What is Access+?

Access+ supports students in the year that they are applying to start their first year of undergraduate study at Sheffield.

What is Access+?

Access+ offers opportunities and activities to support students from different backgrounds and circumstances who may face additional barriers and challenges on their journey to access studying at Sheffield.

If you're applying for the first year of an undergraduate degree or a Science and Engineering Foundation Year (SEFY) course, we’re here to help you discover more about university, support you during your application and transition to uni, and encourage you to achieve your potential.

Frequently asked questions about Access+

The Access+ package

Access+ Travel Bursary

We understand that visiting universities is important when choosing where to study - it's the best way to get a feel for the course, explore the city, and see the campus for yourself. But we also know that travel expenses can quickly mount up

If you’re Access+ eligible, you can claim a travel bursary to help towards the costs of travelling to your open day and offer holder day.

The amount you can claim is based on the distance you’ve travelled from your home address.

Find out more about our Access+ Travel Bursary

Travel bursary information for offer holders: We’ll invite you to join us for an offer holder day and you can claim your travel costs, even if you’ve already visited us on an open day.

Access+ Contextual Offer

You could be eligible for a contextual offer up to two grades below the standard A Level entry requirements for your course.

What do I need to do?

If it’s the year that you’re applying to university, we start by reviewing your UCAS application to look at the information you’ve included.

You don’t need to do anything at this stage.

We will contact you if we need to check anything or request any further information.

In a small number of cases, we aren't able to issue a lower offer to eligible applicants because:

Of the combination of the qualifications you're taking and the entry requirements for your course.
You are applying for a Science or Engineering Foundation Year.

Even if you don’t receive an Access+ contextual offer, you’ll still be eligible for all the other support from Access+.

How do I know what my offer might look like?

Take a look at the course you’re interested in and check out the entry requirements.

In the 'Entry requirements' section you can toggle between our Standard offer and our Access Sheffield offer.

What else do I need to know?

All Access+ students will receive additional consideration when exam results are released. This means that if you haven’t received the grades to meet your offer, we’ll have a look at what we know about you (based on your UCAS application, disrupted studies information and any other relevant context) and see if we can still offer you a place with Sheffield.

You must have home fee paying status in order to benefit from the contextual offer. Separate terms apply if you're identified as a forced migrant.

Find out more about Access+ Contextual Offers

Contextual offer information for offer holders

If you receive an Access+ contextual offer, you’ll see this in your UCAS hub, in addition to a standard offer.

To be eligible for this offer you need to have made Sheffield your Firm choice

Online help and guidance sessions

Our online help and guidance sessions are designed to help you understand more about Access+ and applying to university.

We do this as via our Sheffield Live events as well as dedicated, invite-only Access+ Live sessions in the year that you apply.

Help and guidance sessions for offer holders: Check your emails for your invitation to ‘Scholarships and bursaries: what's available and how to apply’ in March and ‘Preparing for results day to starting university’ in July. We’ll also invite you to more online sessions before you start university - you’ll hear from our ambassadors and have the chance to ask any last minute questions you might have.

Access+ Transition Mentor

Access+ Mentoring can help guide and support you on your journey to university study. You’ll have one-to-one sessions online in July and August with a mentor to guide and support you through those final steps before starting university. They’re here for any questions and queries, and to share their own experiences of starting their studies.

Find out more about Access+ Transition Mentors

Information for offer holders about mentors: You’ll receive a ‘Welcome to Access+’ email that includes a link to register your interest and we’ll send you some reminders. We’ll contact you in June.