kenyancowgirl wrote:
Just to add that some universities are better with contextual offers (sometimes called widening participation or widening access) than others - it can mean one or two grades lower on an offer or a more generous allowance if results miss a standard offer. Some unis are less generous but most advertise on their website and will tell you at openday what their contextual offers look like. Some will give context if the applicant is the first in their family to attend HE.
Manchester Metropolitan University has a current 'push' to get young people who would be the first in their family to go to university, to apply, I believe (not much use to DS, as DH and I both went to university, but I might nudge the History of Artcourse in his direction anyway). Bristol has a list of schools on its website whose students qualify for reduced offers. Several universities, including Leeds and the University of Birmingham, have specific widening access schemes for local applicants.