Date: 14th January 2026
Location: Online
Please note this event is for Members onlyContextual offers have increasingly become part of the HE landscape and are now widely viewed to be a vital way to make admissions processes fairer. In this session we will be considering the effectiveness of contextual offers in both widening access and providing students with opportunities to succeed in their studies. We will also be considering the challenges and stigma students with contextual offers encounter, and ways support these students in progressing to and through higher education.
In this session we will hear from:
Professor Vikki Boliver, Professor of Sociology at Durham University: Contextual admissions supporting equitable access and achievement
The higher education regulator for England has set challenging widening access targets that has required universities to rethink how merit is judged in admissions. Contextualised admissions practices are now mainstream in UK higher education. But how much do we know about their effectiveness? This presentation summarises the small but growing evidence base, including a statistical analysis of data for Durham University, which indicates that contextualised admissions practices are helping to widen access, and can do so without setting contextually admitted students up to fail. You can find out more about the Durham University case here and about how to evaluate the effectiveness of contextualised admissions at your own institution by emailing vikki.boliver@durham.ac.uk
Dr Charlotte Bagnall, Senior Lecturer at Manchester University: Contextual offers and the student experience
While there has been extensive debate on how to enact contextual offers, the experiences of students who attend university with a contextual offer have been lacking in the literature. To overcome this gap, students from two UK Universities were interviewed to explore their university transitions experiences with a contextual offer. Findings suggest that students felt that their offer had given them opportunities they would not have had. This raised their ambitions and expectations but also negatively impacted their self-belief as many students worried about their academic abilities. Students also discussed how their contextual offer had negatively impacted their sense of belonging, both academically and socially, at university, leading to feelings of difference and lower self-efficacy; however, these feelings were ameliorated by knowing others with contextual offers. Finally, students felt that there was a need for greater awareness of contextual offers to reduce stigma and ensure that others could benefit from them. Implications for practice will be discussed.
Examples from practice:
Claire Bristow, Mature Student Recruitment Officer at Bristol University: Helping mature students apply with confidence
Claire’s presentation will highlight the admissions process for Access to HE (A2HE) students, explaining the Guaranteed Interview and Offer policy for Access applicants. She will discuss both the new outreach initiative for mature students and the transition support provided once students enter the university.
Jack Fox, Head of Student Recruitment and Widening Participation at Queen Mary, University of London: Contextual offer policy and support provided for students at Queen Mary.
Presentations will be followed by a panel discussion where members can join the conversation. We will be joined for the panel discussion by Ellie Rowley, Fair Access Programme Lead, UCAS.
This event will take place from 13:30 - 15:30.
Biographies:
Vikki's research focuses on social inequalities of access to the most prestigious universities. She is a leading expert on the use of contextual data on the socioeconomic circumstances of prospective university students to inform more equitable admissions decisions.
Dr Charlotte Bagnall is passionate about educational transitions research, and is the leading expert in primary-secondary school transitions research, with a record of knowledge transfer that contributes to well-informed debate, policy and practice nationally and internationally. Nationally her programme of research, has been recognised by the previous Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing (2024), at the Labour, Liberal Democrats and Conservative party conferences (2024), is referenced in policy guidelines for NICE (2022), Health Scotland (2020), and the DfE (2024), and has received international traction by the DfE in Australia (2025). Profile: www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/charlotte.bagnall.html
Leading targeted outreach and recruitment strategies to improve access for adult learners, Claire collaborates across departments to influence admissions policy, delivers bespoke programmes for students with non-traditional qualifications, and manages marketing campaigns. She is passionate about building inclusive pathways into higher education through strategic partnerships and initiatives.
Resources:
Boliver, V., Gorard, S., & Siddiqui, N. (2021). Using contextual data to widen access to higher education. Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education, 25(1), 7-13. https://www.tandfonline.com/do...
Boliver, V., & Jones, K. (2025). Evaluating Contextual Offer Making at Durham University. Higher Education Quarterly, 79(2), e70025. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.co...
Bagnall, C. L., James, L. A., & Skipper, Y. (2025). ‘I Shouldn't Really Be Here’: University Students' Perceptions and Experiences of Transitioning to University With a Contextual Offer Admission. Higher Education Quarterly, 79(2), e70003. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.co...
Sutton Trust: https://www.suttontrust.com/co...