University - Contextual offer If receive tax credits ?

[Moominsweetie]

I’m a single parent low income tax credit receiver . Is it worth looking at contextual offers from unis or do they automatically apply them ? How does it work ?

Each uni has different criteria - you need to find the relevant web pages for each one. DS received contextual offers because of our postcode and his school (not to do with our income in our case).

The unis we applied to automatically gave contextual offers based on the info we had given on the ucas form - we didn’t need to apply for them. (DS received contextual offers from Durham, Nottingham and Lancaster)

It isn’t based on income. Rather varying criteria between universities based on type and achievement level of school and the economic norms prevailing in the region of the school or home address. Some universities have specific lists of schools. Have a browse on the websites of the unis of interest to your applicant.

I've checked out contextual offers for my daughter with disability. There's only 2-3 I looked at that she would get a contextual offer.

@Moominsweetie as other posters have said it varies from university to university.
Bristol University have the clearest information that I have found about it. There is absolutely no harm in your or better still your child emailing university admissions teams of those universities they most want to go to asking for further information on their policies.

www.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/entry-requirements-qualifications/contextual-offers/

Thank you! V helpful )
does anyone know if you have a link to a uni of that can affect your offer? If ds applied to the RG uni I went to many moons ago for eg!

The contextual offer will be based on your postcode only but a reduced offer may be considered on the basis of mitigating circumstances (having being raised by a single parent is not a mitigating circumstance, but being a carer for a parent is)

Go to the website of the university you are interested in, type “contextual offer postcode check” in their search field and you may find a way to check your postcode.

By the way, being a single parent in a low income will make your child eligible for a higher student loan allowance and possibly some university bursaries that can vary from £500 to £5000 a year. You don’t need to apply for them, just indicate in the student loan application that you are ok with them sharing your financial information with universities (there is a checkbox for this somewhere in it)

Actually, need to correct that, it is not being the child of a single parent that makes him eligible, just your income, if it is low enough.

Dd had one because of her school not our income. I think you need to get free school meals if it's on income. Single parent, no, half of kids have parents not together!

Dd had 3 factors if I remember, that got her into the summer school programme (poor educational achievement postcode, failing school, sen)

As others have said the low income usually means entitled to a higher student loan.
Contextual offers are based on a postcode, school attended, being a young career, having been in care.

It depends on the university, whether they make contextual offers and how they decide to make them. The simplest way is to use postcode, but universities are often more sophisticated than that and take into account a range of measures.

Unlike US universities having a previous connection to a UK university makes no difference to the application process.

Each uni has different criteria. Here are some:

www.exeter.ac.uk/study/exeterscholars/about/pathwaysoverview/

www.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/entry-requirements-qualifications/contextual-offers/

www.birmingham.ac.uk/teachers/year-12/pathways-to-birmingham/national-access-summer-school.aspx

www.nottingham.ac.uk/ugstudy/applying/contextual-offers.aspx

www.southampton.ac.uk/schools-colleges/access-to-southampton.page

www.reading.ac.uk/essentials/Careers/Advice-and-development/Mentoring/Reading-scholars-programme

A whole range of different criteria including postcode, named/failing schools, first family member to go to uni, being in care, being a young carer, military family with disrupted education, attendance at a summer school/scheme, race, disabillity, SEN.

DD will probably get one due to a postcode quirk.
We are high earners and she went to Private school!!

She may or may not, some universities also check school precedence before issuing a contextual offer.

I am convinced that it would be fairer for contextual offers to go to those attending low achievement schools rather than by postcode (although that will be a register very difficult to maintain!) A friend of mine was elegible for a contextual offer because all people in her street are retired so… there had not been much representation at unis from her postcode for years.

She is at State now since her school didn’t have a 6th form - but I appreciate they may check where she was at 11-16 too.
We arent banking on it but despite me telling DDs college our actual circumstances apparently once she’s on this scheme that’s it