Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. The Futures in STEM programme is completely online and sessions are hosted on Microsoft Teams.

There may be opportunities throughout the year to meet the Futures in STEM team at Durham (usually during Durham University Open Days) but it is not essential to attend these.

Sessions are normally held Monday – Friday between 4-8pm. When you accept your place on the programme, we will ask you to provide us with your availability during these times and assign you to a group with other participants that have the same or similar availability.

Once you are assigned to a group, your session day and time will stay the same throughout the course of the programme, you’ll just have a different type of session on different weeks (i.e., if your sessions are on Mondays at 6pm, your tutorial will occur at this time on week 1, then your mentoring session will occur at this time on week 2, and so on and so forth for each topic cycle).

The structure of the Futures in STEM programme differs depending on which subject strand you’re in, but generally you will receive the following things:

• Regular academic support (tutorials) from a Durham University student or staff member on a certain topic in your subject strand’s A-level curriculum. Tutorials occur every 2-3 weeks depending on the subject.
• Regular pastoral support (mentoring) from the same Durham University student or staff member on a certain topic that will help your journey towards higher education, such as UCAS applications, finance at University, what it’s like to be a University student, etc. Mentoring sessions occur every 3-4 weeks depending on the subject.
• Guest lectures from students and staff from Durham University’s Science Faculty. These are not compulsory, but we always encourage participants to attend and learn more about the research and activities taking place at Durham.

Have a look through each Futures in STEM subject’s webpage for a more in-depth view of what the programme looks like.

Yes! You will need to have the Microsoft Teams app installed to be able to join sessions on your mobile phone. Please note that you may not have access to all the MS Teams features and functions if you join sessions this way.

We receive applications from Year 12 students all across the UK, so participants will be in a group of 5-10 other UK Year 12 students (group size depends on the subject strand).

You may be able to switch subject strands during the programme if the following criteria are met:

• At the time of your switch, you are studying the correct A-levels (or equivalent) to be considered for the subject you are switching to. For example, if you would like to switch from Futures in Physics to Futures in Maths, you would need to be studying A-level Further Mathematics (or equivalent).
• There needs to be space remaining in any of the groups of the subject you’re switching to. If there is no space remaining then we will not be able to accomodate your change request.
• You are available at a day and time that might be different to the session timings for your current subject strand. The Futures in STEM team can provide you with the session timings for all groups (that have space remaining) in the subject you wish to switch to.

If all the above conditions are met then we will be able to process your switch.

We don’t have a dedicated Medicine course as part of Futures in STEM as Durham University does not have a Medical School. However, if you would still like to receive support for the other STEM subjects we offer then we would highly encourage you to consider applying!

If you know you’ll be absent from one of your sessions we ask that you complete an absent form (a link will be shared with participants on the programme) and email futures.instem@durham.ac.uk to let us know about your absence.

Failure to inform us about your absence will mean it’ll be recorded as ‘unauthorised’ and might affect your eligibility for a guaranteed conditional offer.

If you would like to withdraw please email futures.instem@durham.ac.uk and we will process your withdrawal.

We don’t accept applications from students who don’t meet the A-level subject requirements for their chosen subject strand. This is because our subject requirements are aligned to Durham University’s entry requirements for each subject which is important for making guaranteed conditional offers.

We can only accept one application per applicant. In the application form, you will have the opportunity to submit your 1st and 2nd choice subject strands and we will always aim to assign you to your 1st choice subject where possible.

We unfortunately do not accept applications from students outside of the UK or from students who do not have settled status (for fees and funding purposes).

If you would like more information about what your fee status might be depending on your visa, please visit this site.

Please check your spam and junk folders to see if the confirmation email has landed there. If you still can’t find the confirmation email after 1 week then please email futures.instem@durham.ac.uk and we will be able to provide you with confirmation about whether or not your application has been received.

Yes! We encourage applicants to have a look at all widening participation programmes hosted by the University as they are able to offer different things.

Please visit the University’s Access and Widening Participation site to find out more about which other programmes are offered.

11:59pm on Sunday 1st March 2026.

The Futures in STEM team will communicate your application outcome during the week commencing 17th February 2026.

Please check your spam/junk folders as your outcome email may have been sent there instead of your inbox.

If you still can’t find your application outcome email by the end of the week commencing 17th February 2026, please email futures.instem@durham.ac.uk and we can let you know the result of your application.

To accept your place on the Futures in STEM programme, your application outcome email will contain a link to a Microsoft Form where you will need to confirm some information (such as your availability, your preferred name, school email address, etc.).

This form will need to be completed by 11:45pm on Sunday 1st March 2026. Responses received after this deadline may not be considered.

If you have been offered your 2nd choice subject then we will let you know if any spaces have opened up on your 1st choice subject and organise for you to switch.

Yes, absolutely! If your application was unsuccessful we would still encourage you to opt in to receiving news and information about Futures in STEM and Durham University. Please feel free to email futures.instem@durham.ac.uk if you would like to be added to our mailing lists.

We would also encourage you to apply to the other Access/WP programmes that Durham University offers.

The best way to describe a guaranteed conditional offer is to break it up into it’s 3 parts: “guaranteed”, “conditional”, and “offer”.

1. Guaranteed means that this type of offer will definitely be made to you, and it’s often not based on the predicted grades or personal statements you submit as part of your University application.
2. Conditional means that the offer does not automatically provide you with a place at the University, and you will only be offered a place once you meet the specific entry requirements outlined in your offer letter. The ‘conditions’ are therefore usually A-level grades, and you might need certain grades in certain subjects to study your degree of choice at University. If you meet the entry requirements/conditions of your offer, then the offer will convert to an unconditional one and you will have secured your place at the University.
3. An offer is a response you receive from a University after they have reviewed the application you’ve submitted (via UCAS). Universities normally use the information you’ve provided in your application (such as predicted grades, personal statements, references, etc.) to decide if they would like make an offer to you. If the offer is conditional (see above) it will contain information about which entry requirements need to be met. If the offer is unconditional, the applicant has been offered a place at the University as they have already met the entry requirements. The applicant will then need to respond back to each offer they’ve received by ‘accepting’ or ‘declining’ it.

To be eligible for a guaranteed conditional offer from Durham University as a participant on the Futures in STEM programme, you need to have met the following criteria:

• You must have fully engaged with the programme by attending all sessions and completing your self-study work for each topic cycle. The Futures in STEM team record attendance and engagement from all participants and use this data to determine which participants are eligible for a guaranteed conditional offer. We understand that you might not be able to attend every session due to other commitments and circumstances, so we also consider completing the absence form as a form of engagement.
• You must still be studying the A-level (or equivalent) subjects you’d need to apply to your chosen degree at Durham University. If you have dropped a subject at any point during your A-levels but it is a required subject for the course you want to apply for, we will not be able to make you a guaranteed conditional offer.
• You need to apply to a course that matches your Futures in STEM subject. If you are a Futures in Physics participant, we can only make a guaranteed conditional offer to you if you apply to course offered by Durham’s Physics department, and the same goes for the other 4 subject strands of Futures in STEM. You can find which subjects are offered by each Science department here. In some cases you may be able to apply to a Natural Sciences course that majors in your Futures in STEM subject.

Yes, absolutely! Being ineligible for a guaranteed conditional offer from Futures in STEM does not make you ineligible to receive an offer from Durham itself. This is especially not the case if you are applying to a subject not offered by the Futures in STEM programme (i.e., a subject that isn’t offered Chemistry, Computer Science, Engineering, Maths or Physics departments), as we would still encourage you to apply as you may receive an offer on your own merit!

No. Guaranteed conditional offers made my Durham University are only for Durham University.

Depending on if you meet certain widening participation criteria, your offer may be contextual (or reduced). The decision to contextualise a guaranteed conditional offer is made centrally by Durham University’s admissions team (not Futures in STEM).

More information about contextual offers from Durham can be found here.

Yes, Durham University will need to be at least 1 of the 5 University choices you put down on your UCAS form for you to be eligible for a guaranteed conditional offer.

Yes! We still provide guaranteed conditional offers to students who wish to apply to Natural Sciences courses. Durham University offers joint honours Natural Sciences courses where you major in 2 different STEM subjects.

In order to be eligible for a guaranteed conditional offer in this case, the course you apply for will need to be 50% your Futures in STEM subject. For example: if you are a Futures in Physics participant, you can receive a guaranteed conditional offer for Natural Sciences in Physics and X, where X is another Science subject.

More information about the Natural Sciences subject combinations available at Durham can be found here.

There’s nothing you’ll need to do on your UCAS form to flag yourself as a Futures in STEM participant who is eligible for a guaranteed conditional offer. The Futures in STEM team will send your information to Durham’s Admissions team that will enable your UCAS application to be automatically flagged when it’s received by the University.

We would still encourage applicants to mention the skills and experiences they’ve learnt on the Futures in STEM programme when writing their personal statements!