Contextual Offer

Hello, everyone!

My name is Liza and I took my A-levels in May 2023, which means that I already have the results. However, I was wondering if I may still be able to contextualise my offer? I remember teacher told me this once way before my A-levels, but I have not given it a proper thought.

The only thing is that I do not come from a deprived area. I did go to a private school, yet on a scholarship and I come from a country where there is currently a war happening.

Any piece of advice would be much appreciated. Have a good day! 😊

Every university has their own rules when it comes to contextual offers. You need to visit the web site of each university to which you're considering applying, and check their criteria for deciding whether or not you are a contextual candidate.

The fact that you have achieved rather than predicted results will not make a difference.

If you can't locate the contextual criteria for each university, just name them here instead.

Most Unis will still consider you for a contextual offer in a gap-year - after that they usually wont.
If you want to make sure, then just give each Uni a call when they reopen on 2 January to check.

Hey! I cannot thank you enough for your prompt response! I was looking into BA Social Anthropology at LSE. And also at King’s (there are a few degrees that are of interest to me). 😄

Generally contextual offers are only given to UK students. The rules differ by university but the most common conditions are
Having been in the care of the local authority.
Living in a post code with low rates attending university.
Taking A levels in a low performing school ie in a UK school whose A level results were in the bottom 40% the previous year.

As can be seen you do not meet the criteria so will not qualify for the contextual offers.

What universities sometimes do is make offers for extenuating circumstances and this is what you might qualify under. There is no way of knowing whether a university will allow this as it is on a case by case basis. You need to ask each university whether they will accept this.

Unfortunately London universities are heavily over subscribed and LSE in particular tends to be extremely strict and has several times more applicants than they have space for and only they can tell you whether they will accept you

For LSE, see the Contextual Admissions section of this page. It details both the criteria they use and the impact being a contextual applicant might have on the application process.

For KCL the relevant page is here.