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Where can I get a contextual offer?

74 UK universities set their own contextual offer criteria for 2027 entry, so the same applicant can qualify at one and not the next. This page explains what they mean; the free checker tests yours against all of them.

How contextual offers are decided

There is no single national scheme. Each university publishes its own set of criteria, and they're usually a mix of your school background, the area you live in, and your personal circumstances: a UK state school, a low-participation or high-deprivation postcode, free school meals, care experience, estranged-student status, or a widening-access programme are the ones that come up most often. Because every list is different, the same applicant can qualify at one university and not at the next.

Checking it by hand is slow. Your postcode alone has to be looked up across several separate measures (IMD, and SIMD, WIMD or NIMDM depending on where in the UK you live, plus POLAR4 and TUNDRA), each published by a different body, and each read in quintiles or deciles that universities set their own thresholds against. Your school is harder still: whether it counts as a widening-participation school depends on a list each university keeps to itself.

We built the contextual offer checker to collapse all of that into a few questions. Enter your postcode and school (both optional), answer the rest, and it tests your answers against every university's published criteria to give you a list of the ones you could get a contextual offer at.

What each contextual offer criterion actually means

Universities use a lot of jargon. These are the criteria UK universities actually use, in plain English.

Area-based criteria (worked out from your home postcode)

POLAR4

POLAR4 (Participation of Local Areas, version 4) ranks every small area in the UK by the proportion of its young people who go on to higher education by age 19. Universities read it in quintiles, each 20% of areas: quintile 1 is the lowest-participating fifth of the country, quintile 2 the next fifth. Schemes usually accept quintile 1 on its own, or quintiles 1 and 2 together. POLAR4 has been the standard measure for years and is being replaced by TUNDRA, but plenty of schemes still name it.

TUNDRA

TUNDRA (Tracking Underrepresentation by Area) is the measure replacing POLAR4 from the 2025 admissions cycle onwards. It measures the same thing (young participation in higher education by area) but uses more recent data, and is published at two area sizes: LSOA (smaller) and MSOA (larger). Quintile 1 is the lowest-participating 20% of areas, quintile 2 the next 20%. A university naming TUNDRA usually accepts either the LSOA or the MSOA version, so it is worth checking both.

IMD (England)

The Index of Multiple Deprivation is the English measure of area disadvantage, combining income, employment, education, health, crime, housing and living-environment data. It ranks every small area from most to least deprived, and universities read it in quintiles (each 20% of areas) or deciles (each 10%). The thresholds that come up most often are quintile 1 (the most deprived 20%) and quintiles 1-2 (the most deprived 40%). It describes the area you live in, not your household's own income.

WIMD (Wales)

The Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation is Wales's equivalent of the IMD, ranking small areas by the same kind of combined deprivation measures. As elsewhere, the usual thresholds are quintile 1 (the most deprived 20%) and quintiles 1-2 (the most deprived 40%), and it is your home area rather than your household income that counts.

NIMDM (Northern Ireland)

The Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure performs the same role in Northern Ireland. Universities there typically accept the most deprived 20% of areas, or the most deprived 40%.

SIMD (Scotland)

The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation is the Scottish measure, and the one most widely used by universities north of the border. Scottish schemes usually name it by the share of areas included: SIMD20 is the most deprived 20% of Scotland, SIMD40 the most deprived 40%.

Low socio-economic area (ONS area classification)

The ONS Output Area Classification sorts every neighbourhood into eight supergroups based on its residents' occupations, qualifications and housing. Supergroups 7 and 8 ('semi- and un-skilled workforce' and 'legacy communities') are used as a free stand-in for the commercial ACORN or Censation affluence classifications some universities license.

Rural or remote area

Based on the Scottish 8-fold urban/rural classification: classes 4 to 8 cover accessible rural through very remote rural areas. Some universities treat rural isolation as a barrier to participation in its own right.

Personal circumstances (the ones you tell the university)

'Home' fee status

You are classified as a home student for tuition fees, normally because you have lived in the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for the three years before the course starts. Most contextual schemes are funded only for home students, so this is often a hard requirement even when it is not one of the 'qualifying' criteria.

Free school meals

You have been eligible for free school meals at some point during school, though some universities require a minimum number of years or a specific key stage. Eligibility is usually checked automatically through the data UCAS shares with universities, so you do not normally have to prove it yourself.

Care experience

You have spent time in local authority care, including as a looked-after child or a care leaver. Care experience is one of the criteria offered by almost every university, and many of them guarantee a contextual offer rather than assessing it case by case.

Estranged student

You are studying without the support of your parents or guardians. Student Finance England recognises you as estranged if you have not had contact with them for a set period (usually 12 months). Universities accept the same definition and often ask for the same evidence.

Caring responsibilities

You have unpaid caring responsibilities for a family member or another person, for example as a young carer, or as a parent yourself. Some schemes specifically mean young carers, so check the wording.

Refugee or asylum-seeker status

You or your family hold refugee status, are seeking asylum, or have humanitarian protection. Universities that treat this as an automatic qualifying criterion usually also offer extra financial and pastoral support.

Low household income

Your household income is below a threshold the university sets, commonly around £25,000. It is normally verified through your means-tested student finance assessment or your UCAS application rather than by submitting payslips.

Widening-participation school

Your school or college is on the university's target list, because it has low progression to higher education, below-average attainment, a high proportion of disadvantaged pupils, or an existing partnership with the university. You cannot usually tell from the outside; the checker uses the wider-participation measures published for schools, or you can ask the university.

First generation at university

Neither of your parents or guardians completed a university degree. Usually declared on your UCAS application, and a slightly softer criterion because it is hard for universities to verify independently.

A widening-access programme

You have completed a recognised access or outreach scheme, for example the Sutton Trust, Realising Opportunities, IntoUniversity, a university's own summer school, or an 'Access to' scheme naming the university you are applying to. Some universities only accept their own programme, so check the specific scheme.

Disability or long-term health condition

You have a disability, a learning difference such as dyslexia, ADHD or autism, or a long-term health condition. Some universities treat this as a contextual criterion; others handle it only through support services and exam access arrangements, so it is worth checking which.

Mature student

You will be 21 or over when the course starts. Mature applicants often take different entry qualifications, and several universities use a separate offer range for them.

Armed-forces family or veteran

A parent or guardian served in the armed forces, or you are yourself a veteran or service leaver. This criterion often comes with extra financial support from the university as well as a reduced offer.

Underrepresented ethnic background

You are from an ethnic-minority background that is underrepresented in higher education. Where universities use this criterion it is usually alongside, not instead of, the area-based measures.

Disrupted education

Your education has been significantly interrupted or affected by bereavement, serious illness, family breakdown or a similar event. Universities normally ask for this to be described in your UCAS reference or a mitigating-circumstances form rather than being a tick-box criterion.

UK state school

You attend, or most recently attended, a state-funded school or college rather than an independent or fee-paying one. Where it is a mandatory requirement it acts as a gate on the rest of the scheme, not as a criterion that qualifies you on its own.

Frequently asked questions about contextual offers

What is a contextual offer?

A contextual offer is a university offer with lower entry requirements than the standard offer, made to an applicant whose background may have limited their opportunities, for example growing up in an area with low participation in higher education, being care-experienced, or attending a school with low progression to university. Universities use them to widen access. You still apply through UCAS in the usual way; the contextual offer is simply the offer you receive.

Which universities give contextual offers?

Most UK universities run some form of contextual or widening-access offer scheme. In our data, around seventy publish criteria in enough detail to check against, including Cambridge, Imperial College London, LSE, Durham, Warwick, UCL, Bristol, Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield. The detail differs a lot from one university to the next: they choose different criteria, different thresholds, and different reductions. The criteria themselves are explained above, and the free checker tests your answers against every scheme at once.

How much lower is a contextual offer?

Usually one grade lower than the standard offer: AAB becomes ABB, or 36 IB points becomes 34. Some universities go two grades lower for the most disadvantaged applicants, and a few guarantee the reduced offer automatically to anyone who meets the criteria. Oversubscribed courses such as medicine, dentistry and veterinary science often have separate rules or are excluded entirely.

Am I eligible for a contextual offer?

It depends on the university, because each one chooses different criteria. The most common routes are: living in a POLAR4 or TUNDRA quintile 1-2 area, living in an area ranked in the most deprived 20-40% by the IMD (or its Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish equivalents), having been eligible for free school meals, being care-experienced, being estranged from your parents, or attending a widening-participation school. The free checker on this site tests your answers against each university's published criteria one by one.

How do I know if my postcode is POLAR4 or TUNDRA quintile 1?

Use the eligibility checker on this site and enter your home postcode; it looks the postcode up against IMD, WIMD, NIMDM, SIMD, POLAR4 and TUNDRA and tells you which thresholds it meets. The postcode itself is never stored. You can also check POLAR4 and TUNDRA directly using the look-up tools published by the Office for Students.

What is POLAR4?

POLAR4 stands for Participation of Local Areas, version 4. It divides the country into small areas and ranks each by the proportion of young people who progress to higher education by age 19. Quintile 1 is the lowest-participating 20% of areas. It has been the standard widening-participation measure for years, and although TUNDRA is replacing it, many universities still name POLAR4 in their published criteria.

What is TUNDRA?

TUNDRA (Tracking Underrepresentation by Area) is the measure that replaces POLAR4 from the 2025 admissions cycle. It measures young participation by area in the same way but uses more recent data and is published for two area sizes, LSOA and MSOA. Universities usually accept whichever version puts you in the lowest-participating quintiles.

What is the IMD and how is it different from POLAR4?

The Index of Multiple Deprivation measures disadvantage in an area: income, employment, education, health, crime, housing and living environment. POLAR4 and TUNDRA measure something narrower: how many young people from an area go to university. A university may use either, or both, and some use the IMD in one nation and SIMD, WIMD or NIMDM in another.

Are contextual offers the same as unconditional offers?

No. A contextual offer is still a conditional offer, just with lower grades than the standard one. You have to meet those grades to be accepted. An unconditional offer is a different thing entirely and is usually made only to applicants who have already met the requirements.

Do I have to apply separately for a contextual offer?

Mostly no. Universities assess eligibility automatically from the data UCAS passes on, such as your postcode, school and free-school-meal history. Some schemes do require an extra step, such as completing a university's own access programme, submitting a mitigating-circumstances form, or ticking a box during application. Because this varies, check the criteria on the university's own admissions page before you apply.

Do contextual offers apply to all courses?

Not always. Medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine and some other highly competitive courses frequently sit outside a university's main contextual scheme, or have their own stricter version. Art, music and portfolio-based courses may also differ. The general statement on a university's contextual admissions page does not always apply to every course it offers.

Does being eligible guarantee I get a contextual offer?

No. Meeting the criteria means a university may make you a contextual offer; it does not guarantee one, and it certainly does not guarantee a place. Some schemes are automatic for everyone eligible, others assess applicants individually, and some courses are excluded. Always read the university's own published policy before relying on it.

What is a widening-participation school?

It is a school or college that a university has identified as a priority for outreach, usually because it has low progression to higher education, below-average exam results, a high proportion of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, or an existing partnership with the university. Because the lists are set by each university, the same school may count for one university and not another.

What is 'home' fee status and why do universities require it?

Home fee status means you are charged the UK rate rather than the international rate, normally because you have lived in the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for the three years before your course starts. Most contextual offer schemes are funded from widening-access budgets that only cover home students, so a university may list home fee status as a hard requirement for its contextual offer.