Hatfield university fields thousands of clearing calls

A TOTAL of 16,500 calls were fielded by the University of Hertfordshire last Thursday, as would-be students sought course places and further advice through clearing.

A team of 50 networkers were on hand at the Hatfield-based uni, taking on initial enquiries from people who had not quite got the grades they wanted.

Calls were then passed to a team of 100 academic and professional colleagues, who made formal place offers.

While thousands have to go through clearing each year, the situation this time took on much more significance, due to the planned hike in uni fees coming in next year.

A uni spokeswoman said: “We entered into clearing as part of our strategy to recruit high quality students and widen participation in higher education.

“The available opportunities this year were in business, computing, engineering, maths, physics, bioscience, geography, pharmacy, psychology, nursing law and creative arts courses.”