Contextual statement
Guidance on the contextual statement.
Buildings on St Giles, Oxford. Credit: Fraser Brown / Graduate Photography Competition
About this initiative
The information on this page is not relevant to all graduate courses. Consult the How to apply section of the relevant course page to find out if this initiative applies to the course you are applying to, or consult the list of courses taking part on this page.
We recognise that the socio-economic data that we collect may not fully capture an individual student’s personal circumstances or educational trajectory, so if any of the criteria listed below apply, we encourage you to submit a statement providing additional details on your personal circumstances, using the contextual statement form.
If the course is participating in this initiative, a link to the form will be included in the How to apply section of the course page.
Your contextual statement will be used to contextualise assessment and selection processes, and may be used in association with any socio-economic data provided.
You may wish to provide a contextual statement, particularly if you:
- are in the first generation of your family to go to university;
- have been in care for at least three months;
- have been a young carer;
- are from a low-income background;
- have received a means-tested scholarship;
- have needed to work to support yourself during your academic studies because of your socioeconomic circumstances;
- are a refugee;
- are neurodivergent;
- have or have had one or more disabilities or chronic illnesses that have affected you in education or at work; and/or
- wish to disclose other circumstances that have substantially affected you in education or at work.
Please note, this statement is in addition to completing the 'Extenuating circumstances’ section of the standard application form.
Courses participating in this initiative
| Course | Mode of study | Expected length |
|---|---|---|
| Engineering Biology EPSRC and BBSRC CDT | Full time | 4 years |
| Fundamentals in AI EIT CDT | Full time | 4 years |
| Intelligent Earth (AI for the Environment) UKRI CDT | Full time | 4 years |
| Intelligent Earth (AI for the Environment) UKRI CDT | Part time | 6–8 years |
| Interdisciplinary Life and Environmental Science DPhil | Full time | 4 years |
| Interdisciplinary Life and Environmental Science DPhil | Part time | 6–8 years |
| Mathematical and Computational Finance MSc | Full time | 10 months |
| Mathematical and Theoretical Physics MSc | Full time | 9 months |
| Mathematical Modelling and Scientific Computing MSc | Full time | 1 year |
| Mathematical Sciences MSc | Full time | 9 months |
| Mathematics DPhil | Full time | 3–4 years |
| Mathematics MSc by Research | Full time | 2–3 years |
| Mathematics and Foundations of Computer Science MSc | Full time | 1 year |
| Mathematics of Random Systems: Analysis, Modelling and Algorithms CDT | Full time | 4 years |
This list will continue to be updated as courses are opened to accept applications. Please check back regularly for updates.