UCAS applications have been sent off in their thousands and most potential university students are applying ahead of the January deadline in a bid to see the response from universities regarding university offers and conditions, if there are any.

Universities have been known to hand out different offers to students depending on their circumstances with the main circumstance being a student who has already taken their A-levels which means that the moment they receive offers it is not conditional on them getting the grades as they have already attained them at an earlier date.

However, aside from giving prospective students offers that may be slightly lower than the universities originally asked for, a lot more universities have come accustomed to giving out contextual offers to applicants from low income families from disadvantaged areas. Ultimately, you can see why contextual offers exist: they attract students who were less likely to apply and receive a place at university because of their unfortunate circumstances.

In other words they level the playing fields!

But is this fair?

Others may argue that there are financially disadvantaged applicants who are living in wealthy areas whose parents have simply inherited a property but do not have large amounts of wealth. Therefore, by creating contextual offers aren’t you singling out a small minority of struggling applicants instead of fighting the root cause which is low progression to higher education in poorer neighbourhoods. By creating contextual offers you don’t promote equality your promote differences and therefore, should they be illegal?If the problem is low progression to higher education, would it not be more beneficial to have universities partner with local schools to help them achieve the required grades at A-level, rather than lower the bar- or is this idea a little pessimistic towards a step in the right direction?

Personally, I do think contextual offers are the way to go! They offer security to students who have to endure disruptions to their studies and ensure that everyone has a fair chance at gaining career opportunities, that everyone as equals are entitled to. However, as the playing field levels out a little more I believe to coincide lower offers, encouraging disadvantaged students to aim higher is also worth a shot.