A Peterborough law student had never considered studying at the University of Leicester until just days before A-level results day.
After spending much of the year focused on apprenticeship applications, university plans had taken a back seat for Rosie Lane.
She said: "I'd applied to Birmingham, I'd applied to Southampton, and maybe one other.
"But Leicester I'd never even looked at."
When her boyfriend suggested looking at Leicester as a backup option, they visited the city and Oadby Student Village the day before results day.
She said: "If nothing else, we visited a new city.
"I loved it.
"I really, really loved it."
The shorter distance to Leicester—around an hour compared to two hours for Birmingham—soon proved invaluable, allowing her to return home every weekend during term time.
When her place at Birmingham didn’t materialise, Ms Lane rang Leicester’s clearing hotline.
She said: "They asked my name, my school, my results, and what course I wanted to do.
"Just very easy questions, and really quite reassuring."
Within a year, she completed her first year of law with first-class grades, and is now the law student representative for the upcoming academic year.
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