Introduction and Overview Steve Wallis Director of Recruitment and Admissions

 Regular old hands – involved in recruitment throughout the year  Annual old hands – involved in recruitment every year in Clearing  Newcomers – new to Clearing in 2013  Note to all: there are changes this year – it’s not the same as last year

 Full-time Home Undergraduate applicants  Recruited through UCAS  (International applicants will be handled by the International Office in the usual way)  (PG and PT applicants not covered by Clearing)  These will be overwhelmed by the FT H UG at this time of year

 Top 50 by 2017 (top 10 in London)  Moving up will require higher entry grades  Balance of quantity v quality  Last year quality trumped quantity……….  ……….and we under-recruited  This year we need to bring that back into balance  VC’s target is last year’s number + an extra 500 students……………..  ………….without unduly diluting quality

 All FT Home UG recruitment is through UCAS  Centralised, national infrastructure  Our systems, processes, policies, timescales, communications are all driven by UCAS  So when you ask “why on earth do we do it that way”……..  ….the answer is often: “UCAS”

 (simplified!)  Oct – June 30 th “Main Cycle”  Anyone can apply and we can offer unconditional; offer with conditions; reject  July 1 st – Sept 30 th “Clearing”  Only those holding ALL their results can apply  NO conditional offers  We can either offer unconditional or reject

 Low volume of qualification results released…  ….as and when they are available  Eg IB, Pearsons (National Diplomas)  No particular surges or peaks  Can be dealt with swiftly on a day-to-day basis  R&A staff liaising with School staff daily to deal with this work

 A levels !  All results for all English boards released simultaneously  Over 300,000 individuals receive results  Huge surge in activity dealing with applications and with follow-up phone calls  We move into “Main Clearing”

 Saturday 10 th : AL results released to HEIs  Sunday 11 th : Admissions team reconciles results against conditions of the offers  Monday 12 th : continues and completes  Monday 12 th /Tuesday 13 th : Schools deal with borderlines/ alternative offers/etc  Wednesday 14 th : letters out to applicants  Thursday 15 th : applicants receive results and confirmed offers………the phones start ringing

 It’s all in our hands  We can make certain that we meet the +500 target (but at what cost to quality?)  Or we can ensure quality (but at what cost to quantity and meeting target?)  Quality v Quantity ??

 History and experience  Comparative data  New data  Predicted average tariff  Need to decide fast………  ……….and no going back

 Thursday: up to 7,000 calls  Friday: up to 4,000 calls  Operator team increased from 10 to 80  Team deals with all that they are able to  Many will need to be passed to the Schools…  ……..and that’s where you come in

 School teams  Central clearing team  Admissions team  Peak call team  Support staff from other offices  External support (Seimens)  Management (VC led)  Open day unit

 What you are looking at – the electronic clearing application form  What your options are for action  How to assess an application against the Clearing tariff  Technically what you have to do and how to do it on-line  How to deal with other enquiries  How to deal with follow-ups/ring backs

 Saturday 17 th : Clearing Information Day and phone lines open  Sunday 18 th : no activity  Monday 19 th : call centre resumes, up to 2000 calls  Wednesday 21 st : GCSE results released  Carry on daily until decision to stop

 Not a one-way street  Applicants coming to us  Applicants leaving us ◦ Adjustment ◦ Withdrawal  Applicants saying one thing and doing another  Systematic delay between offer and acceptance  People accepting places they have not been offered

 If things are busy on Thursday/Friday why don’t we spread the work into the following week?  When an enquirer ends their call to us and puts the phone down they immediately call South Bank, Westminster, UEL, etc  They are likely to accept a quickly made offer  So next week – they will be gone  Decisions need to be made in minutes (not hours and certainly not days)

 This year more than ever the recruitment cycle has seen much greater collaboration between R&A and the Schools  This will continue into Clearing13  We are the R&A side of that partnership….  ….and you are the School side  Together we can meet the target of +500 with an acceptable quality/quantity balance