At Durham we welcome talented students from all backgrounds. We understand not everyone has the same opportunities in life, and that where you live, the school you attend and your social and economic background might have an impact on your educational achievement.
That’s why we consider information from your application like your individual background and experiences, and the impact these might have on your qualifications when we make a decision on your application.
A ‘contextual offer’ is an offer made to applicants who meet certain requirements at the University. You might find the requirements vary between different universities.
You may be made a contextual offer at Durham if:
or you meet two (or more) of the following criteria:
Our contextual offers are also only available if you’re classified as ‘home’ for the purposes of tuition fees.
To find out more about the support we offer care-experienced and estranged students and our definitions of these categories, please visit our support webpages.
You’ll need to submit your UCAS application by the ‘UCAS equal consideration deadline’ which is 18:00 (GMT) on 14 January 2026.
If your course is open after this date, we may still be able to make a contextual offer, however to give you the best chance of receiving an offer we recommend that you apply by our deadline.
Applications are automatically assessed for eligibility, however if you are care-experienced or are an estranged student, your referee should either include this in your reference or by emailing documents.educators@durham.ac.uk to confirm this. In some instances, we may contact you for additional evidence or information.
Please note, once a decision has been made on your application, we will be unable to consider evidence subsequently provided, so we recommend this is provided as soon as possible after application.
Any other important contextual information or extenuating circumstances should be included by your referee in your reference to ensure we know about this. Whilst this wouldn’t result in a reduced offer, we may use this when making a decision on your application in accordance with our Admissions Policy.
If something happens in your life which may affect the outcome of exams you’re due to take, you should ensure your school report these to your examination board(s) and consult our Mitigating Circumstances policy.
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