Archie Dyer

After changing his mind about where he wanted to study, 20-year-old Archie from Manchester rang Northumbria’s Clearing hotline and secured a place at the University within ten minutes.  

Archie is studying for a degree in Economics and is heading into his third year on the course. He was apprehensive at first, as he explained: “I thought I would be behind in comparison to other students as I hadn’t studied A-Level Maths, but everyone starts at the same point. The first year of the degree is dedicated to bringing everyone up to speed so no one is disadvantaged.”

He added: “I knew that Northumbria would help open up doors for my future career, so I’m looking forward to taking advantage of all those opportunities. I’ll soon be traveling to Nice in France to begin my year-long study abroad at one of the top business schools in Europe.

“Not only will I continue studying economics and finance, but I’ve decided to pick up a French module, to help immerse myself in the culture. I’m excited to continue with my degree whilst seeing more of the world and, when I arrive back in Newcastle for the final year of my degree, I’ll have more knowledge and experience to feed into my assignments – setting me up for success.”

Archie spends a lot of time at Northumbria’s sports facilities including the £30 million world-class Sport Central which has recently had all new state-of-the-art fitness equipment installed. He also makes use of the 3G football pitch at Coach Lane campus, on which he frequently plays.

Archie said: “When I was applying through Clearing, one of my mates had just graduated from Northumbria and raved about the sports available at the University. The gym is great and very well-priced for a student and I play football every week as part of a league of students, which has been a great way to get to know people – on and off the pitch.

“Besides sports, I think the subscriptions available for students are fantastic. I get free access to the Financial Times, which is great for researching and assignments. But I also enjoy reading it for leisure. As an Economics student, this subscription is invaluable.”

Archie had initially received an offer from his insurance choice but came through clearing after deciding he wanted to study Economics at Northumbria University. He said: “I thought the whole process would be a lot more stressful than it was as I hadn’t really considered it as an option. But once I got through to Northumbria’s Clearing Hotline, I had been made an offer and secured a place at the student accommodation I wanted, all within 10 minutes."

“I would tell other students who are coming through Clearing, to remember that. Whatever your reason for ringing the hotline, it will be over within a few minutes, and then you’re free to celebrate. Get up early so you’re ahead of the day and contact universities as soon as possible.”

For more information, visit Northumbria University’s Clearing Hub.