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Understanding Your Offer

If you have received an offer to study with us at the University of Lincoln – congratulations! We look forward to welcoming you to our friendly academic community.

When we make applicants an offer to study with us, we’ll send them detailed information about the conditions of the offer. Below you’ll find more information on the types of offers we may make, and some examples of typical offers. If you’re applying through UCAS, you can track the status of your application and any offers received in UCAS Hub.

Types of Offer

We have three types of offers for applications to our undergraduate courses.

Unconditional Offers

The University of Lincoln may make an unconditional offer if you already have your exam results and meet the course entry criteria. Even if you've already got your qualifications and have met the academic requirements, depending on your course, you might still need to complete a DBS or occupational health check, provide proof of your results, or meet other specific non-academic requirements.

Conditional Offers

A conditional offer means that your place is subject to you meeting certain conditions, usually based on upcoming exam results. For example, if you are currently studying for A Levels, International Baccalaureate, T Levels, or a BTEC National Diploma, we will ask that you achieve specific grades. Some courses may have additional requirements, like an enhanced DBS check.

Contextual Offers

At Lincoln, we recognise that not everybody has had the same advice and support to help them get to higher education. It’s important to us to have a diverse, inclusive university community with students and staff who bring a range of voices and experiences.

Contextual offers are one of the ways we remove the barriers to higher education, ensuring that we have fair access for all students regardless of background and personal experiences. To make it fairer, we consider the information you give us on your UCAS form about your personal circumstances and the impact these might have on your qualifications when we make a decision on your application.  

For 2025 entry, we will take into account the following information when reviewing your application:

  • Where you live – if you live in an area where there is a high level of deprivation or a low number of people going to university. This is usually decided by your postcode. You will also be eligible for a contextual offer if you live in a Lincolnshire local authority area.
  • Your school or college – if your school’s academic performance is lower than the national average, or a small number of pupils go on to higher education.
  • If you receive, or have received, free school meals – the UCAS application will ask you to confirm if you are or have been in receipt of free school meals.
  • If you have a disability – including long-term health conditions.
  • If you are a care leaver – ticking the “in care” box on the UCAS application form will indicate that you have spent time in care and that your journey in education may have been more challenging. 

If you meet our general criteria for a contextual offer, we will ask you to achieve one grade lower than the standard entry requirements for the majority of our undergraduate degree courses. The grades must be achieved from a minimum of two full A Levels or equivalent.

For example, if you are studying A Levels and the requirement is to achieve 112 UCAS points, a contextual offer would ask you to achieve 104 UCAS points, a grade difference of achieving BBC to BCC. If you are studying a BTEC Extended Diploma and the requirement is to achieve Distinction, Distinction, Merit, a contextual offer would ask you to achieve Distinction, Merit, Merit.

If you are applying to a course that has any subject specific requirements, these will still need to be achieved as part of the standard entry criteria.

You don’t need to do anything extra to receive a contextual offer — please apply to us through UCAS and if you meet our eligibility criteria you will be automatically considered for a contextual offer.

You will need to be a Home (UK) fee paying applicant. Contextual offers only apply to full-time undergraduate programmes. Foundation programmes are excluded.

Schools that have entered into our Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) partnership will be eligible for a reduction in tariff equal to that provided by our contextual offers.

Typical Offers

Below are some examples of offers we may make. You can find detailed entry requirements for each programme on our course pages, so please check these carefully for any additional subject specific criteria.

A student reading a book

Only Studying A Level Qualifications

For A Levels, a typical offer may be “A minimum of 112 UCAS Tariff points from a minimum of two A Levels or equivalent”. This is the same as achieving BBC in your A Levels, but we also accept a variation such as ABC. If two A Levels are successfully achieved, we will also consider your results from other level three qualifications such as the EPQ.

A student in a paint splattered apron painting

Only Studying a BTEC Qualification

For a BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma, a typical offer may be “Distinction, Merit, Merit (DMM) or an equivalent grade combination." DMM equals a total of 112 UCAS Tariff points. BTEC Level 3 Diploma can be considered in lieu of two A Levels against our general entry requirements and the BTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma in lieu of one A Level.

A student sat with a laptop

Studying a Mix of A Level and BTEC Qualifications

With a mix of A Levels and BTEC qualifications a typical offer may be “A minimum of 112 UCAS Tariff points from a minimum of two A Levels or equivalent”. If two level three qualifications (such as one A Level and a BTEC Level 3 Diploma) are achieved, we will also consider your results from additional level three qualifications such as an EPQ.

Responding to Your Offer

Accepting your offer is simple. After receiving all of your offers, choose ‘Reply to your offers’ on the 'Your Choices' section of your UCAS Hub, and select your 'firm' and 'insurance' choices.

You can find a wealth of helpful information about how to respond to your offers and the types of replies you can make on the UCAS website.

2025 Reply Dates

If you receive your last decision on or before 14 May 2025, your reply date is 4 June 2025 (except if you're using UCAS Extra to find a place). If you receive your last decision on or before 17 July 2025, your reply date is 23 July 2025 (including Extra choices).