Leeds Futures

Following registration, students will be sent a programme for their chosen subject area. This will include a range of activities including subject-specific webinars, study skills sessions and broader talks to support students in applying to university and the routes available.

Students will be invited to attend a campus taster day to gain an insight into student life and what it’s like to study their chosen subject area at Leeds. Taster events include lectures and workshops, chats with current students and a campus tour.

Focusing on the university application process, students will be offered sessions to support them with the UCAS process and writing personal statements. Students will also be provided with an overview of Access to Leeds and the support provided by the University’s Plus Programme.

Your parents/carers have not previously completed an undergraduate degree, at a university or polytechnic, either in the UK or overseas or if your parents/carers have:

• started but not completed an undergraduate degree
• got a higher education certificate (HNC) or higher education diploma (HND) from a university, but not a degree
• got an Open University or similar distance learning degree
• got a work-based degree on a part-time basis
• got an undergraduate degree, but you are estranged from them, with little or no contact.

When assessing household income, we follow the Student Finance England guidance to assess taxable income, for the previous financial year. The amount is based on gross taxable income, any non-taxable income or benefits are not included in the total amount.

You can demonstrate that you are eligible in one of the following ways:

⦁    You receive the 16-19 Bursary Fund or Learner Support because your income is £25,000 or below (a referee from your school or college must confirm this). Please note that bursaries or scholarships for school fees for independent schools are not covered by this criteria.
⦁    You are/were eligible for free school meals during GCSE studies or later (a referee from your school or college must confirm this).
⦁    Your parent / carer can complete our Declaration of Household Income Form, if you are not in receipt of Free School Meals or the 16-19 Bursary Fund. 
⦁    You can provide other evidence of your household income such as a wage slip or benefits statement.

All information you provide will be stored securely and treated confidentially, in line with our data protection and privacy policy. If your income for the current year will be significantly lower than the previous tax year, we may be able to take this into account. 
 

We look at the Attainment 8 data for the school at which you took your GCSE exams for the year in which you took them and compare this with the England average (or equivalent for the rest of the UK). 

If you changed schools during your GCSEs or have completed examinations over more than one year, we can use the results from any year and school in which you sat a GCSE examination. If you completed your GCSEs in 2020 or 2021, we will use school performance data from 2019 to assess your eligibility.

School and college performance information for England showing the Attainment 8 data for 2024 may be found on the Government school performance webpages. You should find your school and then click on “Secondary” to navigate to the Attainment 8 score.

Please note that independent fee-paying schools are not eligible under this criterion even if they show a lower than average Attainment 8 score.

We consider each application on an individual basis, so unfortunately we cannot provide an exhaustive list of situations that meet this criterion. However, they could include:

• caring responsibilities/being a young carer
• a recent close family bereavement
• living independently from your parents/carers
• mental or physical health conditions
• being from a military service family
• refugee or asylum seeker status
• challenging personal, home or school circumstances.

By “impact” we mean that the situation has affected, or continues to affect, your attendance, academic performance, ability to do your best, or to participate fully in wider school life.

We would generally consider circumstances that have occurred from GCSE studies onwards and/or during sixth form, unless there has been a significant, ongoing impact from an earlier point.  

We will treat any information you provide with the strictest confidence in line with our data protection and privacy policy. Please be aware that, if you apply under this criterion, we may need to contact your referee if we need more information.

You will be eligible under this criterion if you:

• have spent time in local authority or kinship care at any point growing up 
• are currently living in care
• were on a child protection plan at any point after the age of 11 
• were categorised as a ‘child in need’ at any point after the age of 11

Find out more about other support for care experienced students that you might be eligible for.