Entry requirements

Your eligibility for these courses depends on:

your current level of English
the English level required for your future degree
whether you study online or face-to-face
the type of English language qualification you have.

English language requirements

You can check the entry requirements for your length of course below.

If you meet the entry requirements for the Standard course you should still consider applying for the Extended course to give yourself more time to prepare and adjust to teaching and learning at UCL.

Face-to-face courses

If you hold a conditional offer for a postgraduate UCL degree, you must have either:

an IELTS for UKVI (Academic)
a Pearson PTE Academic UKVI.

Your test date must be not more than two years before the course start date for us to consider the test.

Online courses

If you hold a conditional offer for a postgraduate UCL degree, we accept the following English language tests for our online Pre-sessional courses:

IELTS: UKVI / Academic / Indicator
Pearson Test of English (PTE): UKVI / Academic / Academic Online
TOEFL: iBT / Home Edition.

Your test date must be not more than two years before the course start date for us to consider the test.

Minimum overall and subskill scores required

Extended course

UCL degree English language requirement	IELTS	TOEFL	Pearson
	Online: UKVI Academic Indicator	Online: iBT Home Edition	Online: UKVI Academic Academic Online
	Face-to-face: UKVI (Academic)	Face-to-face: not accepted	Face-to-face: PTE Academic UKVI
Level 1	5.5 overall 5.5 in each subskill	82 overall 22/30 in reading and writing 18/30 in speaking and listening	59 overall 59 in each subskill
Level 2	5.5 overall 5.5 in each subskill	82 overall 22/30 in reading and writing 18/30 in speaking and listening	59 overall 59 in each subskill
Level 3	6.0 overall 5.5 in each subskill	87 overall 22/30 in reading and writing 18/30 in speaking and listening	67 overall 59 in each subskill
Level 4	6.0 overall 6.0 in writing 5.5 in other subskills	87 overall 24/30 in writing 22/30 in reading 18/30 in speaking and listening	67 overall 67 in writing 59 in each subskill
Level 5	7.0 overall 7.0 in each subskill	100 overall 25/30 in reading and writing 23/30 in speaking and listening	76 overall 76 in each subskill

Standard course

UCL degree English language requirement	IELTS	TOEFL	Pearson
	Online: UKVI Academic Indicator	Online: iBT Home Edition	Online: UKVI Academic Academic Online
	Face-to-face: UKVI (Academic)	Face-to-face: not accepted	Face-to-face: PTE Academic UKVI
Level 1	6.0 overall 5.5 in each subskill	87 overall 22/30 in reading and writing 18/30 in speaking and listening	67 overall 59 in each subskill
Level 2	6.0 overall 5.5 in each subskill	87 overall 22/30 in reading and writing 18/30 in speaking and listening	67 overall 59 in each subskill
Level 3	6.5 overall 6.0 in each subskill	92 overall 24/30 in reading and writing 20/30 in speaking and listening	75 overall 67 in each subskill
Level 4	6.5 overall 6.0 in each subskill	92 overall 24/30 in reading and writing 20/30 in speaking and listening	75 overall 67 in each subskill
Level 5	7.5 overall 7.0 in each subskill	109 overall 27/30 in reading and writing 23/30 in speaking and listening	80 overall 76 in each subskill

UCL unconditional degree offer holders

If you already hold an unconditional degree offer, we will not consider you for the Extended or Standard Pre-sessional courses.

We may offer an Unconditional Pre-sessional English course in September 2025.

IOE degree offer holders

If you are an offer holder for an IOE degree, you should apply to the IOE Preparation for Academic Studies in Higher Education courses.

IOE degree offer holders are not eligible for these courses.

Previous Pre-sessional students

If you have previously studied a Pre-sessional course at UCL then unfortunately we will be unable to consider a further Pre-sessional application.