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Leeds Futures Programmes in Health Sciences - Eligibility Guidelines

Click on the tabs below for guidelines and additional information on the criteria. You need to meet a minimum of two separate criteria to be eligible to apply to our Leeds Futures - Dentistry, Healthcare, Medicine and Psychology programmes.

Consideration will also be give to applicants who meet just our postcode criteria (use our online postcode checker - see below)

If you meet these criteria, you may be eligible to apply to our Access to Leeds contextual admissions scheme alongside your future UCAS application, which can potentially offer reduced entry requirements.

Your parents or carers did not go to university

You will be eligible if your parents/carers have not previously completed an undergraduate degree, at a university or polytechnic, either in the UK or overseas.

You are also eligible 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.

Your home postcode is in an area with low levels of participation in higher education

We determine which geographical areas have a low level of progression onto higher education by using your permanent home postcode and measuring this against data provided by the government.

Check if your postcode is eligible for Leeds Futures.

You are from a household with a gross annual income of £25,000 or below

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. We will send this to you directly upon receipt of your teacher reference form. Please contact the Leeds Futures team if you are living independently without a parent or guardian.

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.  Please contact the Leeds Futures team at [email protected] to discuss this with us.

You attended or attend a school which performed below the national average at GCSE

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.

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. If you have any queries please contact the Leeds Futures team on [email protected].

Your personal circumstances have had a disruptive impact on your education

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 are care experienced

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.