Contextual offers

At the University of Bristol, we are proud of our contextual and guaranteed offer schemes for eligible home undergraduate applicants.

We recognise that student experiences and access to opportunity can vary. By considering contextual information alongside your academic achievements, we take a broader view of your application - identifying talent and supporting students to thrive and fulfil their potential at Bristol.

What is a contextual offer?

Our contextual offer is a grade reduction of up to two grades below the standard entry requirements. We make contextual offers to student groups that may be underrepresented or disadvantaged when accessing Higher Education. 

Details of standard and contextual offer entry requirements are available on individual course pages. Search our courses.

Could I get a contextual offer?

Our contextual offer eligibility for 2027 entry

Contextual offer eligibility can vary by institution. Your eligibility for a contextual offer at Bristol is determined by the information provided on your UCAS application form.  

Please note that contextual offers are only provided to applicants with home fee status, who are studying A-Levels and/or the International Baccalaureate, and who apply via UCAS. Contextual offers do not apply to our CertHE Foundation courses or our Gateway courses.

You may be eligible for a contextual offer at the University of Bristol if you meet all of the above criteria, are applying to study with us from September 2026 for 2027 entry, and one of the following statements applies to you:

You will be eligible for a contextual offer if you apply from an aspiring state school or college. We consider a school or college to be aspiring if it has low average attainment and progression to higher education statistics.

If you are currently attending school or college and applying for 2026 university entry, you must apply through a school or college listed below to be eligible. Information for 2027 entry will be available in June 2026.

Please note: these lists apply specifically to 2026 entry.

If you have finished school or college, you must have attended a school or college on one of the 2025 lists for the 2024/25 academic year to be eligible.

We calculate our list of aspiring state schools and colleges based on the latest data available from the Department for Education and the devolved governments for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

‌We use the 'applying from' school code on your UCAS form to determine the school or college you have attended, or if you apply independently we will select the most appropriate school or college from your education history.

Inclusion on the aspiring state schools and colleges list is not a judgement of the quality of the institution. We recognise that many of the schools and colleges on the list have been deemed outstanding in many respects.

We use national IMD data that ranks all neighbourhoods from most to least deprived. If you live in a home postcode that falls within the top 40% most deprived areas (quintile 1 or quintile 2 areas), you will be considered eligible. To determine this, we use the home address provided on your UCAS form at point of application.

If you are based in England, follow the instructions below to determine your eligibility using the 2019 IMD dataset:

  1. Go to this lookup tool.
  2. Type your home postcode into the ‘Enter Postcodes’ box.
  3. Click the green ‘Get Deprivation Data’ button.
  4. The data will be available to download as an xlsx or csv file. To open in Excel, download the xlsx file.
  5. Open the file and go to column F ‘Index of Multiple Deprivation Decile’. It will give you a Decile number between 1 and 10.
  6. If your Decile number is 1, 2 (Quintile 1), 3 or 4 (Quintile 2), then you will meet our eligibility criteria for IMD Postcode.

IMD status is subject to change. We will consider applicants based on the information provided at point of application. You can check Welsh IMD quintiles using this tool, Scottish IMD quintiles using this tool, and Northern Irish IMD quintiles using this tool.

If you complete one of our widening participation programmes at the University, you may be eligible for a contextual offer. These include:

*(eligible for a tailored offer, rather than contextual)

If you have spent three months or more in local authority care, you will be eligible for a contextual offer. Find out more about the support the University of Bristol provides to care leavers.

Please tick the box in the care questions on your UCAS application. If your reference confirms that you’ve spent three months or more in local authority care, our admissions team will process your application. If not, we’ll ask you to send us some more information, such as an email or letter from your local authority, school/college or other organisation.

The University provides a number of scholarships and bursaries that care leavers and estranged students may be eligible for. Use our funding search tool for a full list of funding support available.

If you have been eligible for free school meals during your secondary education you will be eligible for a contextual offer.

The UCAS application will ask you to confirm if you are or have been in receipt of free school meals but we will check if you were eligible for free school meals via the National Pupil Database in England (or equivalent databases for other UK nations). Alternatively, we will accept a letter from your school confirming your eligibility.

Students in the UK are usually eligible for free school meals if their parents or carers are on a low income or in receipt of certain benefits. Contact your school or college if you are unsure.

How to apply

Apply to us through UCAS. If you meet any of the criteria outlined above using the information you provide in your UCAS application, you’ll be automatically considered for a contextual offer by our Admissions Team.

What next?

Search our full list of funding support and check if you are eligible. Access our virtual resources to explore university learning from home and hear about our outreach opportunities.

If you have any queries relating to contextual offers, please contact the Enquiries Team on +44 (0) 117 394 1649 or choosebristol-ug@bristol.ac.uk.

The criteria by which we make contextual offers are subject to change. Please ensure you check the current eligibility criteria in the year that you are applying to the University.