UK University Clearing Chaos: Students on Hold for More Than Three Hours - Unless the University Used 8x8

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08/20/2025 - 04:00 AM

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- As A-level results dropped last Thursday, students across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland scrambled to secure university places through Clearing — and many were forced to wait more than three hours on hold to do so, according to new data from 8x8, Inc. (NASDAQ: EGHT), the industry's most integrated customer experience (CX) platform provider.

In the UK, Clearing is a process where students who do not have a university place or have changed their mind on which course they wish to attend call universities directly after exam results are published to see if they can claim one of the remaining spots.

With more than 22,000 undergraduate courses still open, phone lines across the UK were quickly overwhelmed. And while Clearing technically runs until October, the first few days are critical – with places awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

But for students calling 8x8-powered universities, the experience looked very different. Average wait times dropped to just six seconds, and most calls were resolved end-to-end in under eight minutes.

After the first weekend of Clearing since the exam results dropped, data shared with 8x8 from a number of university bodies revealed:

Across the UK, some applicants were on hold for more than three hours before reaching the relevant university employees.
80% of call volume took place on the Thursday of exam results being received.
8x8-supported universities recorded wait times of less than eight seconds for a call to be answered - while some (non-8x8 supported) universities had average wait times of above 16 minutes.
At 8x8-supported universities, total call handling times were around eight minutes - and in some cases under two minutes.

Removing stress from the process

“Clearing is high-stakes for students and universities alike as every second on hold adds stress and the risk of losing a place or funding,” said Maxine Eunson, Head of Public Sector and Universities at 8x8, Inc. “I hear that, at non-8x8 supported universities, average handling time on Clearing has been more than ten minutes and it’s great our tools are helping universities be quicker and better than that as we help them move from chaos to clarity.”

8x8 and Education

More information about how 8x8 helps universities and other educational institutions can be found on the company’s customer success page.

About 8x8 Inc.

8x8, Inc. (NASDAQ: EGHT) connects people and organizations through seamless communication on the industry's most integrated platform for Customer Experience – combining Contact Center, Unified Communication, and CPaaS solutions. The 8x8® Platform for CX integrates AI at every level to enable personalized customer journeys, drive operational excellence and insights, and facilitate team collaboration. 8x8 helps customer experience and IT leaders become the heartbeat of their organizations, empowering them to unlock the potential of every interaction. For additional information, visit www.8x8.com, or follow 8x8 on LinkedIn, X, and Facebook.