How to apply

Find out how you can apply for the Pre-sessional English courses, including the documents you will need to submit and how to pay your course fee.

On this page:

• Application process
• Accommodation
• Visa information
• Switching courses and making more than one application 
• Refunds

Application process

You can apply for the Pre-sessional English courses via the online application form.

Please read the information below before starting an application.

Please note the following:

• undergraduate offer holders can only choose the online Standard Pre-sessional course
• undergraduate and postgraduate offer holders for IOE degrees are not eligible for the Pre-sessional courses and should apply for the separate IOE Preparation for Academic Studies in Higher Education course (PASHE)

Follow these steps to apply for a Pre-sessional English course:

• Check the entry requirements and choose a course you are eligible for. For postgraduate offer holders, the course is available in two different lengths either face-to-face or online – each course has a different English language requirement depending on the level of English you need to reach by the end of the course.
• Complete the online application form
• Upload the following with your application:
  • All pages of your 2024/25 UCL degree offer, including all English language and academic conditions
  • Your English language qualification
  • The personal details page of your passport
  • Your most recent UK visa (if you have one)
• Pay the application fee of £75 via the UCL Online Store
• Wait to hear back from us via email. If we offer you a place on the course, our email will include details about how and when you need to pay the course fee.

Please make sure you fully complete your application because missing information will cause a delay. If your chosen course is full prior to the submission of a complete application, we will not be able to make you an offer.

Application deadlines

Apply by 1pm UK time on the relevant date for your Pre-sessional course.

Applications may close earlier if courses become full.

Confirming your place

We will email you to confirm your place on the course after you have paid the course fee.

The course fee will normally be due within a maximum of two weeks of our offer being made and can be paid by credit or debit card on the UCL Online Store.

Your offer email will contain full details on how and where to make this payment.

Accommodation (face-to-face courses)

If you’re applying for one of our face-to-face courses, we will send you further information on how to apply for UCL Accommodation if you would like to after you have paid your course fee.

Look at the accommodation website to see what’s available and get an idea of the cost.

Visa information

Face-to-face courses

We normally email you a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) two to three months before your Pre-sessional course starts, or as soon as possible after that.

You can use our CAS to apply for a Student Visa for the duration of the Pre-sessional course.

Online courses

Unless you already hold a valid visa for the UK, you cannot study the online course in the UK.

Future degree course

If you successfully complete the Pre-sessional course assessments (meeting the English requirements of your UCL degree offer) and have met any outstanding academic conditions attached to your offer, your degree course offer will be made unconditional and UCL will issue you with a CAS for your degree.

You can use this CAS to make an application for a Student Visa covering your degree course. Students on the face-to-face course in London will normally make their application in the UK.

Switching courses and making more than one application

Please note that we will only make one Pre-sessional offer per applicant in 2024, so please submit only one application.

Only your first application will be considered, and you may not receive a refund for other applications you make.

Once an offer has been made, we will not consider requests for students to switch to shorter courses. However, we will consider requests to switch from the face-to-face to the online course of the same length, or vice versa, provided that:

1. the request is received not later than the face-to-face course application deadline and
2. there is space in the course that the applicant wishes to switch to.

Refunds

Full refunds of the course fee will be made in the event of a visa application refusal where a further visa application is not possible. Claims must be supported by a Refusal of Entry Clearance letter. 

Other refund requests must be received by the refund request deadlines below to be considered and are subject to a 10% administration charge. Refund requests must be submitted by email to presess@ucl.ac.uk

Extended Pre-sessional refund request deadlines

• Face-to-face course: 1pm UK time 3 May 2024
• Online course: 1pm UK time 17 May 2024

Standard Pre-sessional refund request deadlines

• Face-to-face course: 1pm UK time 24 May 2024
• Online course: 1pm UK time 7 June 2024

No refund will be made if you withdraw or are withdrawn (for example, because of poor attendance) from a course after it begins.