Widening Participation/Contextual Admissions

[SometimesRavenSometimesParrot]

Hi all. I’ve seen quite a lot of posts lately where people seem a bit confused about different widening participation initiatives and contextual admissions, either how they work, why they work or why they’re even done... and some people asking questions about them and not getting anything resembling an accurate response.

I’ve worked in a WP team for seven years now (with a couple of short stints in admissions), so since I have often had excellent advice from Mumsnet and my questions answered, I thought I’d offer myself up to answer anything in this area someone might want to know.

I be name changed so I can be a bit more honest and I know there are several other posters who work or research in this area who might want to chip in!

Standard disclaimer of every uni works slightly different, so answers will be broad ranging - feel free to PM me if you’ve got a specific q!

I think that would be very useful for people. We found for the 3 of my fee paying school children who went to Bristol University the university's website had very clear information (none of course relevant to us and Bristol has its own long standing unique system and schools list ) so it is also worth looking on websites of universities too. pwww.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/entry-requirements-qualifications/contextual-offers/

The list of schools which may assist you in getting in (the "aspiring" schools) for Bristol only is at www.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/entry-requirements-qualifications/contextual-offers/ -
"You will be eligible for a contextual offer if you are applying from an aspiring state school or college, which we define as:

schools in the bottom 40 per cent for either:

progression to higher education, or
average attainment in A-levels, International Baccalaureate, Pre-U and Extended Projects qualifications (England)
average attainment in A-levels or any equivalent qualifications (Wales)

and/or:

schools that have 75% or more of their students resident in POLAR quintiles 1 or 2

based on the latest school performance and destination data available from the Department for Education."

Dd1 found that she counts as contextual for some but not for others. And the reduction in entry grade varies as well. Knowing which ones she would likely qualify as contextual for really helped her application as it gave her the confidence to apply for ones which might otherwise have felt slightly ambitious.
The one which has confused me slightly is Durham. The standard offer was reduced by one grade (from 2 a stars and 1 a to 1a star and 2a) but then reduced again (to 1 a star, 1 a and 1 b) if she firmed. This all seemed to come under the contextual banner but isn't really. Not a problem for her as it is her first choice but still.
I wish that a star had come down rather than that b but we can't dictate the terms of their allowances .

1. We have assumed that dcs contextual offers are based on the fact that their gcse state school was pretty bad ( results wise and in other ways too ) and that the area we live in is a bit rough. Dc is now doing A levels in a better performing State (one they couldn’t get into at age 11 due to catchment) . But is that true ? Do unis really look at the stats of the school where gcses are taken? If so- Are there people tasked to this or is it automatic? How does it work? And are students scored somehow on this? How?

1. The couse dc wants to do at one of her choices is advertised at A AA. Dc was offered AAA ( including 2 subjects) OR* an “Alternative Condition “ which states “ You are eligible for a contextual offer. This means if you make us your firm choice, your offer will be reduced. The reduced offer is AAB (with AA in 2 subjects) ‘. So ... ( the way I’m reading it) For this uni, a contextual only comes into play if the student firms them up? Which seems mad because surely if you are eligible ( by whatever system they use) then you are eligible regardless ? Or is the seemingly lower than advertised first offer of AAA also contextualised in some way?

Not moaning btw .. am pleased dc has these lower offers Just interested (nosey) and you offered !

@Xenia yes, Bristol has a really clear and defined contextual offers programme and I think it’s brilliant that the information is there, clear and actually in language that most people could understand! There are some institutions which say they do the same thing but are miles more difficult to understand.

Birmingham have a similar list. Our comp not on either but then it would not be fair if they were.

@LeiatheSchnauzer every institution does contextual offers slightly differently, some are more ‘generous’ because they NEED to get more students from underrepresented backgrounds through their doors to meet their APP targets. Ditto for the amount of reductions - some of that is league table related and some will be linked to academic staff having a bottom line. Your DD having the confidence to go for some institutions is exactly what this sort of programme aims to do!

So for Durham, the contextual offer is the one grade reduction. The further grade reduction is a bit naughty, because it’s a recruitment tactic and Office for Students aren’t happy with institutions doing that sort of ‘pressure’ selling! Even worse that they’re hiding it under a contextual banner...

@Longtimenewsee so contextual offers can be based on GCSE school OR postcode. You can check your postcode online to see if it’s in POLAR quintile 1 or 2, which are the ones generally targeted.
Unis definitely do give contextual offers to students on the basis of the school they took GCSEs at, it’s an automatic process where if a student attends an eligible school their application gets a flag to be considered for contextual admissions. Theres no scoring or anything like that, it’s just a flag so when students applications are considered, the staff member making decisions knows they can receive a contextual offer if appropriate. The schools list will vary uni to uni might be criteria like schools in the bottom X percent of performance nation wide.

If the course is offer at A* AA and your DD was asked for AAA then I’d suggest that’s a contextual offer regardless (although difficult to say for sure without knowing institution and course). What they’ve offered as the alternative condition is a bit naughty as it’s nothing to do with widening access and everything to do with recruitment.

If students are eligible for a contextual offer, they’re eligible. There’s no ‘if you make us firm’ about it! Which is why I’d say the AAA is also contextual.

Thank you
@SometimesRavenSometimesParrot. That makes it much clearer.
I think you are right in that the both first offer and the alternative condition must be contextual.

Leia DD had a similar offer last year. The insurance grade offer matched the grades she needed for her firm choice. We did a FOI request to find out if there had been any flexibility on grades for an insurance place over the last 5 years. There wasn't, so she had to put down another uni.

Exeter was another interesting one for contextual offers, as some of DD's friends discovered an offer of a £2,000 bursary tucked away at the bottom of their offer email if their place was firmed.

@Hoghgyni , yes, when ds applied to Lancaster there were lots of fantastic bursaries offered for every A grade he got - but only if they were his firm. It put him off insuring them as it would have felt as if he was being penalised for not firming them, had he missed his firm choice.
@SometimesRavenSometimesParrot, in your experience do you think that once an offer has been reduced for contextual there is no further room for flexibility in the case of near misses?

@LeiatheSchnauzer absolutely! At most institutions, the flag for contextual stays on the student application (I think all to be honest but don’t want to commit to that in case of a rogue uni!)

Then if a student just misses their offer they can be considered further in light of their circumstances

Thanks @SometimesRavenSometimesParrot. Dd1 still isn't firming her choices as waiting to see how some of her assessments go after Easter. She has been so fortunate to get 5 offers and her 2 favourite were definitely contextual, based (I think) on her school and the amount of children from our small town who typically go into higher education. Horrible year for all year 13's so we are very grateful for her offers.

@LeiatheSchnauzer I would definitely advise her to take her time (although worth checking if this impacts accommodation). It’s been so difficult for Y13s this year, without open days, applicant days or anything else, so she should go all the way up to her UCAS decision date if she needs to. Congrats on her 5 offers, that’s brilliant.

@SometimesRavenSometimesParrot

Hey Sometimes Raven,

Just wondered whether you have any careers advice for someone looking to move into this career area? My DH has an interview next week for a WP job at a local university. This is a new field for him, so he's really not sure what sorts of questions he might be asked at interview. If you have any advice / ideas of the sorts of questions he might be asked, we would be most grateful for any help you could give!

Thank you.

He should read the uni's Access and Participation Plan, and look on their website for their 'transparency' data (prob need to search as its usually buried somewhere). That should give him an idea of what groups they want to target and why, and what proportion of those groups they admit, and what happens to them once they're there - do they drop out, perform more poorly etc.

Questions will prob be competency based - so lots of examples where he can demonstrate the essentials in the person spec.

Thank you - both points are great advice and I will get him to do that.

Good thread- what is your institution’s contextual offer for Care Leavers?

@SometimesRavenSometimesParrot

Sorry - I know this thread is a bit old but...

I have always wondered about the education of parents regarding all the information used to lower university offers. It’s perfectly possible to have very highly educated parents who decide they are happy with less well paid jobs and use the local less good school because they live in a cheaper housing area. However they are able to coach DC and make up for any teaching gaps at school. One assumes their DC jyst get lucky with reduced offers? And yet we do know their DC could be advantaged when compared to DC whose parents are less well educated and who have to rely on the school for everything.

@SometimesRavenSometimesParrot

Interesting that universities have targets to meet in terms of recruitment from under represented groups. I think targets make sense of you can expand numbers on courses but in many cases this is difficult. To what extent does having targets for disadvantaged groups mean rejections for those from more advantaged groups?

Is there such a thing as reverse contextualisation where higher grade offers are made to the more advantaged?

Very interesting question. Is there now evidence that very well qualified DC are squeezed out? But is that ok as they will be ok anyway? (it is assumed).

The other consequence of this is the scramble to meet targets. By further reduced grades as above. This widens the qualifying gap further and will be perceived as unfair. It’s also interesting how targets always lead to unintended actions. In this case: finding a way to ensure the student actually firms your university! Is this because good students in these categories are too few? So they are being induced and scrambled over?

I think a lot of universities are after the cream of the crop of disadvantaged students... They tick the box of widening access and they also have high grades/ability.. Hence why these offers are given out first at a lot of universities with varying levels of reduced grades. Is it widening access though? I assume alot of
the disadvantaged students at iffy schools/poor families are the DC who apply late (eg not the Oxbridge wannabes). Quite a few sharp elbowed parents manage to get their kids on schemes like Uniq but when you look at the parents they are from a professional background..so are these students disadvantaged..
probably not!

It is very kind of you to offer your time and expertise. I get confused very easily (and there may be others like me). I wonder if you could do a paragraph on each to summarise the key points and differences between "widening participation" and "contextualised offers" with maybe an example of what each looks like in practice?

This would may be really helpful for a parent who is just starting their research. Thank you

Can i ask, if you receive a contextual offer, are you always told?
My eldest son received one and was told so.

My younger son has received an offer that is considerably below the advertised requirements. There has been no mention of whether it is contextual or whether it is based on other factors. This a good russell group uni.
His only flag is postcode.