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Open Days and subject showcases - Autumn 2024

Open Days and information sessions are a great way to learn more about programmes, meet staff and students and see what it’s like to study at UWS.

Attend an Open Day

Entry Requirements

What qualifications do you need?

We welcome Scottish, UK and international students and consider all applicants on an individual basis.

During Clearing our entry requirements remain flexible, and we are committed to providing opportunities to study with us based on a range of qualifications. Please get in touch, and we can discuss your specific circumstances.

If you are applying with an EU or non-EU qualification, please check our Undergraduate Entry Requirements page which gives more information about country-specific entry requirements.

Additional Information

All applicants will be expected to submit a strong personal statement and reference. Applicants may be invited for interview.

  • Scottish Highers*: 
    • Standard Entry Requirements: BBBC (102 UCAS Tariff points) including English
    • Minimum Entry Requirements: BBB (81 UCAS Tariff points) including English
  • A levels: BCC (112 UCAS Tariff points) including English
  • Irish Leaving Certificate: H1 H2 H2 H2 including English
  • International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma: 24 points including HL English
  • Scottish Wider Access Programme (SWAP): Access to Humanities - must include either SQA Higher English or units Comms4 and Literature 1, or equivalent (BBB)
  • BTEC Extended Diploma in relevant discipline (MMM)

* for more information on standard and minimum entry requirements, see the  drop-down section below

  • SQA Advanced Highers: CCC (120 UCAS Tariff Points) plus SQA Higher English
  • A-Levels: BBB (120 UCAS Tariff Points) including English
  • International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma: 28 points including HL English
  • SQA HNC / BTEC Level 4 HNC: Music or Music Performance or Music Technology or Music Production or Sound Production or Music Business 
  • BTEC Extended Diploma in relevant discipline (DDM)
  • SQA HND / BTEC Level 5 HND: Music or Performance or Music Technology or Music Business (for SQA HNDs, with Grade B in the Graded Units)

ENGLISH LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS FOR MOST COURSES

For applicants whose first language is not English, the University sets a minimum English Language proficiency level. The qualifications below must have been gained within two years of the start of your course.

General English language requirements at UWS: International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic module (not General Training)

  • overall score 6.0
  • no sub-test less than 5.5

Exceptions to this level of IELTS scoring exist for some accredited or professionally-recognised courses (see section below for more details).

SOCIAL WORK DEGREES

For our BA (Hons) Social Work and MSc Social Work programmes, applicants are required to have an IELTS score as follows:

  • overall score of 7.0
  • no sub-test less than 7.0

COMMON EQUIVALENT ENGLISH LANGUAGE QUALIFICATIONS

All stated English tests are acceptable for admission for both home/EU and international students for this programme:

  • CAE (Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English): 176 overall; no sub-test less than 169
  • CPE (Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English): 176 overall; no sub-test less than 169
  • Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English: ISEII with the minimum of a Pass in all sub-tests
  • PTE Pearson Academic English: An overall score of 59 to 64 with no element below 59 (for programmes that require IELTS 6.0 with no element below 5.5). An overall score 65 to 75 with no element below 65 (for programmes that require IELTS 6.5 with no element below 6.0)

 

IELTS SCORE EXCEPTIONS (RESEARCH DEGREES, BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE DEGREES, NURSING & MIDWIFERY DEGREES WITH NMC REGISTRATION, CERTIFICATE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, ETC.)

RESEARCH DEGREES

For our research degrees (MRes, MPhil, PhD, DBA, DProf) applicants are required to have an IELTS score as follows:

  • overall score of 6.5
  • no sub-test less than 6.0

HEALTH & MIDWIFERY AWARDS

For Health, Nursing & Midwifery courses that lead to, or require professional registration with the Nursing & Midwifery Council, applicants are required to have an IELTS or Occupational English Test (OET)*.

For such courses, the IELTS score is as follows:

  • overall score of 7.0
  • score of at least 7.0 in reading, listening and speaking and no less than 6.5 in writing

* Note that the Occupational English Test (OET) will now be accepted in addition to IELTS as proof of a Nurse's English Language Competence (Nursing & Midwifery Council, 2019).

BIOMEDICAL DEGREES

For our BSc (Hons) Applied Biomedical Science, BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science and MSc Advanced Biomedical Science programmes, applicants are required to have an IELTS score as follows:

  • overall score of 7.0
  • no sub-test less than 6.5

CERTIFICATE OF HIGHER EDUCATION

For our Certificate of Higher Education courses, applicants are required to have an IELTS score as follows:

  • overall score of 5.0
  • no sub-test less than 4.5

 

TOEFL IBT

TOEFL IBT*: 78; no sub-test less than:

  • Reading: 17;
  • Listening: 17;
  • Speaking: 17;
  • Writing: 17

* Please note that TOEFL is still acceptable for admission to this programme for both home/EU and international students.
For international students, the Home Office has confirmed that the University can choose to use TOEFL to make its own assessment of English language ability for visa applications to degree level courses. We therefore still accept TOEFL tests taken in the last two years for admission to this programme.

 

WEST AFRICAN SENIOR SCHOOL CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION (WASSCE)

West African Senior School Certificate of Education (WASSCE) including acceptance of WAEC Scratchcard*

  • C6 or above in English

*UWS will accept a WAEC scratchcard confirming that an applicant has achieved C6 or above as evidence of meeting English language requirement from Nigeria if the student graduated within the last 5 years. After 5 years applicants would be required to provide the WAEC Certificate.

 

PRE-SESSIONAL COURSES

Applicants who do not meet the minimum English language requirements have the option to study one of our preparatory and pre-sessional English courses. The UWS courses available are:

    • 10 week pre-sessional - entry criteria UKVI IELTS 5.0 with no element below 4.5.
    • 5 week pre-sessional - entry criteria UKVI IELTS 5.5 with no element below 5.5.
    • English Language for University Study - entry criteria UKVI IELTS with score of 4.0 in all elements (10 month course), or 4.5 with no score below 4.0 (7 month course).

Find out more about our English language Courses.

On our course pages, you will find details of our entry criteria listed as Standard Entry Requirements and Minimum Entry Requirements. These are the academic qualifications that, depending on your personal circumstances, you will be required to meet to allow your application to be considered for a place at UWS.

Competition for places on many of our courses can be very high and even if you meet the standard or minimum qualifications stated, there is no guarantee that your application will progress to the next stage of the admissions process. We review individual applications very closely and place great importance on your personal statement and academic reference as well as your academic qualifications before making selection decisions.

STANDARD ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

Our Standard Entry Requirements are the grades that you will need to achieve to allow you to be considered for entry to a specific programme of study.

MINIMUM ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

Our Minimum Entry Requirements are applicable to those applicants who have not had an equal opportunity to demonstrate their academic ability at school or college and are known as ‘widening access’ applicants. We also sometimes refer to this type of applicant as receiving a ‘contextual’ offer. We may be able to provide you with a contextual offer if you fall into one of the categories below:

  1. You have been in care (care-experienced/care-leaver)
  2. You are a young carer
  3. You have government-recognised asylum or refugee status
  4. You are estranged from your family or guardians
  5. You live in an area of high deprivation as defined by the Scottish Government (SIMD20)

If you fall into any of the first four categories above, please mention this on your UCAS application. We will automatically apply category 5 if it applies to you.

If you have already achieved the required grades for either our standard or minimum entry criteria, we may be able to offer you an unconditional offer for some course areas. If you have not yet achieved these grades, we may be able to make you a conditional offer, which will rely on you achieving further qualifications before you can be accepted on to a programme of study.

Undergraduate Tuition Fees

Tuition fees for this course 2024/25

Scottish

£1,820 cost per year of study (usually paid by the Scottish Government via SAAS*)

All other UK & Republic of Ireland

£9,250 Cost per year of study, but not more than £27,750

Channel Islands & Isle of Man

£9,250 Cost per year of study, but not more than £27,750

International (all other EU plus Non-EU)

£15,500 per year of study

More on tuition fees and funding

Modular Tuition Fees (20-credit points) 2024-25

Scottish

£305 per module (20 credits)

All other UK & Republic of Ireland

£1,550 per module (20 credits)

Channel Islands & Isle of Man

£1,550 per module (20 credits)

International (all other EU plus Non-EU)

£2,580 per module (20 credits)

More on tuition fees and funding

Apply via UCAS

Ready to apply? All UK & EU undergraduate applications should be made through UCAS. Further information for international, part-time and exchange applications can be found below.

UCAS

Further application information

Full-time (domestic & EU/EEA)

All UK and EU applicants for undergraduate study, not applying through an agent or partner, should apply through UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service)

The on-time application deadline for 2025/26 entry is 29 January 2025, 18:00 (UK time). For some courses it may still be possible to apply beyond this period, subject to suitable vacancies remaining. The final deadline for late applications via UCAS is 30 June 2025. Beyond this deadline, you may be able to apply via ‘UCAS Clearing’ if the course you are interested in has remaining places.

Please refer to our Undergraduate Application Guide for domestic & EU/EEA to find more information on when and how to apply to study at UWS.

You can find out more about applying for this undergraduate course on UCAS.

 

Full-time (non-EU/non-EEA), Part-time & Online (all students), Erasmus & International Exchange

Students from non-EU/non-EEA countries can apply directly to UWS via our dedicated online application system. The latest we can process your application is 6 weeks before the course start date to allow for visa processing times. For more information on when and how to apply to study at UWS please refer to our International Undergraduate Application Guide.

For part-time & online study, you should apply directly to the University through our online application system, not through UCAS. Please select the part-time mode of study when submitting your application. Before you begin your application, it is important to read the part-time application step-by-step guide for a smooth process.

To come to UWS as a visiting student on a study abroad or exchange programme, you must apply entirely through our online system.

An ATAS certificate is not required for overseas students applying for this course.

Get in touch

Do you have a question about applying for this course? Get in touch. We are here to help!

We will always try to make sure that we publish accurate course information but we do not accept responsibility for any mistakes or omissions. We will also try to make sure that we deliver our courses in line with our published information. However, we may not always be able to do so and you can find further information about this in our enrolment terms and conditions.