On the day that A-level results were released, I was up at six in morning. I logged straight into Ucas Track, desperate to see if I had got into my dream university, but my heart dropped as I realised that I hadn’t received the grades I needed for my first choice. I was heartbroken and I panicked after realising that my insurance choice, although fine as a backstop, was not the right university for me.

After almost having a breakdown, I noticed that Bournemouth University was advertising opportunities to get in through clearing. I rang the clearing helpline and was put through to a woman who was very helpful. She gave me a quick interview over the phone asking about my previous experience and why I wanted to go to Bournemouth, then said: “We’d like to offer you a place here.”

I was overjoyed. I went from crying my eyes out to screaming with joy, all because of clearing. There were a couple of administrative issues along the way; I had a few problems with Ucas, as I didn’t realise that I had to cancel my insurance place through email - once I did realise, I then managed to send the email to the wrong email address.

A lecturer from my current course visited my school to talk to us about the university, and that inspired me to visit the open day. From then on, I fell in love with both the course and the university.

Although the initial rejection was extremely stressful, I’m ecstatic at how everything turned out; I can’t believe how lucky I’ve been to get a place. I’m very happy on my course and have loved my first year at university. I’m so grateful to have been given this opportunity - I honestly don’t know what I would’ve done without clearing.

Emily Reason is a multi-media journalism undergraduate at Bournemouth University