Entry requirements for international students
Before applying please check whether you meet the entry requirements for the degree course you are interested in.
Please see our country webpages for specific entry requirements in terms of international qualifications.
If your country is not listed, the University's standard entry requirements are listed on this page. If you don't yet meet these requirements, please contact us to check your qualifications, or consider our International Foundation Programme (for undergraduate entry), Business School Graduate Certificate or International Bridging Programme (for postgraduate entry), an HIC pathway, or our Pre-sessional English Programme.
Academic requirements:
Please visit our course page for specific entry requirements in terms of international qualifications.
All undergraduate and postgraduate courses require students to have a Maths qualification equivalent to GCSE grade C or above. If you have a query relating to the equivalence of your local qualification please contact us.
Undergraduate
The normal entry requirements for undergraduate degrees are completion of 12 years of school education and successful completion of a school leaving certificate equivalent to UK 'A' Levels.
A Level: please see our course pages for the A Level requirements for your course of interest.
International Baccalaureate: 24 (International Foundation Programme) - 34 points.
Postgraduate
Before you apply you should check whether you meet the entry requirements for the degree course you are interested in.
The normal entry requirements for postgraduate degrees are completion of a Bachelor degree in a relevant subject area at a level equivalent to a UK second class honours degree.
University English Language requirements
We require you to demonstrate your English Language proficiency before an unconditional offer will be made to you. For the majority of our courses, we accept the following tests
- GCSE English Language at grade C or above
- IGCSE English at grade C or above
- IELTS score of 6.0 (with no less than 5.5 in any band)
- TOEFL iBT 80 (with no less than 17 in listening and writing, 18 in reading and 20 in speaking)
- Pearson Test of English 54 (with no less than 51 in any band)
Please note this is not an exhaustive list. For more information please refer to the UKBA recognised English language tests information.
IELTS, TOEFL iBT and PTE are valid for two years and must be valid up to the date the CAS (Certificate of Acceptance for Studies) is issued.
Please be aware that the following courses have a different English language requirement:
IELTS 6.5/TOEFL iBT 88/PTE 5 (minimum band scores also apply)
- All postgraduate Business courses
- All undergraduate and postgraduate Humanities courses
- All postgraduate Art, design, film, music and media courses
- All undergraduate and postgraduate nursing courses
- All undergraduate and postgraduate social work courses
- Most courses in the School of Health and Emergency professions
- MPharm
- MSc Biotechnology
- MSc Pharmacology
- MSc Molecular Biology
- MSc Environmental Management
- MSc Business Psychology
- MSc Psychology
- All postgraduate education programmes
IELTS 7.0/TOEFL iBT 95/PTE 67 (minimum band scores also apply)
- BSc Physiotherapy
- BSc Dietetics
- MSc Advancing Pharmacy Practice
- MSc Organisational Psychology
Course webpages include English language requirements.
Preparatory courses
Pre-sessional English, English for Academic Study and any foundation courses with National Qualification Framework (NQF) exit levels 3 – 5 will require you to achieve the University's overall English level for your course (see individual course page for details), plus each of the 4 skill components* at B1 level or above.
Bachelor's degree or above
Courses with NQF exit level 6 & 7 (i.e. Pre-masters, Graduate Certificate in Business, Undergraduate degrees and Postgraduate degrees) will require you to achieve the University's overall English level for your course (see individual course page for details), plus each of the 4 skill components at B2 level or above
UKBA minimum requirements listed below differ from the University's overall English entry criteria.
UK Border Agency minimum English requirements
For ease of reference please see below the UK Border Agency (UKBA) minimum equivalences of B1, B2 and C1 English language levels.
*where available, this refers to Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking
| Test | Score | Test validity | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Common European Framework level | B1 | B2 | C1 | |
| GCSE English | N/A | C | A | N/A |
| iGCSE English as a first language IGCSE English as a second language | Reading, writing grade G and speaking, listening grade F
| Reading, writing grade E and speaking, listening grade D | A | N/A |
| IELTS (Academic and General Training) | 4.0 in all four | 5.5 in all four | 7.0 in all four components |
2 years
|
| TOEFL iBT | Reading - 4 | Listening - 17 | Listening – 22 | 2 years
|
| Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic) | 36 in all four |
| 67 in all four |
2 years
|
| City and Guilds IESOL and ISESOL | N/A | C1 Expert Pass in all four components | N/A | 2 years |
Taking a test
If you have not already demonstrated that you have the required English Language proficiency for your course, you will need to take a secure English Language test. Please note, if your offer has an English language condition included, this is expressed as an IELTS requirement. We do, however, accept other English language test providers, including TOEFL and Pearsons.
Test centre details - please follow the links to find out more or book a test: