Contextual admissions
We are committed to making higher education accessible to everyone and encourage applications from all students with the potential to succeed.
That's why we consider additional contextual information on an individual basis as part of our assessment of your application. We use a range of measures, in addition to your academic qualifications, to help us understand the context in which you've achieved them. This gives us more insight into your achievements and your potential to study and succeed at university.
When considering your application
We use contextual information to consider your application further, and may:
- Make a reduced contextual offer, lower than typical entry requirements.
- Make a contextual offer when an offer would not normally be made based on your predicted/achieved grades.
- Make a contextual offer for an alternative course, such as a Foundation Year.
- Request additional information or invite you to an interview.
When we receive your results
Should you narrowly miss the conditions of your offer, we will take additional contextual information into account before making a final decision on your application.
What contextual information is used?
The following criteria and measures are what we use to provide further insight into your achievements:
You live in an area of low participation in Higher Education
This is defined as Quintile 1 from POLAR4 data which is mapped to the home postcode indicated in your UCAS application.
To find out if your home postcode falls into POLAR4 Quintile 1 you can use the following postcode look-up tool.
You live in an area of socio-economic deprivation
This is defined as Quintile 1 from Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) data which is mapped to the home postcode indicated in your UCAS application.
To find out if your home postcode falls into IMD Quintile 1 (Deciles 1-2) you can use the IMD lookup tool.
You have previously been eligible and in receipt of free school meals or are currently in receipt of free school meals
Whether you were known to be eligible for and in receipt of free school meals (FSM) at the end of Key Stage 4 (Year 11) and/or six years prior to this point (England) or you were known to be eligible for Free School Meals in the 6 years prior to Year 12 (Northern Ireland) or you were known to have been eligible for Free School Meals between the start of Year 11 and the January five years prior to this (Wales) is shared directly with us by UCAS.
If you have received free school meals or free meals in further education from your school/college since this point, you will need to notify the Admissions Office of this information as soon as possible after submitting your application and before 30 June for it to be considered.This information will require verification by a school/college. You should ask a member of staff at the school/college you attended/attend whilst in receipt of free school meals, to verify this information on official letter headed paper to admissions@lboro.ac.uk. We can only verify this information if received from a school/college email address.
You attend a non-fee paying (state) school or college in the lowest 20% of all schools and colleges in England for average score per A level entry
This is based on the latest school performance data available in September 2023 from the Department for Education and linked to the most recently attended school/college indicated on your UCAs application.
You are currently taking part in Realising Opportunities
This information is taken from your declaration as part of your UCAS application and verified by the Realising Opportunities partnership.
You are currently taking part in LUDUS Gold
This information is taken from your declaration as part of your UCAS application and verified by the LUDUS (Loughborough University’s - Discover University Scheme) Gold team.
You have spent more than three months in care
This information is taken from information shared as part of your UCAS application. Additional supporting evidence of impact on your education from your referee helps for this context to be appropriately considered.
You have caring responsibilities
This information is taken from information shared as part of your UCAS application. Additional supporting evidence of impact on your education from your referee helps for this context to be appropriately considered.
You have a disability or long-term health condition
This information is taken from information shared as part of your UCAS application. Additional supporting evidence of impact on your education from your referee helps for this context to be appropriately considered.
You will be aged 21 or over at the start of the course (defined as mature)
You may require additional consideration based on a period spent away from education, personal circumstances and/or additional work or life experience. This information is taken from your declaration as part of your UCAS application.
You are estranged from your family
This information is taken from information shared as part of your UCAS application. Additional supporting evidence of impact on your education from your referee helps for this context to be appropriately considered.
You are a recognised refugee, asylum seeker or have been granted humanitarian protection
This information is taken from information shared as part of your UCAS application. Additional supporting evidence of impact on your education from your referee helps for this context to be appropriately considered.
You have other personal or extenuating circumstances
Any personal or extenuating circumstances not covered by the above that may have led to significant disruption to your education and therefore had a negative impact on your studies. This information is taken from either your personal statement and/or reference as part of your UCAS application.
Sometimes health, family or general life issues can arise during your studies which may affect your exam performance. If you have any personal or mitigating circumstances which may affect your results, not included in your UCAS application, then you must inform us of this prior to you receiving your results.
Our commitment
Our commitment to widening access to university is outlined in the University’s Access and Participation Plan. An important part of this plan is the University’s use of contextual data and information in the admissions process. This contextual admissions information should be read alongside the University’s Admissions Policy which sets out how we select and admit our students.
For further information about the use of contextual data please contact the Admissions Office.
