Each year, The Student Room remains the go-to destination for applicants preparing for Results Day and transitioning to university. A-Levels Results Day 2024 saw 316,377 users on site throughout the day with over 7,000 posts made. While some celebrate their success, many come to us seeking advice on Clearing.

For 2025, we continue to offer tailored Clearing solutions to ensure your institution stands out. Our multi-channel Clearing packages deliver outstanding reach and budget efficiency, while bespoke options outlined below allow for a customised approach to fit your specific goals.

Whether you're looking to raise awareness, drive applications, or both, we have the right tools to engage students at every stage of the Clearing journey, positioning your university as their top choice. Let us help you capture the attention of prospective students when it matters most.

Brand building
Multi-media packages
Clearing topic sponsorship
Display advertising, both on and off site

Conversion
The Uni Guide search boost

Engagement
Email and SMS
Listicle emails
Competitor targeting SMS or emails

NEW FOR 2025 - DETAILS COMING SOON
Click to call
Clearing-ready leads

Clearing topic sponsorship

As a trusted and well-loved community, students come to The Student Room to connect, ask questions and share information.

With topic sponsorship your university will feature in a space where students are making important decisions about their next steps.

• Enhance brand visibility in active on-site discussions.
• Option to focus on specific subjects or broader categories (e.g. A Levels).
• Front of mind with students during pivotal moments of their academic journey.

A subject focused sponsorship in 2024 achieved 10,000+ impressions with a CTR of 0.36%. Please get in touch with the team so we can advise on expected benchmarks for the subjects/topics that are a priority for you.

Display advertising 

High visibility on the UK's largest online student platform

Digital adverts offer a targeted solution to active students, all driven by our first-party data and insights.

You can further enhance your presence on The Student Room with off-site retargeting. By combining our rich audience insights with retargeting technology we can promote your Clearing messaging in brand-safe locations once they have left The Student Room.

• Drive high intent clicks through targeted positioning on site
• Multiple marketing touchpoints both on and off site
• Average CTR of 0.07% (onsite) and 0.09% (offsite) in 2024

The Uni Guide: Search Boost

The Uni Guide is a valuable platform, attracting applicants in the final stages of their decision-making process around Results Day. 

When your profile matches a user’s course, location, or university search criteria, it appears prominently, ensuring that clicks on your lead buttons (an exclusive feature for UPP Unlimited clients) come from a highly-qualified audience.

With a search boost on The Uni Guide you can:
• Be positioned in one of the top three listings in search results for two weeks
• Maximise your reach during a pivotal decision-making time
• Increase your clicks by up to 110% on average, due to enhanced visibility in search results.

Email Clearing applicants

Our student Clearing database is an audience of prospective applicants who have opted in to hear about Clearing places.

You can apply targeting criteria, such as subject interest or location, to connect with your ideal
applicant audience.

In 2024, Clearing solus emails saw an average open rate of 46.6% and click-to-open rate of 1.95%. As with any email campaign, success depends on delivering the right message to the right audience at the right time. Email performance can vary, with some targeted campaigns achieving significantly higher results, such as an 8.9% click-to-open rate in one subject focused instance.

Listicle emails

An authentic way to reach a minimum of 60,000 prospective Clearing applicants

Feature in a listicle email to reach a huge student audience by splitting your share of voice with other universities. Listicles give students a choice, resulting in a more authentic, user centric experience.

Average clicks per unique client URL in a listicle is 27%.

Choose from Premium and Standard slots (depending on your needs and budget).

SMS

Students are always near their phones, making SMS a powerful tool for instant connection during Clearing.

Sending an SMS during results week ensures your message reaches applicants exactly when they’re making critical decisions.

• Immediate reach to highly engaged Clearing applicants.
• Audience of year 13 students who have opted in, ensuring they are primed for your message.
• Proven strong engagement both before and after results day with average click to deliver in 2024 at 2.6%.

One university fed back their 2024 Clearing SMS with us had nine direct applications and saw a long tail of clicks with engagement continuing days after the send.

Competitor targeted email or SMS

Reach applicants who are interested in your closest competitors

Competitor targeting offers a unique opportunity to reach Clearing applicants who have indicated interest in your competitor universities. This gives you a direct line to students considering similar options.

• Highly targeted email or SMS communication.
• Puts your university front and centre during key decision- making window.

Subject-specific marketing - Email and SMS

Target applicants who have opted-in to hear about specific courses

84% of Clearing opt-ins declared at least one subject interest. Target Clearing applicants who are showing a strong interest in your course or faculty. Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze targeted sends available by email and SMS:

Target by location

Target by subject

Click to call

Timing can be everything when it comes to Clearing spaces so with click to call, students can get in touch with you at the touch of a button throughout Clearing.

We will be launching this new product soon so watch this space.

Clearing-ready leads

Exclusively available for UPP Unlimited clients, this feature will offer a high-profile Clearing button across our platforms: The Student Room, The Uni Guide, and our app. More details coming soon.