Contextual admissions

Last updated: February 2025

The information on this page is for students applying for undergraduate study in 2024–25 and 2025–26. We review our use of contextual data each year – we will publish any changes for future years on this page. 

What is contextual admissions? 

We understand that some students face extra challenges that can affect their grades. Our contextual admissions approach takes these barriers into account. 

Benefits for applicants who are eligible for contextual admissions consideration:

• Guaranteed minimum offer: You might get a guaranteed minimum offer.
• Guaranteed interview: You could be guaranteed an interview.
• Extra support: We help you transition from school to life at Imperial. 

Who is eligible?

If you are a student with Home fee status or an appropriate UK residential status, you may be considered through our contextual admissions route if one of the following also applies to you:

• You are a care leaver or have spent time in care under a local authority, or
• Your home address* postcode falls into England’s index of multiple deprivation quintile one, or
• You currently receive Free School Meals or have been eligible to receive them in the past; or
• Your home address* postcode falls into POLAR4 quintile 1 or 2 and you also meet one of the following criteria:
  • You are the first in your family to attend university
  • You attend an English school where the key-stage 5 performance is below Imperial's percentile threshold of 20%
  • You attend a school in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland where the Free School Meals percentile is above Imperial's percentile threshold of 80%

*Your home address is your place of permanent residence and not your school or boarding school.

Support for eligible students

If you are eligible for our contextual admissions route, then you’ll have access to extra support through our admissions process. 

Reconsideration pool

We know that students who apply without their final exam results might not show their full potential yet. That's why we have an August reconsideration pool. 

If you get exceptional results, your application might be reconsidered, even if you don't have an Imperial offer. 

If you applied to an Imperial undergraduate course and: 

• Scored competitively but didn't meet the offer threshold
• Meet the criteria for our contextual admissions (see "Who is eligible?" above)
• Achieved at least the typical offer grades for the course your originally applied for on results day

You have another chance to secure a place at Imperial later in the process. 

How to apply for reconsideration

We'll contact you when we're making offers to let you know if you're eligible for reconsideration. 

We won't contact you again after exam results are published, even if you get the required grades and we have places available.  

Instead, follow these steps on A-level results day in August to let us know you want to be reconsidered.