Lift Off: eligibility, deadline and what it gives you
Lift Off is the Schools for Higher Education Programme for Fife, Dundee and Angus, a partnership of local colleges, universities and councils funded by the Scottish Funding Council. Pupils are selected by their school from S4, S5 or S6 depending on the school's tier, and get campus events, the free Lift Off 2 Success residential at St Andrews in the summer after S4, a learning-skills course in S5 and a transitions programme and personal statement review in S6. St Andrews counts Lift Off pupils as widening access students, but its medicine page does not list the programme as a route to its minimum grades.
- Closes
- Not published
- For
- S4 to S6 students, medicine
- Where
- Scotland
- Gives you
- Contextual flag
What you get
Completing Lift Off gives you a contextual flag for medicine.
- St Andrews lists Lift Off among the programmes that make you a widening access applicant, considered at its minimum entry grades (AAB instead of AAA, or AAABB instead of AAAAB in S5)
- But for Medicine, St Andrews limits minimum-entry consideration to SIMD40, care-experienced, young carer, estranged or refugee applicants, so check with medical.admissions@st-andrews.ac.uk
- Dundee's contextual admissions policy names Reach, ACES and SWAP but not Lift Off
- The Lift Off 2 Success residential is free
Who can apply
You need to
- Attend a Lift Off partner school in Angus, Dundee or Fife
- Join through your school's guidance teacher; tier 1 schools start in S4, tier 2 in S5, tier 3 in S6
- Have the potential to achieve at least two Highers by the end of S6
Plus at least one of
- Care-experienced
- Deprived postcode
- Free school meals
- Young carer
- Refugee or asylum seeker
- Estranged from parents
- First in family to university
- Low household income
Dates
- Applications open
- School-based, no public window
- Applications close
- No public deadline; schools plan the year's intake in June
- Programme runs
- Through S4 to S6 in school, with the summer residential at St Andrews after S4
- Apply to university
- UCAS deadline 15 October 2027 for 2028 entry
How to apply
Apply through the Lift Off for pupils page. It is run by Lift Off team at Abertay University with Fife, Dundee and Angus schools. Questions go to lift.off@abertay.ac.uk.
Frequently asked questions
Does Lift Off guarantee an interview?
No. Lift Off gives a contextual flag rather than a guaranteed interview. St Andrews lists Lift Off among the programmes that make you a widening access applicant, considered at its minimum entry grades (AAB instead of AAA, or AAABB instead of AAAAB in S5).
Who is eligible for Lift Off?
Attend a Lift Off partner school in Angus, Dundee or Fife. You need to join through your school's guidance teacher; tier 1 schools start in S4, tier 2 in S5, tier 3 in S6, have the potential to achieve at least two Highers by the end of S6, and meet at least one of its widening participation criteria, such as care-experienced, deprived postcode, free school meals.
When is the Lift Off deadline?
This cycle's closing date has not been published. No public deadline; schools plan the year's intake in June. Applications school-based, no public window.
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