Law

Scottish Highers

• Standard Entry Requirements: BBBC (102 UCAS Tariff points) 
• Minimum Entry Requirements: CCC (63 UCAS Tariff points)
• Alternative Minimum Entry Requirements: CC (42 UCAS Tariff points) PLUS successful completion of one of the following:
  • UWS Foundation Academy
  • Foundation Apprenticeship
  • UWS Next Steps to University module
  • Routes for All
  • Top-Up
  • LEAPS

A levels

• Standard Entry Requirements: BCC (112 UCAS Tariff points)
• Minimum Entry Requirements: CCC (104 UCAS Tariff points)

Irish Leaving Certificate

• Standard Entry requirements: H1H2H2H2
• Minimum Entry Requirements: H2H2H2

International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma

• 24 points

Scottish Wider Access Programme (SWAP)

• Access to Humanities (BBB)

BTEC Extended Diploma

• MMM

T Level

• Full T-Level with Grade P (A*- C)

University of Strathclyde Pre-entry course 

• Composite mark of over 60%

HNC

• Legal Services
• Legal Studies
• or acceptable equivalent 

HND

• Legal Services
• Legal Studies
• or acceptable equivalent 

ENGLISH LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS OVERVIEW

All academic degrees/awards at UWS are taught in English. For applicants whose first language is not English*, the University sets a minimum English Language proficiency level. All English language qualifications must have been gained within two years of the start of your UWS course.

* applicants who are exempt from english language requirements include:

• native speakers of English
• Erasmus students (unless advised otherwise)
• non-Erasmus students from EU partner institutions (your institution must provide confirmation of your English language ability in the absence of a formal qualification)
• students whose previous degree-level study has been taught and assessed in English in what UK Visas and Imigration (UKVI) define as a majority English speaking country

In general terms, if you are applying to study a course at, or above, Year 1 (SCQF Level 7) bachelor’s degree level, then the UKVI’s minimum level of English proficiency is Common European Framework for References of Languages (CEFR) at B2 (Upper Intermediate).

UWS & INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEST SYSTEM (IELTS)

At UWS, we define our general English language requirements using the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic module (not General Training) as follows:

Undergraduate (bachelor's - BA, BAcc, BEng, BSc etc.) degrees and postgraduate (master's - MA, MBA, MSc etc.) taught degrees

• the CEFR equivalent requirement is normally an overall IELTS score of 6.0 (or equivalent), with a score of no lower than 5.5 in any of the four elements (listening, speaking, reading and writing)

Postgraduate research degrees (MRes, MPhil, PhD, DBA etc.)

• the CEFR equivalent requirement is an overall IELTS score of 6.5 (or equivalent), with a score of no lower than 6.0 in any of the four elements (listening, speaking, reading and writing)

These are minimum requirements and some courses may require a higher standard for admission†.

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

IELTS SCORE EXCEPTIONS (RESEARCH DEGREES, BIOMEDICAL & PARAMEDIC SCIENCE DEGREES, NURSING & MIDWIFERY DEGREES WITH NMC REGISTRATION, SOCIAL WORK DEGREES, 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 score of less than 6.0

HEALTH & MIDWIFERY AWARDS

For Health, Nursing & Midwifery courses that lead to professional registration with the Nursing & Midwifery Council (BSc Adult Nursing, MSc Adult Nursing, BSc Mental Health Nursing, MSc Mental Health Nursing, BSc Midwifery and MSc Midwifery), applicants are required to have an IELTS score as follows:

• overall score of 7.0
• score of at least 7.0 in reading, listening and speaking and
• score of at least 6.5 in writing

PARAMEDIC SCIENCE DEGREE

Our BSc Paramedic Science degree leads to professional registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC); it has different IELTS requirements than other Health-related courses. Although it is not possible to apply for this degree directly as an international student, for applicants who meet SAAS residency requirements and for whom English is not their first language, then the following IELTS scores are required:

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

BIOMEDICAL DEGREES

For our BSc (Hons) Applied Biomedical Science, BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science and MSc Advanced Biomedical Science degrees, which may lead to professional registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), applicants are required to have an IELTS score as follows:

• IELTS 6.0 for level 7 and 8 entry
• IELTs 6.5 for level 9/10 or MSc entry

SOCIAL WORK DEGREES

Our BA (Hons) Social Work and MSc Social Work degrees are professionally recognised by the Scottish Social Services Council and applicants are required to have an IELTS score as follows:

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

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

OTHER IELTS EQUIVALENT ENGLISH LANGUAGE TESTS

In additional to IELTS, we also accept a number of alternative English language for application and admission to our courses for both home/EU and international students at bachelor's degree study at Year 3 (SCQF Level 9), and above. From Cambridge to TOFEL iBT qualifications the number of these qualifications is extensive.

Find out about non-IELTS English Language Tests

ENGLISH LANGUAGE HIGH SCHOOL QUALIFACTIONS ACCEPTED FOR NON-EU APPLICANTS

UWS has also reviewed a range of High / Secondary School qualifications studied by non-EU applicants that can be used as a basis of entry to a UWS. These range from Botswana GCSEs to USA High School Graduation Diplomas, the number of these qualifications is extensive.

Find out more about international English Language high-hchool qualifications

PRE-SESSIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE COURSES AT UWS

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 an overall score of 4.0, plus a score of 4.0 in all sub-tests (10-month course), or an overall score of 4.5, plus no score below 4.0 in all sub-tests (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 SIMD decile 1-4 (SIMD20/40)* Scottish postcode area
   *if you are unsure if you live in one of these areas you can check using the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation Postcode calculator SIMD (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation)

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.

Further details of our Admissions processes can be found as follows:

• Check our Student Experience section of our Polices & Procedures webspage for the latest copy of our Admissions Procedure.
• Download our Admissions Statement for Entrants in 2022 (pdf)

UWS Law graduates are equipped for careers within and out-with the legal sector. Graduates will also be well positioned to compete for places on graduate training schemes.

* Please note, the BA Law Degree is not a direct path to practicing as a solicitor in Scotland. In order to practice as a Scottish solicitor, students would need to undertake further study, being the LLB Degree. Many BA Law students do go on to undertake this further Degree which is not currently on offer at UWS.

Graduates may seek to undertake further specialist postgraduate research in areas such as law or business, for example a Master of Business Administration (MBA). Some graduates may choose to continue their legal studies leading to an LLB or LLM (the former is the degree required to practice as a Scottish solicitor).