We recognise the potential of talented students from all backgrounds.
On this page:
Contextual offers
Summer school, Pathways and Realising Opportunities programme offers for 2021 entry
Apply for an undergraduate course
Contextual offers
We make contextual offers to students whose personal circumstances may have restricted achievement at school or college. These offers are usually one grade lower than the entry requirements on our course pages.
If our standard offer includes a specific subject grade, this will generally remain. For example, if the standard offer is AAB with an A in maths, the contextual offer would be ABB with an A in maths.
Apply for an undergraduate course at the university through UCAS. If your UCAS application shows that you meet the criteria, we will automatically consider you for a contextual offer.
Check if you're eligible
To qualify for a contextual offer, you must have Home/UK fee status and have attended a state school.
One of the following must also apply:
- You live in an area where people are less likely to go to university – check your postcode below
- You have taken part in a summer school with Sutton Trust, UNIQ, Realising Opportunities or Nottingham Potential
- You have refugee status from the Home Office
- You have spent more than three months in care – in this situation, you do not need to have attended a state school
Postcode checker
Type in your home postcode – for example, NG7 2NR.
Postcode eligibility is defined by national measures of participation in higher education, which are subject to change. The data within this postcode checker was last updated in September 2020.
The university will only take into account postcodes that are identified as eligible at the time of making an offer to study one of our courses.
Interviews and tests
Some courses include an interview or test as part of the entry requirements. You will need to pass this before we can make you a contextual offer.
Our admissions staff know that applicants have different access to opportunities and support. They will consider this when assessing your application, qualifications, tests and interviews.
Specific courses
Medicine
We make contextual offers for our five-year medicine courses – A100 and A10L. This offer will be conditional on you making Nottingham your firm choice.
If you won’t meet the entry requirements for the five-year courses, you can apply for our six-year foundation options – A108 and A18L. These courses are only open to applicants who meet the contextual admissions criteria detailed above. Your offer will be made using our standard entry requirements (BBC).
Physiotherapy
You will need to make Nottingham your firm choice to qualify for a contextual offer.
Veterinary medicine
We are unable to make offers below our standard entry requirements. Your contextual offer will be more flexible on the specific subject grades.
Summer school, Pathways and Realising Opportunities programme offers for 2021 entry
We make enhanced contextual offers to students who successfully complete our University of Nottingham summer school or pathways programmes, or the national Realising Opportunities progamme.
These offers are usually two A level grades lower than the entry requirements on our course pages.
Apply for an undergraduate course at the university through UCAS. If your UCAS application shows that you meet the criteria, we will automatically consider you for a contextual offer.
Check if you're eligible
As well meeting the criteria for a contextual offer, to qualify for an enhanced contextual offer you must have completed one of the following:
- the Realising Opportunities Programme at any university
- a University of Nottingham Widening Participation Summer School (either via the Sutton Trust or advertised as Nottingham Potential)
- the Sutton Trust Pathways to Law at the University of Nottingham
- the Sutton Trust Pathways to Medicine at the University of Nottingham
- the Sutton Trust Pathways to STEM at the University of Nottingham.
Exceptions for specific courses
For undergraduate courses with entry requirements of BBB, the lowest enhanced contextual offer we would make is BBC.
Enhanced contextual offers will not be made for Veterinary Medicine, Accountancy - Flying Start or foundation courses.
Medicine
Instead of an enhanced contextual offer, Medicine applicants starting in September 2021, who meet the entry requirements for the five-year Medicine courses (A100 and A10L), will be considered for the interview stage without having to go through the UCAT/GCSE scoring stage of our selection process.
Apply for a course
Apply for an undergraduate course through UCAS. If your UCAS application shows that you meet the above criteria, we will automatically consider you for a contextual offer.
Apply for an undergraduate course