← All contextual offer schemes

University of Edinburgh contextual offers

University of Edinburgh makes contextual offers (lower entry requirements) to applicants whose background may have limited their opportunities. Here's who qualifies for 2027 entry and how much lower the offer is.

Who is eligible for a contextual offer at University of Edinburgh?

To be considered for a contextual offer from University of Edinburgh you need 'home' fee status, plus one of the following: care experience, refugee or asylum-seeker status, an SIMD20 area, (a low socio-economic area and a UK state-school education), (a POLAR4 quintile 1 area and a UK state-school education), a widening-participation school, a widening-access programme, estrangement from your parents, (caring responsibilities and a widening-access programme), (a low socio-economic area and a widening-participation school), (a POLAR4 quintile 1-2 area and a UK state-school education) or (an SIMD40 area and a widening-participation school).

Everyone must:

• Have 'home' (UK) fee status

Then you need any one of these:

• Are care-experienced or a care leaver
• Have refugee, asylum-seeker or humanitarian-protection status (you or your family)
• Live in Scotland's most deprived 20% of areas (SIMD20)
• Both of:
  • Live in a low socio-economic area (ONS area classification supergroup 7 or 8)
  • Attend, or last attended, a UK state school or college
• Both of:
  • Live in a POLAR4 quintile 1 area (the 20% of areas where fewest young people go to university)
  • Attend, or last attended, a UK state school or college
• Attend a school or college with low progression to university, low results, or on the university's widening-participation list
• Have completed a recognised access or outreach programme (e.g. Sutton Trust, Realising Opportunities, or the university's own scheme)
• Are estranged from your parents or guardians
• Both of:
  • Have caring responsibilities (a young carer, a parent, or similar)
  • Have completed a recognised access or outreach programme (e.g. Sutton Trust, Realising Opportunities, or the university's own scheme)
• Both of:
  • Live in a low socio-economic area (ONS area classification supergroup 7 or 8)
  • Attend a school or college with low progression to university, low results, or on the university's widening-participation list
• Both of:
  • Live in a POLAR4 quintile 1 or 2 area (the 40% of areas where fewest young people go to university)
  • Attend, or last attended, a UK state school or college
• Both of:
  • Live in Scotland's most deprived 40% of areas (SIMD40)
  • Attend a school or college with low progression to university, low results, or on the university's widening-participation list

Criteria based on where you live are worked out from your home postcode, which the checker looks up for you. Each link above explains what the criterion means.

How much lower is University of Edinburgh's contextual offer?

Across the 225 University of Edinburgh courses where we have both offers, the contextual offer is most often up to two grades lower (101 courses; for example AAA–ABB becomes ABB), and between one and five grades lower overall. Where the standard offer is a range (219 courses), we compare with the top of the range.

Contextual offer for each University of Edinburgh course (341)

Course	Standard	Contextual
Accounting and Business	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Accounting and Finance	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Acoustics and Music Technology	—	ABB
Anatomy and Development	AAB	ABB
Ancient History	AAA–ABB	ABB
Ancient and Medieval History	AAA–ABB	ABB
Animation	—	ABB
Applied Mathematics	A*A*A*–A*AB	A*AB
Applied Mathematics	A*A*A*–A*AB	A*AB
Applied Sport Science	AAB–ABB	ABB
Arabic and Ancient Greek	—	ABB
Arabic and Business	—	ABB
Arabic and French	—	ABB
Arabic and History	—	ABB
Arabic and Persian	—	ABB
Arabic and Politics	—	ABB
Arabic and Social Anthropology	—	ABB
Arabic and Spanish	—	ABB
Arabic with Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies	—	ABB
Archaeology	—	ABB
Archaeology and Ancient History	—	ABB
Archaeology and Social Anthropology	—	ABB
Architectural History and Archaeology	—	ABB
Architectural History and Heritage	—	ABB
Architecture BA/	A*A*A–AAA	ABB
Artificial Intelligence	A*A*A*–AAB	ABB
Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science	A*A*A*–AAB	ABB
Astrophysics	AAA–ABB	ABB
Astrophysics	AAA–ABB	ABB
Biological Sciences	AAA–ABB	ABB
Biological Sciences (Biochemistry)	AAA–ABB	ABB
Biological Sciences (Biotechnology)	AAA–ABB	ABB
Biological Sciences (Cell Biology)	AAA–ABB	ABB
Biological Sciences (Development, Regeneration, and Stem Cells)	AAA–ABB	ABB
Biological Sciences (Ecology)	AAA–ABB	ABB
Biological Sciences (Evolutionary Biology)	AAA–ABB	ABB
Biological Sciences (Genetics)	AAA–ABB	ABB
Biological Sciences (Immunology)	AAA–ABB	ABB
Biological Sciences (Molecular Biology)	AAA–ABB	ABB
Biological Sciences (Molecular Genetics)	AAA–ABB	ABB
Biological Sciences (Plant Science)	AAA–ABB	ABB
Biological Sciences (Zoology)	AAA–ABB	ABB
Biological Sciences MBiol	AAA–ABB	ABB
Biological Sciences with Management	AAA–ABB	ABB
Biomedical Sciences	AAB	ABB
Business Management	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Business and Economics	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Business and Law	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Business with Decision Analytics	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Business with Enterprise and Innovation	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Business with Human Resource Management	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Business with Marketing	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Business with Strategic Economics	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Celtic	—	ABB
Celtic and Archaeology	—	ABB
Celtic and English Language	—	ABB
Celtic and English Literature	—	ABB
Celtic and French	—	ABB
Celtic and Linguistics	—	ABB
Celtic and Scandinavian Studies	—	ABB
Celtic and Scottish History	—	ABB
Celtic and Scottish Literature	—	ABB
Chemical Engineering	AAA–ABB	ABB
Chemical Engineering	AAA–ABB	ABB
Chemical Physics	AAA–ABB	ABB
Chemical Physics MChemPhys	AAA–ABB	ABB
Chemistry	AAA–ABB	ABB
Chemistry	AAA–ABB	ABB
Chinese	—	ABB
Chinese and French	—	ABB
Chinese and German	—	ABB
Chinese and History	—	ABB
Chinese and Linguistics	—	ABB
Chinese and Russian Studies	—	ABB
Chinese and Spanish	—	ABB
Civil Engineering	ABB–BBB	BBB
Civil Engineering	ABB–BBB	BBB
Classical Archaeology and Ancient History	AAA–ABB	ABB
Classical Studies	AAA–ABB	ABB
Classics	AAA–ABB	ABB
Cognitive Science (Humanities)	—	ABB
Computational Physics	AAA–ABB	ABB
Computational Physics	AAA–ABB	ABB
Computer Science	A*A*A*–AAB	ABB
Computer Science	A*A*A*–AAB	ABB
Computer Science and Mathematics	A*A*A*–A*AB	A*BB
Earth Science and Physical Geography	ABB–BBB	BBB
Earth Science and Physical Geography MEarthSci	ABB–BBB	BBB
Earth Sciences	ABB–BBB	BBB
Earth Sciences MEarthSci	ABB–BBB	BBB
Ecological and Environmental Sciences	AAA–ABB	ABB
Ecological and Environmental Sciences with Management	AAA–ABB	ABB
Economics	A*A*A*–A*AA	ABB
Economics and Accounting	A*A*A*–A*AA	ABB
Economics and Mathematics	A*A*A*–A*AA	A*BB
Economics and Politics	A*A*A*–A*AA	ABB
Economics and Statistics	A*A*A*–A*AA	A*BB
Economics with Finance	A*A*A*–A*AA	ABB
Economics with Management Science	A*A*A*–A*AA	ABB
Electrical and Mechanical Engineering	AAA–ABB	ABB
Electrical and Mechanical Engineering	AAA–ABB	ABB
Electronics and Computer Science	AAA–ABB	ABB
Electronics and Computer Science	AAA–ABB	ABB
Electronics and Electrical Engineering	AAA–ABB	ABB
Electronics and Electrical Engineering	AAA–ABB	ABB
Engineering BEng/	AAA–ABB	ABB
English Language	—	ABB
English Language and Literature	A*A*A–AAA	ABB
English Literature	A*A*A*–A*AA	ABB
English Literature and Classics	A*A*A*–A*AA	ABB
English Literature and History	A*A*A*–A*AA	ABB
English and Scottish Literature	A*A*A*–A*AA	ABB
Environmental Geoscience	ABB–BBB	BBB
Fashion	—	ABB
Film and Television	—	ABB
Finance and Business	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Fine Art	—	ABB
Fine Art and History of Art	—	ABB
French	AAA–AAB	ABB
French and Business	AAA–AAB	ABB
French and Classics	AAA–AAB	ABB
French and English Language	AAA–AAB	ABB
French and English Literature	AAA–AAB	ABB
French and German	AAA–ABB	ABB
French and History	AAA–AAB	ABB
French and History of Art	AAA–AAB	ABB
French and Italian	AAA–ABB	ABB
French and Linguistics	AAA–AAB	ABB
French and Philosophy	AAA–AAB	ABB
French and Politics	AAA–AAB	ABB
French and Portuguese	AAA–ABB	ABB
French and Russian Studies	AAA–ABB	ABB
French and Scandinavian Studies	AAA–ABB	ABB
French and Social Policy	AAA–AAB	ABB
French and Spanish	AAA–ABB	ABB
Geography	AAA–ABB	ABB
Geography	A*AA–ABB	ABB
Geophysics	AAA–ABB	ABB
German	AAA–ABB	ABB
German and Business	AAA–ABB	ABB
German and Classics	AAA–ABB	ABB
German and English Language	AAA–ABB	ABB
German and English Literature	AAA–ABB	ABB
German and History	AAA–ABB	ABB
German and History of Art	AAA–ABB	ABB
German and Linguistics	AAA–ABB	ABB
German and Philosophy	AAA–ABB	ABB
German and Politics	AAA–ABB	ABB
German and Portuguese	AAA–ABB	ABB
German and Russian Studies	AAA–ABB	ABB
German and Scandinavian Studies	AAA–ABB	ABB
German and Social Policy	AAA–ABB	ABB
German and Spanish	AAA–ABB	ABB
Global Law	A*A*A–A*AA	ABB
Government, Policy and Society	A*AA–AAB	ABB
Government, Policy and Society with Quantitative Methods	A*AA–AAB	ABB
Graphic Design	—	ABB
Health in Social Science	—	ABB
History	A*A*A–AAB	ABB
History and Archaeology	A*A*A–AAB	ABB
History and Classics	A*A*A–AAB	ABB
History and Economics	A*A*A–AAB	ABB
History and History of Art	A*A*A–AAB	ABB
History and Politics	A*A*A*–AAA	ABB
History and Scottish History	A*A*A–AAB	ABB
History of Art	—	ABB
History of Art and Architectural History	—	ABB
History of Art and Chinese Studies	—	ABB
History of Art and English Literature	—	ABB
History of Art and History of Music	—	ABB
History of Art and Scottish Literature	—	ABB
Illustration	—	ABB
Infectious Diseases	AAB	ABB
Informatics (5-year undergraduate Masters Programme) MInf	A*A*A*–AAB	ABB
Interdisciplinary Futures	—	ABB
Interior Design	—	ABB
International Business	A*AA–AAA	ABB
International Business with Chinese	A*AA–AAA	ABB
International Business with French	A*AA–AAA	ABB
International Business with German	A*AA–AAA	ABB
International Business with Italian	A*AA–AAA	ABB
International Business with Japanese	A*AA–AAA	ABB
International Business with Spanish	A*AA–AAA	ABB
International Relations	A*A*A*–AAA	ABB
International Relations with Quantitative Methods	A*A*A*–AAA	ABB
Islamic Studies	—	ABB
Italian	—	ABB
Italian and Classics	—	ABB
Italian and English Language	—	ABB
Italian and English Literature	—	ABB
Italian and History	—	ABB
Italian and History of Art	—	ABB
Italian and Linguistics	—	ABB
Italian and Philosophy	—	ABB
Italian and Politics	—	ABB
Italian and Spanish	AAA–ABB	ABB
Japanese	—	ABB
Japanese and Linguistics	—	ABB
Jewellery and Silversmithing	—	ABB
Landscape Architecture	—	ABB
Law (Ordinary and Honours) LLB (Hons)	A*A*A–A*AA	ABB
Law and Accountancy	A*A*A–A*AA	ABB
Law and Business	A*A*A–A*AA	ABB
Law and Celtic	A*A*A–A*AA	ABB
Law and French	A*A*A–A*AA	ABB
Law and German	A*A*A–A*AA	ABB
Law and History	A*A*A–A*AA	ABB
Law and International Relations	A*A*A–A*AA	ABB
Law and Politics	A*A*A–A*AA	ABB
Law and Social Anthropology	A*A*A–A*AA	ABB
Law and Social Policy	A*A*A–A*AA	ABB
Law and Sociology	A*A*A–A*AA	ABB
Law and Spanish	A*A*A–A*AA	ABB
Learning in Communities	—	ABB
Linguistics	—	ABB
Linguistics and English Language	—	ABB
Linguistics and Social Anthropology	—	ABB
Mathematical Physics	AAA–ABB	ABB
Mathematical Physics	AAA–ABB	ABB
Mathematics	A*A*A*–A*AB	A*AB
Mathematics	A*A*A*–A*AB	A*AB
Mathematics and Business	A*A*A*–A*AB	A*AB
Mathematics and Physics	A*A*A*–A*AB	A*AB
Mathematics and Statistics	A*A*A*–A*AB	A*AB
Mechanical Engineering	AAA–ABB	ABB
Mechanical Engineering	AAA–ABB	ABB
Medicinal and Biological Chemistry	AAA–ABB	ABB
Medicinal and Biological Chemistry	AAA–ABB	ABB
Middle Eastern Studies	—	ABB
Music BMus	AAB–ABB	ABB
Neuroscience	AAB	ABB
Nursing Studies BN (Hons)	—	ABB
Performance Costume	—	ABB
Persian Studies	—	ABB
Persian and English Literature	—	ABB
Persian and Middle Eastern Studies	—	ABB
Persian and Social Anthropology	—	ABB
Pharmacology	AAB	ABB
Philosophy	A*AA–AAB	ABB
Philosophy and Economics	A*A*A–AAB	ABB
Philosophy and English Literature	A*A*A–AAB	ABB
Philosophy and Linguistics	A*A*A–AAB	ABB
Philosophy and Mathematics	A*A*A–A*BB	A*BB
Philosophy and Politics	A*A*A–AAB	ABB
Philosophy and Psychology	A*A*A–AAA	ABB
Philosophy and Scottish Literature	A*A*A–AAB	ABB
Philosophy and Theology	—	ABB
Physical Education	—	ABB
Physics	AAA–ABB	ABB
Physics	AAA–ABB	ABB
Physics with a Year Abroad	AAA–ABB	ABB
Politics	A*A*A*–AAA	ABB
Politics with Quantitative Methods	A*A*A*–AAA	ABB
Politics, Philosophy and Economics	A*A*A*–A*AA	ABB
Portuguese	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Portuguese and English Language	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Portuguese and English Literature	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Portuguese and Linguistics	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Portuguese and Philosophy	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Portuguese and Scottish Literature	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Primary Education with Gaelic (Fluent Speakers)	—	ABB
Primary Education with Gaelic (Learners)	—	ABB
Product Design	—	ABB
Psychology	A*A*A*–AAA	ABB
Psychology and Business	A*A*A*–AAA	ABB
Psychology and Economics	A*A*A*–AAA	ABB
Psychology and Linguistics	A*A*A*–AAA	ABB
Psychology and Sociology	A*A*A*–AAA	ABB
Religion, Culture and Society	—	ABB
Religious Studies and English Literature	—	ABB
Religious Studies and Scottish Literature	—	ABB
Reproductive Biology	AAB	ABB
Russian Studies	—	ABB
Russian Studies and Classics	—	ABB
Russian Studies and English Language	—	ABB
Russian Studies and English Literature	—	ABB
Russian Studies and History	—	ABB
Russian Studies and History of Art	—	ABB
Russian Studies and Linguistics	—	ABB
Russian Studies and Philosophy	—	ABB
Russian Studies and Politics	—	ABB
Russian Studies and Scandinavian Studies	AAA–ABB	ABB
Russian Studies and Social Policy	—	ABB
Russian Studies and Spanish	AAA–ABB	ABB
Scandinavian Studies (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish)	—	ABB
Scandinavian Studies and Classics	—	ABB
Scandinavian Studies and English Language	—	ABB
Scandinavian Studies and English Literature	—	ABB
Scandinavian Studies and History	—	ABB
Scandinavian Studies and Linguistics	—	ABB
Scandinavian Studies and Philosophy	—	ABB
Scandinavian Studies and Politics	—	ABB
Scandinavian Studies and Social Policy	—	ABB
Scandinavian Studies and Spanish	AAA–ABB	ABB
Scottish Ethnology	—	ABB
Scottish Ethnology and Archaeology	—	ABB
Scottish Ethnology and Celtic	—	ABB
Scottish Ethnology and English Language	—	ABB
Scottish Ethnology and English Literature	—	ABB
Scottish Ethnology and Scandinavian Studies	—	ABB
Scottish Ethnology and Scottish History	—	ABB
Scottish Literature	—	ABB
Scottish Literature and Classics	—	ABB
Scottish Literature and History	—	ABB
Scottish Literature and Scottish History	—	ABB
Scottish Studies	—	ABB
Social Anthropology	AAA–AAB	ABB
Social Anthropology and Politics	AAA–AAB	ABB
Social Anthropology and Social Policy	AAA–AAB	ABB
Social Anthropology with Development	AAA–AAB	ABB
Social Policy and Economics	A*AA–AAB	ABB
Social Policy and Law	A*AA–AAB	ABB
Social Policy and Politics	A*AA–AAB	ABB
Social Policy and Sociology	A*AA–AAB	ABB
Social Policy with Quantitative Methods	A*AA–AAB	ABB
Social Work	—	ABB
Sociology	AAA–AAB	ABB
Sociology and Politics	AAA–AAB	ABB
Sociology and Social Anthropology	AAA–AAB	ABB
Sociology with Quantitative Methods	AAA–AAB	ABB
Software Engineering	A*A*A*–AAB	ABB
Spanish	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Spanish and Business	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Spanish and Classics	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Spanish and English Literature	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Spanish and History	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Spanish and History of Art	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Spanish and Linguistics	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Spanish and Philosophy	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Spanish and Politics	A*AA–AAA	ABB
Spanish and Portuguese	AAA–ABB	ABB
Sport Management	AAA–ABB	ABB
Structural Engineering with Architecture	AAA–ABB	ABB
Structural Engineering with Architecture	AAA–ABB	ABB
Structural and Fire Safety Engineering	ABB–BBB	BBB
Structural and Fire Safety Engineering	ABB–BBB	BBB
Sustainable Development	AAA–ABB	ABB
Textiles	—	ABB
Theology	—	ABB
Theoretical Physics	AAA–ABB	ABB
Theoretical Physics	AAA–ABB	ABB

See every University of Edinburgh course for the full entry requirements.

University of Edinburgh's official policy

This page summarises University of Edinburgh's published contextual offer policy. Meeting the criteria means University of Edinburgh may make you a contextual offer; it doesn't guarantee one, and some courses (often medicine, dentistry and other heavily oversubscribed courses) can have their own rules. Always check the university's own policy before relying on it.

Other universities' contextual offers

• Aberystwyth University
• Aston University
• Bangor University
• Bath Spa University
• Birmingham City University
• Bournemouth University
• Brunel University of London
• Cardiff Metropolitan University
• Cardiff University
• City St George's, University of London
• Coventry University
• Durham University
• Edge Hill University
• Edinburgh Napier University
• Glasgow Caledonian University
• Goldsmiths, University of London
• Harper Adams University
• Heriot-Watt University
• Imperial College London
• Keele University
• King's College London
• Lancaster University
• London School of Economics and Political Science
• Loughborough University
• Newcastle University
• Northumbria University
• Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh
• Queen's University Belfast
• Robert Gordon University
• Royal Holloway, University of London
• Sheffield Hallam University
• Swansea University
• UWE Bristol
• University College London
• University of Aberdeen
• University of Bath
• University of Birmingham
• University of Bristol
• University of Cambridge
• University of Chester
• University of Chichester
• University of Derby
• University of Dundee
• University of East Anglia
• University of East London
• University of Exeter
• University of Glasgow
• University of Gloucestershire
• University of Hull
• University of Kent
• University of Lancashire
• University of Leeds
• University of Leicester
• University of Lincoln
• University of Liverpool
• University of Manchester
• University of Plymouth
• University of Reading
• University of Salford
• University of Sheffield
• University of South Wales
• University of Southampton
• University of Strathclyde
• University of Suffolk
• University of Surrey
• University of Sussex
• University of Wales Trinity Saint David
• University of Warwick
• University of Winchester
• University of Wolverhampton
• University of Worcester
• University of York
• University of the Arts London