Contextual offers

• Degree level courses - If you are eligible for a contextual offer, you may receive a reduced UCAS tariff point offer which is up to 16 points less than our standard entry criteria. This typically equates to a two grade drop at A level or other common qualifications:
   
  • A-level students - a 16 point (2 grade) reduction below the advertised typical offer e.g. for a course requiring 120 tariff points, a contextual offer would be made at 104 tariff points
  • BTEC students – a 16 point (1 grade) reduction below the advertised typical offer e.g. for a course requiring 128 tariff points (DDM), a contextual offer would be made at 112 tariff points (DMM)
• Foundation level, CertHE and DipHE courses - if you are eligible for a contextual offer, you may receive a reduced UCAS tariff point offer which is 8 points less than our standard entry criteria. This typically equates to a one grade drop at A level or other common qualifications.

The information we require is provided as part of your UCAS application, so you don’t need to do anything extra.

Qualification requirements

If you are studying 3 A-Levels, or a BTEC extended Diploma, or an A level / BTEC Combination you’ll be eligible for consideration. Other qualifications (e.g. T levels) cannot be considered at this time. We review our contextual admissions policy each year so this may change in future.

Contextual eligibility

• You are seeking asylum or have been granted refugee status - this means that you're in the process of applying for asylum or have received an outcome granting you refugee status by the UK government.
• You have spent time in care - to considered as a care leaver you must be aged 16-25 years old and have been in the care system at some point since you were 14 years old and were in care on or after your 16th birthday. This is the standard government definition. Please make sure you declare your care leaver status on your UCAS application. We offer a range of support for students that are care experienced.
• Your background and educational journey will inform your eligibility - we use contextual data as provided by UCAS’ Modernised Contextual Data Service (MCDS) which is based on Multiple Equality Measure (MEM) categories. MEM is divided into five groups with Group 1 including students least likely to enter higher education and Group 5 students being the most likely to attend higher education. If you’re in Group 1 within either MEM1 or MEM2 categories, you’ll be eligible. Participation of Local Areas (POLAR4) quintile – an indicator for the proportion of students participating in higher education based on your home postcode
   
  • MEM1
    • Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) rank - an indicator which considers seven factors relating to deprivation and education based on your home postcode
    • School type – based on what school you attend – either comprehensive, selective, modern, or independent
    • Participation of Local Areas (POLAR4) quintile – an indicator for the proportion of students participating in higher education based on your home postcode
  • MEM2
    • Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) – an indicator that identifies the proportion of children living in low-income families within the local area
    • Free School Meals (FSM) – eligibility for free school meals at the end of Year 11 and / or six years prior to this point
    • Independent / state school indicator
    • Participation of Local Areas (POLAR4) quintile – an indicator for the proportion of students participating in higher education based on your home postcode

You don’t need to do anything – all the information we need is available from your UCAS application.

If you have been identified as eligible for a lower offer, when you log into the UCAS Hub to view your offer it will include: ‘We have made you a contextual offer’ to make this clear to you. You can see how the conditions of your offer compare to our typical entry requirements on individual course listings within our course subject areas.

Meeting the eligibility criteria for a contextual offer does not guarantee that you will be made an offer. When your application has been received it will be individually assessed, considering the full range of information presented in the application. This includes looking at your academic achievement (demonstrated by predicted and achieved grades), qualification and subject combinations, your academic reference and your personal statement.

Other non-academic entry requirements such as attending an interview or submitting a portfolio will still apply.

For professional courses, GCSE and Level 2 requirements are stipulated by external regulatory bodies and are not included within our contextual offer making scheme.

If you’ve faced other challenging and unexpected circumstances that have significantly affected your level 3 studies (e.g. a bereavement, serious incident, accident, or medical circumstances) that have affected your study or examinations, this would not fall under contextual admissions. However, we’re still here to support you and may be able to take these circumstances into consideration when assessing your application. Please include any extenuating circumstances on your UCAS application form, or if the circumstances occur after you’ve submitted your application, please send full details to applications@salford.ac.uk.