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Please note, you will need to provide evidence for all Category A priority criteria except for parental Higher Education. See the ‘Completing Your Application’ section for what is required.

Category A priority criteria

• Received or have been eligible for Free School Meals or pupil premium at secondary school;
• receive Free School Meals at your current school or college;
• neither parent nor carer has a university-level degree or equivalent (this refers to any parent/carer that you live with on a regular basis) - your application may be considered if a parent/carer is currently studying their first degree or graduated in the last ten years (this does not apply to care experienced applicants*); 
• have experience of Local Authority Care for any length of time at any point in your life;
• estranged students who have had no communicative relationship with their parents/guardians for at least six months, with the situation unlikely to change;
• sanctuary seekers, such as asylum seekers or refugees (this means that you currently have permission to stay in the UK as a refugee or asylum seeker under humanitarian protection or one of the Ukraine schemes - permission must be valid during the application process and have been issued by the UK government);
• young carers (we define a young carer as someone who has undertaken significant unpaid caring responsibilities for a family member or friend with a disability, long-term illness, mental health condition, or a drug or alcohol dependency, who could not cope without their support – this does not apply to childcare or working/volunteering in a care setting).  

*Care experienced 

The term 'care experienced' refers to a young person who has been in local authority care (either public care, foster care, kinship care, semi-independent living or residential care homes) for any period of time. The University recognises that any time spent in care can have a significant impact on young people’s lives. 
Please note the University distinguishes between 'care leaver' and 'care experienced' when allocating bursaries. See our website for â€¯â€¯a²Ô»å&²Ô²ú²õ±è;´Ç³Ü°ù scholarships and bursaries pages for further information. 

Category B criteria

We also prioritise the following Category B criteria. These will only be considered if they are used in conjunction with at least one Category A priority criteria.

• Disabled students who receive a Personal Independence Payment or Disability Living Allowance, or who are registered with their current school or college for their disability; 
• students from a military or service family - this applies to you if a parent/carer serves in the UK Regular Armed Forces, or as a Reservist, or has done at any point during your life; 
• live in a neighbourhood with a low progression rate to higher education or a high level of financial, social or economic deprivation. Check your postcode on our contextual admissions page; 
• attended a high school where the average Key Stage 4 performance is lower than the national average. You can check your secondary school, current school or college key performance data on our contextual admissions page; 
• attend a school or college where Key Stage 5 performance is lower than the national average; 
• receive discretionary learner payments/16–19 bursary at your current college; 
• students who identify as one of the following ethnic groups, currently underrepresented at 51¸£ÀûÉç and within higher education, particularly within higher tariff universities: Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (we use the ); Black African, Black African Caribbean, mixed-race Black African or mixed-race Black African Caribbean. 

In addition to the essential criteria, you’ll also need:

• Six GCSEs at a minimum of grade 7;
• Grade 6 or above in GCSE English Language, Mathematics, and two science subjects. If it's a Dual Award Science or Core and Additional Science, the minimum needed is 6,6;
• Level 2 BTEC qualifications are acceptable (at distinction or above) in place of one GCSE;
• You'll need to be studying three A-levels including Chemistry or Biology/Human Biology, and one of either: Chemistry, Biology/Human Biology, Physics, Psychology, Mathematics, or Further Mathematics.

In addition to the essential criteria, you’ll also need:

• Six GCSEs at a minimum of grade 7;
• Grade 6 in GCSE English Language and Mathematics, and two science subjects. If it's a Dual Award Science or Core and Additional Science, the minimum needed is 6,6; 
• Level 2 BTEC qualifications are acceptable (at distinction) in place of one GCSE;
• You'll need to be studying three A-levels including Chemistry and Biology/Human Biology. 

Decisions on applications are made on an individual basis. 

We invite students who are young carers, sanctuary seekers, estranged students and/or students with experience of local authority care as defined in the Priority Criteria section who may just miss the academic criteria to still apply for the programme.  

We understand that difficult family or individual circumstances may affect your exams or the opportunity to go to university and may show academic flexibility to students with serious extenuating circumstances. We may ask you to provide evidence, and you should provide as much information as possible on your application form.  

If you disclose information on your application form that you have not told anyone in a position of responsibility, we may share the information with your MAP link coordinator for your own safety and wellbeing. 

Examples of individual extenuating circumstances include: 

• Death of immediate family member (either a sibling, someone with parental capacity or a family member who lived with you) during your GCSE years;  
• experience of homelessness or forced displacement during GCSE years;
• victim of serious crime during GCSE years; 
• victim of physical, sexual or emotional abuse during GCSE years;
• suffering chronic or serious illness during GCSE years e.g. cancer, clinically depressive episodes;
• forced school move for something like bullying or family separation; 
• forced temporary displacement at key times during the GCSE year. 

Your MAP Link Coordinator can help you add these to your application form, including the dates you have been affected and how they've impacted your education. 

Circumstances that are not considered extenuating circumstances:  

• Low family income;
• parents who are on Universal Credit;
• parents who are non-native English speakers;
• general disruption from COVID-19. 

Applications for MAP 2026 have now closed and applications for MAP 2027 will open in November 2026. 

• If you’ve applied for MAP 2026, we’ll email you in March 2026 with the outcome.
• If you've not received a response by mid-March 2026, please check that there is space in your inbox and your junk mail/spam folder.
• If you cannot find any correspondence from us, email map@manchester.ac.uk.

Please note: we cannot hold places for applicants who've not provided a contactable email address (for example, the email inbox is full).

Below are some things to consider before starting your application:  

• The application form will take around one hour to complete.
• You'll need to have evidence for Category A priority criteria and GCSE results slips/certificates ready to upload.
• You'll need to complete all fields on the form - we may not be able to contact you if information is missing.
• There's an opportunity within the form to talk about any extenuating or challenging circumstances you’ve faced.
• You can complete your application over more than one session, but you’ll need to use the same device and browser (such as your laptop and Google Chrome), as the platform uses cookies to remember your answers.
• We're only able to consider one application. If you submit more than one, we can only consider the most recent.  

The application form will ask you for your personal details and questions relating to our essential and priority criteria. You will need the following information to hand:   

• The postcode of your current school or college;
• the postcode of your previous Level 2 school; 
• details of your Level 2 qualifications (GCSEs or equivalent);
• details of your current qualifications, including exam board;
• details of your parent(s)/carer(s)’ educational background, including the name of their highest education qualification (this does not apply to care experienced students);
• if your parent(s)/carer(s) have an undergraduate degree-level qualification (or you think they might), you will need details of the course studied, where they studied, how long they studied for, and when they obtained their qualification (this does not apply to care experienced students).

Before you submit your application, check that all of your information is correct to the best of your knowledge, and that you haven’t missed any sections of the application. 

Make sure that the information you provide on your application is accurate. If inaccuracies are discovered during the application period or while you are on the Programme, it is likely that your application will be cancelled or you will be removed from the Programme.

GCSE Results 

You will need to put all of your GCSE (and equivalent) results slips or certificates into a Word document ready to upload. If you're in receipt of Free School Meals, you'll also need a document of evidence for this. You can find instructions on how to do this by  . 

Category A priority criteria 

Free School Meals 

You’ll need to upload a Word document with proof of your eligibility or receipt of Free School Meals. This must have your name on it and clearly say 'Free School Meals’ or ‘Cafeteria Credit’.  

If you only received Free School Meals at your previous school and not at your current school/college you must contact them to provide evidence for you.  If you received Free School Meals at both your previous school and current school/college, we only need evidence from the latter. 

Experience of Local Authority Care

Please include one of the following: 

• Letter from school/college;
• letter from the relevant local authority;
• letter from a relevant charitable organisation;
• letter from GP or other health professional;
• SAAS Care Experience Bursary form, signed by the relevant professional;
• court documents;
• adoption certificates. 

Sanctuary Seekers, Refugees and Asylum Seekers 

Ensure you answer the 'What is your current UK visa or immigration status?' question in the relevant section accurately by selecting one of the following: 

• Ukraine scheme visa;
• asylum seeker with evidence of a pending application;
• refugee status granted by UK government;
• humanitarian protection;
• granted asylum with indefinite leave to remain (this must be as a refugee and not entering the country as a dependent on a family member’s work visa). 

Young carer 

Please provide one of the following: 

• A Carers’ Network letter;
• carers’ card (a scan or clear photo);
• a letter from your GP;
• a letter from your teacher or tutor (a school designated safeguarding lead will be accepted);
• a letter from your local authority. 

Estranged student

Please provide one of the following: 

• A letter from school/college;
• a letter from the relevant local authority;
• a letter from a relevant charitable organisation;
• a letter from GP or other health professional;
• court documents. 

1. We begin by looking at whether you meet all the essential criteria (including one Category A priority criteria). If you don't meet any Category A criteria, we unfortunately cannot consider your application.
2. We then give your application a score based on how many Category A and Category B priority criteria you meet. This scoring system is based on a strong evidence base and aligns with the University’s Access and Participation Plan. Students with the highest scores will be offered a place until the programme reaches capacity.
3. Students applying for the Medicine or Dentistry strands, you will need to upload your supporting documents including exam certificates/slips and proof of Free School Meals at the time of application. These will be verified to ensure you meet the course entry requirements.
4. Students applying to the general strand may be asked to provide supporting documents after we’ve reviewed your application. It’s important that the information you provide matches your application, as we won’t be able to proceed if we can’t verify it.
5. We are unable to operate a reserve list.  
6. Application outcomes will be given early March 2026.
7. Application outcome appeals can only be considered until 1 April 2026. 

If you are not eligible for MAP, you can explore the different access schemes on offer at 51¸£ÀûÉç that you may be eligible for.

Once you've completed your MAP 2027 application, we'll email you in early March 2027 with the outcome.  

We may contact you for supporting information before then, so please check your inbox, junk and spam folders regularly for any emails and add â€¯'³¾²¹±è°ª³¾²¹²Ô³¦³ó±ð²õ³Ù±ð°ù.²¹³¦.³Ü°ì' to your safe senders list.  

We may ask for evidence to support your application (such as a letter from your school confirming you get Free School Meals, your GCSE certificates or evidence of 16-19 bursary). If you're unable to provide this evidence, we may not be able to offer you a place on the Programme. 

No, we do not accept Year 13 students on to MAP, as the intensive programme of activities and academic work may interfere with your A-level studies.

As the scheme is highly competitive, a place is not guaranteed, so we would not recommend that you resit Year 12 solely to apply to MAP.

However, if you are considering resitting Year 12 for other reasons, we would advise that you contact the admissions office for any courses that you are planning to apply for.

They will be able to provide guidance on how they’ll view this decision, as some courses may make higher offers to students who have repeated Year 12 and some may not be considered at all.

You can find contact details for all admissions offices at 51¸£ÀûÉç through the individual course profiles on our website.

Yes – if you meet the essential criteria, you may still apply.

If you have appropriate equivalent qualifications to GCSEs, we encourage you to apply. Applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

If you’ve not been able to catch one of our information talks at your school or college or if you're a parent or carer, then we encourage you to join us on Wednesday, 19 November 2025 at 5.30pm when we will be hosting an online information session about MAP. We will cover eligibility, applications and course content.  

If you would like to attend please fill out this