Contextual Offers

Under what circumstances are UCL and other universities flexible with offers or do they provide contextual offers?

I'm currently 21 years old applying to study at an undergraduate level starting 2024/25 (at which point I'll be 22), although I graduated from school in 2019 with a score of 37 IB points.

According to UCL I'm a mature student now and they might be flexible with offers considering my circumstances. I found that most courses I'd like to study require me to have 39 IB points (so I'm only 2 points shy - I was predicted a 43). Would I qualify for a contextual offer or get some sort of leeway? What would I be required to do for that?

Additionally, I should mention that I might also have mitigating circumstances in that there was a category 5 hurricane/cyclone that hit my city the week of IB final exams (meaning we didn't know whether we would do the exams and ended up writing them despite having no electricity etc. for those couple weeks). Moreover, I couldn't attend university for the last 5 years due to difficult personal and financial situations.

I held an offer to study at Warwick from 2019 to Jan 2023 but due to certain technical issues I couldn't go and now my admission has been rescinded after I did one term online during COVID so I'm applying again.

Nobody except UCL can answer this for definite so ring them.

Normally they wouldnt accept a dropped grade. As far as being a mature students universities will look for evidence of recent study and would have expected you to have retaken to get better grades. I think from memory UCL dont accept resits.

How UCL will treat these factors and your claim for mitigating circumstances only UCL can decide.

Contextual offers are based on poorer schooling and or post codes with low numbers to university not your circumstances.

Nobody except UCL can answer this for definite so ring them.

Normally they wouldnt accept a dropped grade. As far as being a mature students universities will look for evidence of recent study and would have expected you to have retaken to get better grades. I think from memory UCL dont accept resits.

How UCL will treat these factors and your claim for mitigating circumstances only UCL can decide.

Thank you!

Do you think I should contact the admissions team or the department to find out? If the department is better, should I just email the director and see?