do.
    • Students with no offers can leave knowing that reapplying is normal and that you will go through it with them properly in September.
The sequence

When a student misses an offer

Firm choice, then insurance, then clearing, in that order. A common mistake is a student going straight to the clearing vacancy pages while their own place is still being decided.

  1. 1

    Check UCAS Hub first, before anyone rings a university

    A student can miss the conditions of an offer and still be confirmed.

    • ConfirmedLet them know, and celebrate
    • Still conditionalDecisions often land through the morning
  2. 2

    Ring the firm choice, with the student making the call

    Write the questions down before dialling: is the decision final, is there any flexibility given the grade profile, and is a deferred place for next year possible.

  3. 3

    Ask about next year before you hang up

    Write down who you spoke to and what they said.

  4. 4

    Then the insurance choice

    If the student has missed the insurance too, the same call applies: the applicant rings, with the same questions.

    • The insurance conditions are metNothing to do but wait for Track to catch up
  5. 5

    Clearing last, as the least likely route

    Treat any place that appears as a bonus, not a plan.

The student with no offers at all

  • Route oneReapply with achieved gradesThis is the strongest of the three and the most common.
  • Route twoA gateway or foundation yearThe qualification at the end is identical and so is the registration.
  • Route threeA related degree, then graduate entryIt takes longer, plenty of people go this way, and graduates make good clinicians.

A gap year works best when it is structured

  • Regular paid work from the autumn
  • A weekly voluntary commitment kept all year
  • Admissions test preparation from the spring
  • The UCAS form ready in September

Results day is not the day for the full reapplication conversation. Tell them you will work through it together in September, and give them a date.

Firm choice, then insurance, then clearing, in that order. Chart by TheUKCATPeople.
Results day decision flowchart by TheUKCATPeople, for a medicine, dentistry or veterinary applicant who misses an offer. 1. Check UCAS Hub first, before anyone rings a university (confirmed: let them know, and celebrate; still conditional: decisions often land through the morning). 2. Ring the firm choice, with the student making the call. 3. Ask about next year before you hang up. 4. Then the insurance choice (the insurance conditions are met: nothing to do but wait for Track to catch up). 5. Clearing last, as the least likely route. If there are no offers at all, three routes: reapply with achieved grades; a gateway or foundation year; a related degree, then graduate entry. A gap year works best when it is structured.

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<a href="https://www.theukcatpeople.co.uk/teachers/results-day"><img src="https://www.theukcatpeople.co.uk/teachers/results-day/results-day-decision-flowchart.png" alt="Results day decision flowchart by TheUKCATPeople, for a medicine, dentistry or veterinary applicant who misses an offer. 1. Check UCAS Hub first, before anyone rings a university (confirmed: let them know, and celebrate; still conditional: decisions often land through the morning). 2. Ring the firm choice, with the student making the call. 3. Ask about next year before you hang up. 4. Then the insurance choice (the insurance conditions are met: nothing to do but wait for Track to catch up). 5. Clearing last, as the least likely route. If there are no offers at all, three routes: reapply with achieved grades; a gateway or foundation year; a related degree, then graduate entry. A gap year works best when it is structured." width="1200" height="1500" style="max-width:100%;height:auto" loading="lazy"></a>
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.theukcatpeople.co.uk/teachers/results-day">The results day playbook for teachers</a>, TheUKCATPeople</p>
  1. 1

    Check UCAS Hub first, before anyone rings a university

    A student can miss the conditions of an offer and still be confirmed. Universities often accept near misses, particularly where the shortfall is in a subject the course does not require, and the decision may already be made but not yet showing.

    Families sometimes ring an admissions office in tears at eight about a place that is confirmed by ten.

  2. 2

    Ring the firm choice, with the student making the call

    If UCAS Hub says unsuccessful at the firm choice, that is the call to make, and the applicant makes it. Most universities will not discuss an application with a parent or a teacher.

    Many teachers sit with them and write the questions down before dialling: is the decision final, is there any flexibility given the grade profile, and is a deferred place for next year possible. Have the UCAS Personal ID, the grades and the admissions test score to hand.

    If the school submitted special consideration or mitigating circumstances, mention it on the call. It may be under review, and the person on the phone may not have seen it.

  3. 3

    Ask about next year before you hang up

    If the answer is no for this September, ask whether the university would consider a deferred place or a guaranteed interview on reapplication. Some will. It costs nothing to ask while you have a named person on the line.

    Write down who you spoke to and what they said. If the student reapplies, you will want it in October.

  4. 4

    Then the insurance choice

    The insurance activates automatically when the firm is unsuccessful and the insurance conditions are met, so in most cases there is nothing to do but wait for Track to catch up.

    If the student has missed the insurance too, the same call applies: the applicant rings, with the same questions.

  5. 5

    Clearing last, as the least likely route

    For medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine, clearing is the least likely route of all. Read the section below before a student spends the afternoon refreshing a vacancy page.

    If a student is going to try, they will need their clearing number, their grades, their admissions test score where the course uses one, and to be ready to ring the moment a vacancy appears.

The applicant makes the call. Tell parents before results day. Most universities will not discuss an application with anybody but the student, so a call that begins with somebody else talking may not get very far.

Setting expectations

How clearing works for these three subjects

Clearing in medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine is very different from clearing in almost every other subject. Explain that to students and parents in July.

There are very few places, and some years there are none

The number of places at UK medical and dental schools for home students is capped, which is the main reason so little reaches clearing. Vacancies in these subjects are typically a handful nationally, they appear without warning as other applicants decline or miss, and they are gone within hours.

Veterinary medicine is the same shape for a different reason: there are only around eleven UK vet schools, so there is very little to come free in the first place.

The bar is not lower in clearing

Many families assume it is, so correct this early. In most cases the published entry requirements still apply, the admissions test score still has to meet the threshold, and the student may be asked to interview at a day's notice.

Several schools also restrict clearing to applicants who applied for that subject in the same cycle, so a student who applied for biomedical science cannot usually convert to medicine through clearing.

What is more likely than a standard place

Gateway, foundation and with-a-foundation-year versions of these courses sometimes have movement, and they lead to the same degree. For veterinary medicine especially, a gateway place is a more realistic hope in August than a standard one.

A related degree at a good university, chosen as the first step towards graduate entry, can also be a better outcome than a rushed choice of something unsuitable. Have that conversation in the afternoon, once things are calmer.

The subject guides, kept current

The detail that changes every year is on these three pages, so open them on the morning.

The hardest one

The student with no offers at all

Four rejections, or rejections and a missed insurance. This is the conversation to prepare for in advance.

Saying what has happened

A student who has had four rejections and then missed their insurance already knows. Say it straight without softening it, sit with them for a minute, then tell them there are three routes and that people take all of them every year.

Results day is not the day for the full reapplication conversation. Tell them you will work through it together in September, and give them a date.

Route one: reapply with achieved grades

This is the strongest of the three and the most common. A second application is a different application: predicted grades are replaced by achieved ones, the admissions test can be sat again in a new cycle, there is another year of work experience, and the four choices can be made with real numbers.

For many reapplicants, the biggest gain comes from choosing the four schools against their published weightings.

Route two: a gateway or foundation year

These are six year versions of the same degree with an extra year at the start, usually carrying contextual entry criteria based on school, household or postcode. The qualification at the end is identical and so is the registration.

Check the criteria before assuming a student does not qualify. Schools publish them, and students do rule themselves out of things they were eligible for.

Route three: a related degree, then graduate entry

A degree in biomedical science, bioveterinary science, pharmacy or a similar subject, then a graduate entry programme or the standard course as a graduate. It takes longer, plenty of people go this way, and graduates make good clinicians.

One practical point for the family: starting a degree and leaving it partway through can affect student finance entitlement later. Point them to Student Finance England for the current position.

What you might send the family that evening

One link that asks nothing of them today is usually enough.

Before the word is said

The considered resit

A resit is a real route into medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine. It works best when it is decided after results day, built around a new list of schools, and started only once you know those schools accept it.

Whether the grades were the problem

Before anyone mentions a resit, separate two cases. A student who held an offer and missed it by one grade in one subject has a grades problem, and a resit addresses it directly. A student with four rejections before results day did not fail on grades, and resitting to the same grades with the same four choices is likely to reproduce the outcome a year later. For that student, a resit is one part of a reapplication.

The first-sitting grades matter, because most medical schools that accept resits set a minimum at first sitting. A student who resits from BBB is in a different position from one who resits from AAB, and some schools will not look at the first at all.

Resit policies differ, and they decide the four choices

Our resits guide sorts medical schools into three broad groups, with a link to each school's admissions page. 23 schools generally accept A level resits, usually with a minimum first-sitting grade or a higher offer on the retaken subject. 20 accept them only with documented mitigating circumstances. 7 are graduate entry courses that do not score A levels. A handful have unusual rules, such as considering a resit applicant only if they applied first time and held a firm offer, or allowing a resit only to meet a subject requirement.

So a resit student's four usually come from the first group, checked school by school, and are rarely the four they applied to first time. Dentistry has its own policies, and the vet schools publish theirs individually.

Which of the two timelines they are on

The first timeline is to resit and apply this autumn with predicted resit grades. It is only open at schools that do not require achieved grades before application, and it means booking the UCAT within a few weeks of results day, because the test counts for one cycle only. It is quicker and it is what families tend to want, but many schools will not accept it.

The second is to resit in the summer series, receive the results in August, and apply that October with achieved grades. It takes a year longer than the family expected, and it is the realistic route for most resit applicants. Work out which timeline applies before anyone books anything, ideally in September.

The school-by-school table is in the A level resits guide for medicine, with each school’s minimum first-sitting grade and exact conditions. Dentistry is covered in getting into dentistry with low grades, and every vet school’s resit position is in the vet school entry requirements table. The longer teacher briefing is in supporting every applicant.

What happens next

Gap year and foundation routes

This is a September conversation, but it helps to know the outline on the day so that what you say in the morning matches what you advise a fortnight later.

A gap year works best when it is structured

The reapplication is scored on achieved grades, the admissions test, experience and choices. A planned gap year can improve three of those four. An unplanned one often produces a second application that looks much like the first.

A pattern that often works is regular paid work from the autumn, a weekly voluntary commitment kept all year, admissions test preparation from the spring, and the UCAS form ready in September.

The test can be sat again

The UCAT is taken once per application cycle, so a reapplicant sits it again in the summer of their gap year. For a student whose score was the weak part of the first application, that matters a lot, because a new score changes which schools make sense.

Veterinary applicants have no admissions test to improve, so their gap year effort goes into placement weeks and breadth instead.

Foundation, gateway and related careers

Keep foundation and gateway courses in the conversation through the autumn, not just as an August fallback. For some students they suit better than a standard reapplication, and the entry criteria are published well in advance.

Related registered professions deserve a proper look. Physician associate, nursing, paramedic science, dental therapy and veterinary nursing are demanding careers in their own right, and several can lead back to medicine, dentistry or vet later.

The published list of UK foundation and gateway medicine courses sets out which schools run them and what the contextual criteria are. For veterinary applicants the equivalent sits inside the clearing and gateway courses guide.

What you might say

Scripts for the hard conversations

Words some teachers find useful, and why. Change them to sound like you. The point is to have a rough idea beforehand, so you are not making it up in a difficult moment.

A student has just opened results that miss the offer

"Your grades are ABB. That is not what you wanted and I am not going to pretend otherwise. Here is exactly what happens next, and nothing gets decided in the next hour."

Why it can help. Saying the result and then straight away what happens next stops the spiral. Promising that nothing gets decided in the next hour gives them room to breathe, and it is true.

A parent wants to ring the university themselves

"They will only discuss it with your daughter, so it has to be her call. I will sit with her while she rings and make sure the right questions get asked, and I will tell you what was said as soon as it is done."

Why it can help. The parent hears no, but also hears that someone who knows what they are doing will be in the room, which is usually what they wanted.

A student wants to take the first clearing place they see

"Hold that until two o'clock. Let's find out what the course is and where you would be living, because you would be there for three years. It will very likely still be there, and if it is not, it was not the right one."

Why it can help. A couple of hours is often enough. Mentioning the three years helps the student get past relief and think about whether they want it.

A student has no offers at all

"This is a setback and it is not a verdict on you. More people get in the second time than you would think, and their application is better for the year. We are not planning any of that today. Come and find me on the fourth of September and we will do it properly."

Why it can help. A date lets you end the conversation without leaving them on their own with it. It also stops a family spending three weeks of August making decisions with no information.

A parent asks about appealing or remarking

"Our exams officer runs that and there is a deadline, so I do not want to guess at it. I will get you the current process in writing today."

Why it can help. Deadlines and costs for reviews of marking change, and a wrong answer from memory could mean a family misses the window.

Phrases that can land badly

"At least you have your insurance." "Everything happens for a reason." "Your brother got in first time."

Why it can help. All three tell the student, without meaning to, that they are overreacting. The first brushes past the loss, the second asks them to find meaning in it within the hour, and the third gives them something else to feel bad about.

One page

The results day checklist

Everything above, on a single sheet to keep next to the phone. It prints on its own without the rest of this page.

Results day checklist: medicine, dentistry and veterinary applicants

The night before

  • Look up this year's UCAS Hub update time and tell your applicants what they will see
  • One sheet: applicant, subject, firm, insurance, exact conditions, contextual offer yes or no
  • Admissions and results day phone numbers on the sheet, not switchboards
  • Note anything already submitted: special consideration, mitigating circumstances
  • Confirm who is on site, from when, and who is the named person for bad news
  • Check the priority review of marking process and deadline with your exams officer
  • Remind students not to decline anything or accept a clearing place before talking to school

The first hour

  • Match every applicant's grades against their offer conditions before anyone reacts
  • Sort into confirmed, missed but still conditional on the Hub, and unsuccessful
  • Confirmed students: let them know, and celebrate
  • Middle group: decisions often land through the morning

If a student has missed

  • Check UCAS Hub before anyone rings a university
  • The student rings the firm choice (universities usually speak only to the applicant)
  • Questions written down first: is it final, is there flexibility, is a deferred place possible
  • Mention any special consideration the school submitted
  • Ask about next year before hanging up, and write down who you spoke to
  • Insurance next, clearing last (places are rare)

If a student has no offers

  • Say it straight, then name the three routes: reapply, gateway or foundation, graduate entry
  • Save the reapplication plan for later and offer a specific date in September
  • Student finance questions: Student Finance England has the current position
  • Check they have eaten and sat down before any decision is made

Before they leave

  • Everyone unresolved leaves with a named person, a time to speak again, and one thing to do
  • Nobody has declined or accepted anything irreversible in a rush
  • You know which conversations are carrying into next week

A level results day is in mid-August. Check this year's UCAS Hub update time on ucas.com before results day. TheUKCATPeople, theukcatpeople.co.uk/teachers

Quick answers

Questions teachers ask

What time does UCAS Hub update on results day?

UCAS publishes the time each year and it is normally early in the morning, before results are handed out in school. UCAS Hub shows the university's decision, not the grades, so a student can see that a place is confirmed before they know what they got. The time changes between years, so check this year's on the UCAS website the week before.

Should the teacher or the student ring the university?

The student. Most medical, dental and veterinary schools will only discuss an application with the applicant, and a call that opens with a parent or a teacher speaking often ends there. The adult's job is to sit with the student, write the questions down before the call and make sure nothing important is missed.

Are there medicine places in clearing?

Occasionally, but they are rare, they appear without warning and they are usually gone within hours. The number of places for home students at UK medical and dental schools is capped, which is the main reason so little reaches clearing.

The bar is not lower either. Published entry requirements and admissions test thresholds normally still apply, an interview may be required at a day's notice, and several schools restrict clearing to applicants who applied for that subject in the same cycle. Treat any place that appears as a bonus, not a plan.

Can a student who missed their grades still get their place?

Often, yes. Universities frequently confirm applicants who narrowly miss, particularly where the shortfall is in a subject the course does not require, and the decision may be made before the student has even checked. So look at UCAS Hub before ringing anyone.

Is reapplying after no offers worth it?

Yes, and it is common. A second application is a different application: achieved grades replace predicted ones, the admissions test can be sat again in the new cycle, there is another year of work experience, and the four choices can be matched to each school's published weighting. That last one is often where a reapplicant gains most.

What should a school not do on results day?

Do not let a student decline a place or accept a clearing offer in the first hour, because both are very hard to reverse. Do not ring a university on a student's behalf, and do not guess at the deadline or cost of a priority review of marking, because those change and a wrong answer could mean a family misses the window. Leave planning a reapplication for another day.

Before August

The two pages to read before results day

Most of what makes results morning go well happens months earlier, in what families have already been told and in how the cohort was supported through the cycle.

The parents' FAQ handoutSupporting every applicant

Everything in the teacher section is free and open, with nothing to log in to. If a termly email flagging what has changed would help, ask for it.

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