Contextual admissions

We take this information from the 'Diversity and inclusion' section of your UCAS application form. It's important to fill this section in, if you are a care leaver. 

Find out more about the support we provide for care leavers.

The Office for Students (OfS) provides statistics on how likely young people are to participate in higher education depending on the area they live in. They divide every postcode into one of 5 equal groups, known as quintiles. Quintile 1 indicates the lowest participation rates and quintile 5 the highest.

If you live in a postcode assigned to quintile 1 according to either the POLAR4 (participation of local areas) or TUNDRA (tracking underrepresentation by area) classifications, then you live in a low-participation neighbourhood. UCAS will identify this in the data they send to us.

You can use our postcode checker to find out if your home postcode falls within quintile 1.

These are activities and courses we provide, that:

• target students or schools meeting our widening participation criteria
• need an application to attend or participate
• involve sustained commitment over an extended time, or a shorter, more intense period of contact

Our eligible programmes or activities include:

• Learn with US residential activities targeted at students meeting widening participation criteria
• participation in the Learn with US Outreach programme over at least 3 years between Year 9 and 13 and/or have participated in at least 3 Learn with US activities
• programmes or mentoring projects, delivered over an extended period and comprising of at least 3 interactions

If you participate in one of these schemes, and agree to share your data, then details will be sent to our admissions team. You don't need to provide any extra information.

For more information on our widening participation and outreach activities, go to our Ignite your Journey page.

The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) provides information about economic factors such as income, employment and housing across England. It divides areas of England into 10 groups or deciles, according to their level of deprivation. Decile 1 represents the 10% of most deprived areas.

To meet the criteria you must live in a postcode in decile 1 or 2 on the index (The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s’ English Index of Deprivation).

Our postcode checker categorises decile 1 and 2 as IMD quintile 1. Use our checker to find out if your home postcode falls within IMD quintile 1.

The classification of your postcode can change from year to year, so any contextual information only applies to applications for entry in the current year.

Young people in the UK are usually eligible for free school meals if their parents or carers are on a low income or receive certain benefits. You may also be eligible if you are paid qualifying benefits directly, instead of through your parent or carer.

If you meet the criteria, make sure you add this information to the 'More about you' section of your UCAS application form. You'll also need to have registered with your local authority.

Estranged students are defined as young people aged 25 or below, studying without the support and approval of any parent. This is as a result of a breakdown in their relationship which has led to ceased contact. The parent could be biological, step or adoptive parents, or possibly wider family members who have been involved in your care.

We take this information from the 'More about you' section of your UCAS form, so it is important that you state this in your application.

To meet the criteria, you must have applied for and received a bursary voucher for the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT). The test forms part of the application process for our medicine degrees. 

The UCAT Consortium recognises that their test may act as a barrier to some candidates. They therefore provide bursaries for test takers from low-income backgrounds. 

Visit the UCAT website for more information.