When to Apply

• Clearing means you can choose to go to university if the UCAS application process hasn't worked out for you, or you haven't applied through UCAS at all.
  
  
• Clearing happens in July and August of the same year you would like to start in September.
  
  
• Clearing is a more direct application to the university, you can contact us to talk about your options.
  
  
• At Edinburgh Napier University we have a Clearing Enquiry Form that you can fill in, and a Clearing telephone number both on our Clearing Page.

Clearing is open from 2 July - 31 August 2026. Places are allocated to people who meet course requirements on a first come, first served basis. We recommend applying through Clearing as early as you can if you’re considering us.

Call us to apply in Clearing as soon as you have your grades. If you're still waiting for exam results, you can get a huge amount of information from our Clearing webpages to make a decision on what course to go for and fill in our enquiry form if you’re not able to call yet.

Anyone can apply through Clearing in July and August. You might use Clearing if:

• You weren't ready to apply to university before, or hadn't made up your mind, but you have now.

• You are changing your career, and a new degree is a good way to start.

• You have changed your mind about the university you want to go to, or what course to study.

• You are already at university but want to go to a different one.

• You haven't received the offers that you wanted from the universities you applied to.

• You have not met the conditions of your 'firm choice' or 'insurance choice' university offers on your UCAS application this year.

For most courses and universities, the deadline for undergraduate applications through UCAS is in January.

This is sometimes known as the ‘equal consideration deadline’, meaning that if you apply by then, you’ll have the full choice of all our courses. 

Only Oxford and Cambridge, and most courses in medicine, veterinary medicine/science, and dentistry have an earlier deadline, usually in October.

14 January 2026 is the next 'equal consideration deadline' for applications to our undergraduate courses through UCAS.

Choose up to five universities, write your personal statement and send it all via the UCAS hub before the deadline. Learn more about how to apply, or check our FAQ section. 

We really encourage any new student considering university to apply before the UCAS equal consideration deadline.

Anyone can apply at this time but if you're still studying for your Highers or A Levels, you'll need to have completed these by the time you start your university course.

If you’ve already applied through UCAS, you can add additional courses to your application through UCAS Extra.

You can only use UCAS Extra if:

• You’ve applied through UCAS
• You’re not holding any offer or waiting for a decision from any of your initial applications.

You can only add one extra choice (university and course) at a time, but once you hear back from that extra choice, you can add a different extra choice.

In 2025 UCAS Extra is open 26 February – 4 July. Remember that you need to have met the UCAS deadline in January to be eligible. Apply through UCAS Extra now.

• Apply through UCAS and choose one 'Extra' university and the course you want to apply to.
  
  
• Contact our admissions team if you have any questions, to see if you're likely to be accepted on your chosen course, or if there are any additional entry requirements (such as a portfolio or online assessment).
  
  
• Select that course and university as your 'Extra' choice on UCAS Hub.
  
  
• When you hear back from this 'Extra' choice, you can accept the offer. If you decline the offer, or an offer is not given, you can start the process again with a different 'Extra' choice.
  
  
• You can do this as many times as you like, but you can only have one 'Extra' option at any one time, you need to hear back from this and not be holding any offers before applying to another university.

If you are able to apply through UCAS Extra, the option will appear on your UCAS Hub. There are a few conditions to applying in this time period, so take a look if it's for you:

• You can only apply through UCAS Extra if you have already applied through UCAS before the January equal consideration deadline.
• You can add an ‘Extra’ choice only if you have used all five UCAS choices in your original application.
• You need to have heard back from all five of your original choices and not have any offers (even conditional offers).
• If you have declined or not received an offer from each of your five choices, you can then apply through UCAS Extra and select an extra choice.