Eligibility

January 2024 update: Applications for students entering Year 12/first year of college have now closed, and we are unable to accept late applications. Students with complete applications received before the deadline have now been contacted about the outcome of their application. Applications will reopen in September 2024 for students in Year 12 attending a school or college working with RO.

Schools participating in RO will be provided with a Student Application Key which allows students to access the online application system. Students join the RO programme in Year 12.

If you are a teacher/advisor, there is a dedicated schools and colleges web page. Individual eligibility criteria for students is below.

The application process only assesses whether students meet RO’s eligibility criteria – students are not required to write a personal statement nor tell us why they want a place on RO.

Step One: Essential criteria

This criteria may change before applications open in September 2024. Last year’s criteria (below) may be helpful to students who are interested in applying.

In order to be eligible to apply for the Realising Opportunities programme students must meet all of the following criteria:

  • Attend a state-funded school/college which is currently working with an RO university to deliver the RO programme. Read information for home-schooled students.
  • Are studying in Year 12 in England (or equivalent).
  • Have achieved at least five grade 9–6 at GCSE (or equivalent, eg GNVQ, BTEC certificate); if this does not include English Language and Mathematics they must have achieved at least a grade 4 in these subjects. Read information for students who have experienced a period of disrupted education.
  • Be a Home registered student or expect to be by the time they apply for higher education. Read information for students classed as an asylum seeker or with a temporary status.

Step Two: Eligibility

The more of the below criteria you meet, the more likely you are to secure a place on the RO programme. Students who meet fewer than two of the Step 2 criteria are unlikely to be offered a place on the programme, with exceptions for some groups of students, as RO is oversubscribed each year

  • Live in a neighbourhood which has a low progression rate to higher education or an area which has a high level of financial, social or economic deprivation. This is defined by home postcode. Read about home postcode criteria.
  • Be in the first generation of their family to attend university in the UK or abroad. Read about first generation criteria.
  • Be in receipt of or entitled to free school meals, or have been entitled to them at a point in the last six years.
  • Be in receipt of or entitled to discretionary payments/16-19 bursary/Pupil Premium at school/college.
  • Be attending or have attended a school/college: that is performing below the national average in key areas or where there is higher than the national average number of students eligible for free school meals. Read about school/college performance information. 
    Or alternatively meet the following:
  • If you are living in/have lived in local authority care, are a young carer, or are estranged/living independently from your family, we strongly encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet other step 2 criteria. This is because your application will be given additional consideration. Read about additional consideration info

If students do not meet prior attainment outlined in step 1 but have experienced a period of disrupted education, their application may still be considered on an individual basis. Read disrupted education info

The application process only assesses whether students meet RO’s eligibility criteria – students are not required to write a personal statement nor to tell us why they want a place on RO.

Details

Disrupted education?

Realising Opportunities recognises that some students can face particular obstacles when accessing higher education. We believe that education disruption should not be a barrier to students achieving their full academic potential and gaining access to meaningful and fulfilling careers.

We are committed to trying to ensure that these barriers are removed or minimised as far as possible. We therefore support applications from students who have experienced significant personal, social or domestic barriers to their education. If a student has experienced a disruption to their education that has affected their studies we encourage them to let us know via the application form.

Disruptions considered include, but are not limited to, students who:

Except in extreme circumstances, disruption caused by the Coronavirus pandemic will not be considered.

Home schooled

Those defined as home schooled are students who are fully educated at home rather than at a school or college. If you are a home schooled student currently in the equivalent of Year 12 at school or college, contact the RO Central Team to discuss your application.

Asylum seekers or temporary status

Those who are asylum seekers or have temporary status such as discretionary leave or limited leave to remain in the UK are classed as international students and are therefore required to pay international fees for undergraduate/postgraduate courses at UK higher education providers. Asylum seekers are also not eligible for Student Finance. However, asylum seekers are able to apply for a Sanctuary Scholarship which, if eligible, may offer support towards the costs of higher education. Realising Opportunities would therefore welcome application enquiries from students who are eligible to apply for Sanctuary Scholarships. If you are an asylum seekers or have temporary status and are attending a school/college working with a RO Partner university and would like to apply to RO contact the RO Central Team before submitting an application.

First generation

First generation means neither parent attended university in the UK or abroad. If one or more parent is currently studying their first degree, or graduated from their first degree within the last five years, an application will be considered eligible for this criteria.

Home postcode

A neighbourhood with low progression rates to higher education is defined by home postcodes which are in POLAR4 quintile 1 and 2 and/or ACORN groupings M, O, P or Q and/or TUNDRA quintiles 1 and 2. More information can be found at:

An area which has a high level of financial, social or economic deprivation is defined by home postcodes which are in the 40% most deprived wards within the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD).

Home postcodes can be checked using the handy Postcode Checker tool below – to be updated soon.

School performance

National averages used are based on all schools in England
Key Stage 4:

  • Four plus or above in English and mathematics 59.8%
  • Four plus or above across all five pillars of the EBacc (English, Maths, science, a language, and history or geography) or below the national average 22.9%
  • Attainment 8 score per school – 48.8%


Key Stage 5:

  • Average point score per A level entry – 38.87%
  • Average point score per academic entry – 39.04%
  • Average point score per applied general entry – 31.98%
  • Average point score per tech level entry – 30.56%
  • Free school meals: 22.6%

Local authority care, young carers and estranged/living independently from families

Those defined as living in, or who have lived in, local authority care are those who are being looked after by their local authority, either living with foster parents/other family members such as grandparents, at home with their parents under the supervision of social services, in a residential children’s home or in another residential setting such as school or secure unit, or someone who has experienced a period of three months in the care of the local authority within the last ten years.

Those defined as young carers are those who under the age of 18 who help look after someone in their family, or a friend. There is no time limit on the amount of care they provide for their dependents, this is just above and beyond what is normally expected.

Those defined as estranged/living independently from their families are students studying without the support and approval of their parents due to a breakdown in their relationship – this might be their biological, step or adoptive parents, and sometimes their wider family members.

Trans umbrella

Those defined as identifying under the trans umbrella are students whose gender identity and/or expression differs from the sex they were assigned at birth and includes students who live permanently or temporarily in one or more genders.

Refugees, Humanitarian Protection and stateless persons

Those defined as refugees are former asylum seekers who have been granted refuge in a country other than their home country. They have been able to prove that if they are returned home, they will be prosecuted because of their race, religion, nationality, social group or political opinion. Humanitarian Protection provides international protection to individuals who do not qualify under the Refugee Convention. It covers situations where someone may be at risk of serious harm if they return to their country of origin but they are not recognised as refugees because the risk is not of persecution for a reason covered by the Refugee Convention.
A Stateless Person is a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law.