Offer Holder Days

If you have multiple applications, you will be attending the Offer Holder Day for your first choice. The morning section of the day will be spent with your department, whilst the afternoon is your chance to attend a variety of general talks and explore campus.

If you receive an undergraduate offer to study with us in October 2026 and live in the UK, you will receive an email invitation to book onto one of our Offer Holder Days. Double check your junk mailbox and if you don't have an email from us, get in touch to receive your invitation.

If you are an overseas offer-holder, you will be invited to attend one of our virtual events. However, you are more than welcome to join us at one of our in-person Offer Holder Days if you are able to - we will let you know in your invite email how you can do this.

If you have applied for a joint honours degree, please attend the departmental session relating to your first-choice course. You will get an opportunity to speak with academics from your second course over lunch. For example, if you have an offer for Law and Business, please join the Law departmental session.

An Offer Holder Day gives us the opportunity to get to know you, explore your enthusiasm and academic potential. We would be delighted to see you and will issue eligible applicants who attend, a contextual offer to lower the requirements in your current offer by up to two A-Level grades or equivalent. 

We make contextual offers because we understand your grades can be influenced by a range of factors. A contextual offer is personalised to you and your potential to succeed as an Essex undergraduate student – as well as what you have achieved so far.

You don’t need to do anything to be considered and the application process is the same; submit your application and if you’re eligible for a contextual offer, you’ll receive information about this in your offer letter. If you are not eligible for a contextual offer at the point of your first offer but can be made a contextual offer following an Offer Holder Day, your offer will be amended within 5 working days following attendance.

Contextual offers will be made to eligible applicants taking A-levels, a Level 3 BTEC Extended Diploma, a combination of qualifications that hold UCAS tariff points (e.g., A-levels alongside a BTEC) and the International Baccalaureate. Where possible, we may make contextual offers to eligible applicants holding other qualifications. For further information about what a contextual offer may look like for your specific qualification profile, please contact our Admissions team.

Further information, and full eligibility criteria, can be found in our Contextual Offers Policy.