Access to Bath

An online programme that can lead to an alternative offer for eligible students

Bath values having students from a diverse range of backgrounds and is keen to admit those students who have the greatest potential to succeed on our courses. We are committed to supporting our applicants and believe that preparation for university study can be extremely beneficial to success. Access to Bath is an on-line course to help students from under-represented groups transition into higher education and due to the valued skills and knowledge you will gain, receive an alternative offer from the University of Bath.

What is Access to Bath?

Access to Bath is an online course that will prepare you for study and life at Bath. The transition to university can be a challenging time for any student, and we want to help support this process. Through this programme you’ll find out what being a student at Bath is like and you will develop your skills, confidence and knowledge to help you make a smooth transition to the University.

You’ll follow the programme in manageable sections in your own time and in a way that suits you. Information is provided in a variety of ways and there is an opportunity to interact with other offer-holders to develop and share your knowledge and skills.

The sessions will take you through different aspects of the transition to life as a university student from getting ready to go to university and meeting your flatmates for the first time to starting your course and being set your first assignment. You’ll hear from some current students and staff and learn about their experience of life at Bath.

Alternative offer

In addition to helping you prepare for life at Bath if you complete the online module and pass all the tasks by 31st July you will then be eligible for an alternative offer. This will be a one-grade drop in the standard A level offer for the course.

The alternative offer recognises the additional preparation you will have completed throughout the programme and we hope it will reassure you that you will do well at Bath and that Bath is the right university for you, and that the one grade drop will provide a bit of flexibility in meeting your grades.

You can find more details about the alternative offer below and you can find a complete list of our alternative offers for each of our courses listed on the entry requirements section of our online prospectus.

Who is eligible?

To be eligible for Access to Bath you must be:

studying at a UK school or college
studying the required A-Levels for the course you apply for
academically able to meet the alternative offer

And you must meet at least one of the following:

your home address is in the bottom two-fifths of areas ranked by the proportion of young people progressing to Higher Education (POLAR 4, quintiles 1 or 2)
your home address is in the bottom two-fifths of areas when ranked by general disadvantage (Index of Multiple Deprivation, quintiles 1 or 2)
you are a care leaver
you are a young carer
you are a refugee, asylum seeker or have been granted humanitarian protection

How do I take part?

If you meet the above criteria then you don’t need to do anything more. You should apply to your chosen course(s) at Bath through UCAS and we will identify you using contextual data that we receive with your UCAS application.

If your application is successful you’ll receive a standard offer and an alternative offer dependent upon you completing Access to Bath. Details of how to access the course will be included in your offer to study at Bath.

You’ll be able to complete the module from the moment you get your offer and you can do it at any time, but you must complete the module by 31st July so that we have time to process your results before A Level results day.

Additional information about the Alternative Offer

If you meet the criteria you will be given two offers for your course at Bath.

If you complete and pass the module our Undergraduate Admissions Team will be notified. If you meet the conditions of the alternative offer in August and you have chosen Bath as your Firm or Insurance option, then this will guarantee that you secure your place with us.

At Bath we want to recognise additional study and the value this has in preparing you for university. If you’re fortunate enough to be studying other additional qualifications that would make you eligible for more than one of our alternative offers, any offer you receive will include each of them. However, these alternative offers do not stack: we won’t reduce our typical offer by more than one grade if you achieve multiple extras.

On completion of the programme you will be made aware of whether or not you have met the condition to Pass in order to be eligible for the alternative offer. We will not amend the conditions of your offer; however you will be automatically accepted on to your chosen course should you meet the conditions of your alternative offer.

For more details of our alternative offers see the dedicated page.

Explore the courses available at Bath for 2021

Undergraduate prospectus