Get set up before your catchment does.
Applicaa Post-16 Clearing · For FE Colleges

Fill Your Places Fast

Every year, students in your catchment miss the grades for their first choice and risk dropping out. Their schools can flag them to you — early, before enrolment closes — so you can offer a place. Expect 20–40 warm, in-catchment applications, not a results-day scramble.

Post-16 recruitment as a strategy, not a scramble.

£0
to take part
No platform fee · no per-student charge · no lock-in

Every empty place on results day is a young person at risk of becoming NEET. Applicaa Post-16 Clearing is free for schools and colleges — we're not looking to profit from results day, just to make sure every student who wants a place gets one.

What is Applicaa Post-16 Clearing?

Applicaa Post-16 Clearing is how FE colleges reach students in their catchment who are at risk of dropping out — students their schools refer to you, so you can offer a place before they enrol elsewhere.

Post-16 clearing is a strategy, not a scramble. UCAS owns clearing for universities. Applicaa owns it for further education.

How the matching works

Three inputs. One shortlist to act on.

Feeder schools flag the students most at risk; Applicaa matches them to the courses you still have places on — so what reaches you is a shortlist that already fits, not a cold list to work through.

GCSE results data

Aggregate results from 2,200+ Applicaa feeder schools — grades, subjects, average point score.

Your entry requirements

The grade profile and subject mix your courses actually need — A-levels, BTECs, T Levels.

Your empty places

The courses and cohorts you still have capacity in.

A shortlist of eligible, in-catchment students their schools have referred to you

Ready before enrolment closes. Aggregate data only — no personal student information leaves the platform until a referred student responds.

The admissions-year timeline

How it actually plays out — before, during and after results.

It doesn't start at 8am on results day. It starts weeks earlier, when schools already know which students are unlikely to stay — and runs through results and enrolment week, when those students are referred to you and you make your offers.

  1. Before results
    Schools flag their at-risk students

    Careers leads — the people who already know their students — shortlist the ones unlikely to stay or at risk of becoming NEET. It's in the school's interest to help them find a place.

  2. Results & enrolment week
    Referrals routed to your college

    Shortlisted students are routed to you through ApplicaOne, matched to the courses you still have places on — with the grades, subjects and distance you need to judge fit.

  3. You offer
    Empty places filled — no scramble

    You review the shortlist and make offers on your terms, filling your empty places before students slip through the gap. No cold-calling, no results-day scramble.

You stay in control of who you offer

Filter the referred shortlist by what matters to your courses — subject, grade profile and distance (e.g. A-level Maths, within 7 miles, a grade 6+ in GCSE Maths) — and make offers to the students who fit. Referred by their schools, matched to your places.

Mission-first · Free for schools and colleges

We built this to stop young people falling into NEET — not to make money.

Every August, thousands of 16-year-olds don't get the results they hoped for and slip through the cracks between schools, colleges and providers. Applicaa Post-16 Clearing is our answer to that. It is free for every school and college in the 2026 pilot — no platform fee, no per-student charge, no upsell on results day. Our team and Emma hand-crank it alongside you because getting every young person into a place matters more than a pricing page.

What we bring
  • GCSE catchment data from 2,200+ feeder schools
  • A schools-first referral flow — feeder schools flag at-risk students to you
  • Emma + a real human running results day with you, live
  • Every product feature — no gated tiers during the pilot
What you bring
  • 20 minutes to onboard your college
  • A named contact on the ground for results day
  • Honest feedback that shapes the product
  • Willingness to share your results-day story afterwards
What it costs
  • £0. Free for every school and college.
  • No platform fee, no per-student charge
  • No lock-in, no auto-renewal, no upsell on results day
  • We're funding this because fewer NEETs is the point
Cohort places
10 spots open · applications open now
Applicaa's existing FE customers are automatically enrolled. The 10 open spots are for FE colleges and sixth forms not yet on Applicaa.
Apply to join the 2026 pilot →

Places allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. We may cap the pilot at fewer than 10 colleges if we can't deliver a hands-on results day for every college who applies.

You won't be running results day alone

Meet Emma.

Emma is Applicaa's AI agent. During the pilot, she works alongside our team to hand-craft your outreach to referred students and flag the highest-priority ones in real time — for every pilot college.

In the pilot, Emma
  • Drafts personalised outreach to referred students in your college's tone of voice
  • Flags the highest-priority referrals to your team as they come in
Coming soon
  • Ranks students by fit for your courses automatically
  • Chases non-responders automatically inside your rules

The pilot is white-glove. Emma is doing the mechanics; a real person from our team is on Slack with you all day.

How it works

1

Pick your college

Search above. We show the scale of demand within 7 miles of your college — anonymised catchment pockets, not named schools.

2

Book a 20-min demo

We walk you through the schools-first referral workflow, tailored to your subject mix and admissions process.

3

Live before 21 Aug

Sign up and we wire up Applicaa Post-16 Clearing before results week. You go into enrolment with warm, referred enquiries, not an empty inbox.

Free for schools and colleges · 2026 pilot

Apply to join the 2026 pilot cohort.

20-minute call. If your college fits and there's a spot open, you're in — with free access to Applicaa Post-16 Clearing for results day 2026 and Emma running the mechanics with you. No fee, no catch: our mission is fewer NEETs, not a bigger invoice.

  • £0 for the 2026 pilot — no platform fee, no per-student charge
  • No upsell on results day — we won't pitch you while you're recruiting
  • Live before 21 August — no changes to your existing MIS
  • Emma + a real human on Slack with you all day
  • No lock-in, no auto-renewal

Frequently asked

The basics

What is Post-16 Clearing?
It is a free way for your college to receive referrals of local students who are at risk of not securing a post-16 place. Rather than waiting for students to find you, their schools flag them to you — so you can offer a place before they slip through the gap, and fewer young people become NEET.
Where does the data come from?
From the [school count]+ schools and colleges that already use Applicaa. We look at GCSE results across feeder schools in England to identify students who may not have reached their first-choice destination. On the public page you see aggregate, institution-level counts only. Inside the platform you see the individual students whose school shares data with your college and who have opted in.
How is this different from UCAS Clearing?
UCAS Clearing is for higher education — university places. Post-16 Clearing is for further education — sixth-form and college places for students leaving Year 11. Different students, a different moment, and a different process.

Students and their data

How do students end up in the system, and have they agreed to it?
This cycle, students are shortlisted by their own school's careers team — the people who already know them — not contacted out of the blue by us. A school only refers a student to a college where it is in that student's interest, and students keep all their rights under UK GDPR (below).
What will I see about each student?
For students their school has referred to you: their name, contact details, their GCSE results and subjects, and enough location detail to judge travel distance. You only ever see students a school has chosen to refer to you — never anyone else in the catchment.
Will other colleges see the same students as me?
Sometimes. A school may refer a student to more than one suitable college in their area — it is not exclusive. The college that makes a strong, personal offer first usually wins the student.
How do I contact students?
By email and SMS from the platform, once a student's school has referred them to you.
What rights do students have, and how do they opt out?
Students keep all of their rights under UK GDPR, including the right to be informed, to access their data, to have it corrected or erased, to object to processing, and to withdraw at any time. A student can remove themselves from the process whenever they choose, via [opt-out route].

Trust, security and compliance

Is it GDPR-compliant?
Data protection is built into how Post-16 Clearing works. The public page shows only aggregate, institution-level counts, never personal data. You only ever see students whose school shares data with you and who have chosen to opt in, and every student keeps the full set of rights described above, including the right to withdraw. Applicaa is ISO 27001:2022 certified and all personal data is held in the UK. Your data protection lead can review our policies, certificates and independent audits at our Trust Centre: trustcenter.applicaa.com.
Is it JCQ / awarding-body embargo compliant?
Yes. No student-level results are visible to your college before 08:00 on results day. Before then you see only aggregate, institution-level counts, never anything student-identifiable. Nothing student-identifiable is released to you, to students, to parents, or to any third party until the embargo lifts.
Where is our data hosted?
In the UK. All Applicaa data is stored on AWS servers in the London region and has never been held outside the UK or EEA. We are ISO 27001:2022 certified, our AWS London environment has been independently audited, and our platforms complete regular penetration tests. Full details, certificates and our sub-processor list are at trustcenter.applicaa.com.

Cost and commitment

What does it cost?
Nothing during the 2026 pilot. Post-16 Clearing is free for all founding-partner colleges — no charge for the platform, and no charge for connecting with students. Existing Applicaa customers are enrolled automatically, and the small number of open pilot places for non-customers are free too. Founding partners get preferred pricing when the pilot ends.
Is this really free, or is there a catch?
It is genuinely free for the 2026 pilot. We are building this with a small cohort of colleges so we can prove the model. In exchange we ask for honest feedback and, if it works for you, permission to share your results-day story afterwards. No auto-renewal and no lock-in.
What happens after the 2026 pilot?
Pilot colleges get founding-partner pricing for 2027 onwards and first refusal on new features. You are not obligated to continue — if the pilot does not deliver for you, you can walk away at no cost.

Getting started

We already have a clearing process. Why this?
Most FE clearing starts on the morning of results day, once students are already phoning around. Post-16 Clearing starts earlier — schools refer their at-risk students to you before results week, so you begin with a warm shortlist, not a cold scramble.
Do we need to integrate with anything?
No. If you are already an Applicaa customer, it simply switches on. If you are joining as a pilot college, we get you live with a light-touch setup — no changes to your existing MIS or enrolment system.
How do I know my feeder schools are included?
Coverage depends on which schools in your area share data with you. We will confirm the feeder schools covered for your college before you commit, so you know exactly what you are signing up to.
Key dates for 2026
  • Before results week: schools identify and flag the students most at risk of not securing a place.
  • Results & enrolment week: those referrals are routed to your college, matched to your places.
  • From results day onward: you review the shortlist and make offers to fill your empty places.

(GCSE results day 2026: confirm exact date before publishing.)

Who do we contact if we need help?
Our team is on hand throughout the pilot. Email us at [support email] and we will help you get set up and get the most out of results day.