Contextualised admissions
What are contextualised admissions?
The University is committed to widening participation and fair access. The admissions team uses contextual information about an applicant to assess their prior academic achievement and potential based on their individual circumstances.
What information is used?
The admissions team may use the following information to decide on an applicant’s admissions offer:
- Geodemographic information. POLAR (Participation of Local Areas), based on the proportion of the young population that participates in higher education.
- Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) which analyses a postcode and takes into consideration income, employment health deprivation and disability, education skills and training, barriers to housing and services, crime and living environment.
- Schooling: If the applicant has attended a state school or a low-performing school. This can include both GCSE and A-Level performance.
- Care: If the applicant has been in local authority care for any period of time within their secondary school studies.
- Estrangement: If an applicant is under the age of 25 and is estranged from their parents/guardians and are thus independent.
- Other social factors: in receipt of free school meals, local area applicant, and low-income household.
How is this information used?
Each application is considered holistically, and the information provided on the application form will be used to make one of the following decisions:
- An offer that is one grade below standard entry requirements of AAB (or equivalent)
- An offer that is two grades below standard entry requirements of AAB (or equivalent)
- Academic scholarship allocation