City uses contextual admissions to take into account varying individual circumstances and institutional barriers faced by applicants during the application process.
At City, we want all students with the academic potential, motivation, and commitment to be able to access and succeed on our courses. We know that some of you will face circumstances during your education that will impact your grades.
To address this, when we assess your application, we will consider your qualifications alongside other information on your Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) form. In some cases, this will mean you will receive a reduced grade offer from us. This is called a contextual offer.
A contextual offer is a reduction of up to two grades (or up to 16 tariff points) below our standard entry requirements. You can find information on standard entry requirements on our course pages.
Eligibility for contextual offers
To be eligible for a contextual offer you must be:
- A Home-fee paying student
- Applying for the first year of an undergraduate degree through UCAS. (Foundation courses are not included. Applicants to Urdang will not have any grade reduction, as selection is by audition.)
You must also meet one or more of the following criteria:
Have been in local authority care
Having spent three months or more in local authority care. You can find out more about the support we offer to applicants and students who have been in care by visiting our City Cares pages.
This information is taken from your UCAS application form, so if you are a care leaver it is important that you declare this in your application.
Are living in an area where young people are least likely to go onto higher education
Your postcode shows that you live in an area with low progression rates to higher education as measured by POLAR4. You would be eligible if you live in Quintile 1 or 2.
You can check this on the Office for Students website using your postcode.
Have been attending a lower performing school or college
A lower-performing school/college is where their performance places it in the lowest 20% for average QCA points per A-level student (or equivalent) in England, Wales or Northern Ireland as identified by the Department for Education and provided via UCAS.
Read a full list of schools eligible for the contextual offers scheme.
Are the first generation in your family to go to University
If you are the first generation of your family to enter Higher Education you will qualify for a contextual offer.
This information is provided to us by UCAS, as part of your application form.
Are an Estranged Student
An estranged student is a person aged 25 or below, studying without the support and approval of either parent due to a breakdown in their relationship. You can indicate this on your UCAS form and find out more about the support we offer by visiting our City Cares pages.
Have caring responsibilities
A carer is anyone who gives unpaid care to a family member, partner or friend who could not cope without their support. (Note, this may not be the same as parenting responsibilities.) You can indicate this on your UCAS form and find out more about the support we offer by visiting our City Cares pages.
Have been in receipt of Free School Meals
For the 2025 cycle, if you have been in receipt of free school meals up until the end of your final year, you will be eligible to have your UCAS application fee waived, and the University may factor this when making your offer.
Contextual offers are applied to Home applicants with A levels, BTEC, CTEC, LIBF/IFS, WJEC Diploma and International Baccalaureate qualifications. They are not applied to any other qualification.
Applicants with one or more of the Contextual criteria may get a reduced offer of up to two grades depending on their qualifications.
An A level grade is worth 8 tariff points but a BTEC grade is worth 16 tariff points. As such, grade reductions will factor in this difference and the reduction may be up to 16 tariff points but by one or two grades depending on the qualification taken. An applicant with two Contextual factors taking A levels will get a two grade reduction (16 tariff points) but an applicant taking a BTEC Extended Diploma with two Contextual factors will only get a one grade reduction (16 tariff points).
Applicants who have been In Care are always given a reduced offer of two A level points or 16 tariff points depending on their qualifications.
Applicants who have one Contextual criteria from the list above will be given a reduced offer of one A level grade or one BTEC grade (or up to 16 tariff points depending on qualifications or the combination of qualifications).
Applicants who have more than one Contextual criteria will be given a reduced offer of no more than two A level grades or one BTEC grade (or up to 16 tariff points depending on qualification or the combination of qualifications).
Applicants with the International Baccalaureate (IB) will be given a reduced offer of up to two points from the overall total. Applicants with the IBCP will have offers adjusted in line with the rules above but on an individual basis depending on the mix of qualifications and the entry requirements of the programme. IB offers generally are not based on tariff.
Our decision
If you are eligible for a contextual offer this will usually be made automatically using the information you provided on your UCAS form. However, we may need to verify some of the information with you directly. Your offer will state that it is contextual.
Further developments
We cannot offer grade adjustments for part-time studies or those who enter through Clearing.
It is also likely that contextual offers will see further changes as we look to incorporate the latest in policy suggestions from across the sector and review feedback and outcomes from our students and applicants.
We will update these pages when these plans are confirmed.
Additional information
The University will ensure that all entry requirements are appropriate for the academic needs of the programmes and for the students the University seeks to attract.
We reserve the right to add restrictions for the subject in which a grade could be dropped and some specific programmes may have grade requirements that cannot be altered (e.g. B in A level Mathematics).
Financial support
Below is information on some of the funding options and support available to you if you chose to study at City.
Funding options
Please note that following our merger, the policies on our website are the previous City policies. All policies are subject to review and re-development as part of the integration within City St George’s, University of London.