Coming soon: Call for partners on contextual admissions

Want to help us explore the evaluation of contextualised admissions? Applications to collaborate open on Monday 15 June.

Join us for a webinar on Wednesday 24 June (11:00–12:00) to find out more.

We are collaborating with our UKRI policy fellow, Professor Anna Mountford-Zimdars, to better understand what works in the implementation of contextualised admissions.

We will work with you to develop theories of change, identify suitable outcome measures and scope the data required to understand your contextualised admissions policy. 

Funding will be available to cover staff time to participate in workshops to develop the theory of change.

Timeline and details

• Monday 15 June: Applications open
• Monday 13 July (13:00): Applications close
• We will work with selected higher education providers to:  
  • develop a theory of change for your contextualised admissions policy
  • identify the outcome measures that will be needed to evaluate the policy
  • specify the additional data that needs to be recorded to evaluate the policy. 

Exploring contextualised admissions: background

TASO’s UKRI  fellowship aims to explore how contextual admissions are used to widen access to higher education for disadvantaged students, how they are measured, and also to look at the public and policy debate on the topic. 

Contextual admissions help people from all sorts of different backgrounds to progress to higher education. Universities are diverse environments, and recognise that some people face challenges and have additional priorities.

Students can face additional challenges during their education which may impact their results. Higher education providers recognise these challenges, and can make adjustments through ‘contextual admissions’ – for example lowering the grade requirement, offering a foundation year, or providing an unconditional offer

While contextualised admissions are widely recognised as a tool for widening access to disadvantaged students, the sector currently faces a limited evidence base regarding their long-term effectiveness.