What widening access offers are

We give extra consideration to applicants who have faced certain barriers that could make attending university more challenging. This impacts whether you can apply with standard or minimum entry requirements.

Using the information you provide in your UCAS application, we look at a set of defined factors to assess whether you might be eligible for a widening access offer. This information is sometimes referred to as 'contextual admissions data'.

Factors we use to assess your eligibility

At the University of Edinburgh, we look at four factors when making widening access offers: 

  • where you live (your home postcode)
  • the school or college you go to
  • if you are care experienced, or a refugee or asylum seeker
  • if you’ve completed a Scottish Wider Access Programme (SWAP), our Access Programme, or a recognised bridging programme

Check which bridging programmes we recognise

Our widening access offer policy covers only entry to our undergraduate degree programmes. It does not extend to graduate applicants for undergraduate degree programmes (for example, graduate entry to MBChB Medicine, BVM&S Veterinary Medicine Graduate Entry Programme, or LLB Law Graduate Entry). 

We will gather information from your UCAS application to assess these factors. However, if you would like to know more about the criteria and data sources we use to assess your eligibility you can find out more on our webpage explaining the criteria for widening access offers.   

Find out more about the criteria we use to assess your application


How widening access offers impact your application

We make two different types of widening access offers: 'Plus Flag' and 'Flag'.  

Plus Flag and Flag offers are related to the different sets of entry requirements we have for applicants to our programmes:  

  • applicants who receive a Plus Flag will be considered based on minimum entry requirements, which we sometimes refer to as widening access entry requirements
  • applicants who receive a Flag offer will be considered based on standard entry requirements, but in most cases their application will be prioritised 

Some applicants face circumstances which might make it more challenging for them to achieve the standard entry requirements we set for our degree programmes.  

We want to make sure we are aware of these circumstances. We want to be able to take them into account so we can properly assess what you have already achieved and your potential as a future student.  

One way we do this is by having a set of minimum entry requirements which are normally lower than the standard entry requirements we expect applicants to meet.   

Find out more about the difference between standard and minimum entry requirements  

Find the standard and minimum entry requirements for each of our programmes in the degree finder


How you know if you’re eligible for widening access consideration

We will use your UCAS application to check if you qualify for a Plus Flag or Flag widening access offer. 

You can use our online tool to check if you might be eligible for either of these types of widening access offers. You can also find out more about what being assigned a Plus Flag or Flag means for your application. 

Contact us

If you have any queries about widening access offers, you can email us.

Widening Access Offers

Student Recruitment and Admissions

Contact details

Contact us through an online sign language interpreter

British Sign Language (BSL) users can contact the University of Edinburgh via Contact Scotland BSL, the online British Sign Language video relay interpreting service.

Find out more on the Contact Scotland BSL website


This article was published on