English Language Requirements

English language requirements: undergraduate and postgraduate

All our courses are delivered in English. You’ll need to demonstrate that you meet our English language requirements and have the language skills needed to succeed in your chosen course.

What level of English language do I need?

The level of English language ability depends on the academic level and any professional body requirement of the course you plan to study. You can find the specific English language requirements on our course pages.

Most of our undergraduate and taught postgraduate courses require English at IELTS 6.0 (with no component less than 5.5) or a University accepted equivalent except for the following: BSc (Hons) Mental Health Nursing requires IELTS 7.0 and MSc Counselling requires IELTS 7.0 or an University accepted equivalent. BSc (Hons) Food Nutrition and Health and BSc (Hons) Fitness, Nutrition and Health require IELTS 6.5 (no component less than 6.0).

Our postgraduate research degrees require English at IELTS 6.5 (with no component less than 6.0)

Do I need a Student Visa?

Students who require a visa to study in the UK must meet the English Language Proficiency requirements set out by the UK Home Office. You can find out whether you need to apply for a student visa on our visa information pages or visiting the UKVI website.

Applicants who don’t need a student visa to study in the UK, but whose native language is not English, will still need to meet our English language requirements.

How do I meet the English language requirement?

You can demonstrate that you meet our English language requirements by:

Providing an accepted English language proficiency test
Providing an approved UK or International English language qualification
Meeting our exemption criteria

Accepted English language qualifications

Please check the dropdown menu for the full range of accepted English language qualifications. Some of these tests can be taken online if necessary.

UK or International English qualifications

We may consider UK or International high school qualifications in English to meet the English language requirements. Please check the drop down list of accepted qualifications.

English Proficiency Exemption

Applicants who have successfully obtained a Bachelor’s, Masters or PhD in the UK are not required to provided evidence of English language proficiency. Professional or vocational qualifications are not acceptable regardless of whether they are equivalent to UK Bachelor’s degree.

Applicants who have a GCSE, A Level, Scottish National Qualification (level 4 or 5) or Scottish Higher or Advanced Higher in English (either Language or Literature) that was awarded by Ofqual, SQA, Qualifications Wales or CCEA following education in a UK school while they were under 18.

Applicants who have achieved the minimum required High School English grade and then achieved the equivalent of a UK HE qualification at RQF level 5 (e.g. HND) or above, which has wholly been delivered and assessed in English for the duration of the study period in their home country may be considered for an exemption based on English as Medium of Instruction. A maximum validity period of 5 years from the date of Award applies. Please submit an official headed letter stamped and signed by your Institution confirming that your studies were taught and assessed in English.

Who does not need to prove their knowledge of English?

Applicants who have previously completed an academic qualification equivalent to a UK degree, which was taught in the Home Office’s list of ‘majority English-speaking countries’ do not have to confirm English language competence. (Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica. New Zealand, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, USA).

Applicants do not need to prove knowledge of English if one of the following applies:

They are a national of Canada
They are applying to come to the UK for a study abroad programme as part of a university degree course in the USA
They proved their level of English in a previous visa application

English language competence is also exempted for applicants who are moving from UKVI Child Student route into a UKVI Student Route.