Alternative offers

Our reduced and alternative offers recognise the challenges people face in achieving their academic potential, giving everyone a fair chance of getting into university.

We're committed to widening access to York, particularly for applicants from backgrounds underrepresented in higher education.

Our contextual admissions and access schemes ensure our talented community is diverse and inclusive. Take the first steps to higher education and get a taste of your uni experience.

You can take a look at each of the schemes and programmes below to understand if you may be eligible for support and a reduced offer. Each scheme or programme may have varied eligibility criteria, so it's worth considering our full range of support.

Contact us

Access and Outreach

outreach@york.ac.uk

Contextual offers

Contextual offers provide fairness to applicants facing social and economic barriers in the journey to university. Contextual offers let us look at more than just exam results to recognise achievements despite challenging contexts.

Find out more about contextual offers

Alternative Widening Participation offer

Sixth-form or college students that complete all elements of one of our eligible programmes can access an alternative offer up to three grades below the standard offer published in the prospectus. These tailored programmes are designed around talented students and provide support to enable them to access and succeed in Higher Education. The Widening Participation programme's we have on offer include:

My contextual offer did more for me than simply lowering the grades I needed to achieve to secure my place ... the support that was on offer made the transition to uni smoother, and more exciting than nerve-wracking.

Genevieve, BA History and Politics. Read Genevieve's blog post.

I received a reduced offer from AAB to ABB. I went from someone who felt low self-esteem to someone who had worked hard and was being recognised for my achievements.

Hannah, BSc Interactive Media. Read Hannah's blog post.

MOOCs

Our Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are free, open to everyone and help prepare you for higher education. If you've taken part in one of these free online courses you could also be eligible for a reduced offer: