English language requirements

Our courses are taught and assessed in English. The UK Visa and Immigration Authority and the university will need you to meet their English language requirements for your chosen course in order to be granted a student visa.

We have expanded the number of qualifications we are able to accept. If you have, or are sitting, one of the qualifications listed here and it meets our validity policy then you do not need to take an IELTS test, even if we asked you to do so in your offer. Please let us know and send a copy of your results so we can check your qualification.

English language, English literature, or English language and literature A-levels at grade D or above.
A bachelors or masters degree from an accredited university in the UK or a Home Office majority English-speaking country.
IELTS Online – check the IELTS Online website for more information about which countries are operating this test and the test eligibility.
Kaplan Test of English – an easy to access online English Language test from Kaplan online that can be taken from home.
Occupational English Test (OET) – accepted for Medicine and a range of allied health profession courses, including Pharmacy, which have vocational training elements.

All qualifications are subject to our normal admissions checks and the above is only a summary and not a guarantee that your qualification will definitely be accepted. If you are applying for an undergraduate or postgraduate taught course, contact the enquiries and admissions team for more support and guidance. If you are applying for a postgraduate research degree, get in touch with the doctoral college team.

We will also continue accept the standard English language qualifications detailed below.

Meeting the university's English language requirements

You can meet our English language proficiency requirements if:

we are satisfied that your previous academic record meets our validity policy and clearly demonstrates your ability to study and be examined in the English language, or
you provide us with certificated proof of your competence in English by having recently passed an English language qualification.

The tables show the English language qualifications we accept for most courses. However, please check individual course descriptions for the English language entry requirements for the specific course.

Undergraduate: standard requirement for most taught undergraduate courses
Level	Qualification	Result
Higher intermediate to lower advanced	IELTS Academic IELTS Academic UKVI IELTS Online	6.0, with no less than 5.5 in each component
Higher intermediate to lower advanced	Cambridge	B2 First (FCE) 169 with no less than 162 in each component
Higher intermediate to lower advanced	Cambridge	C1 Advanced (CAE) 169 with no less than 162 in each component
Higher intermediate to lower advanced	Cambridge	C2 Proficiency (CPE) 180 with no less than 162 in each component
Higher intermediate to lower advanced	PTE Academic UKVI	59 overall, with 59 in each component
Higher intermediate to lower advanced	Trinity College London	ISE II with a Pass with Merit in each component
Higher intermediate to lower advanced	TOEFL iBT centre-based test	72 overall, 18 in writing, 10 in reading, 10 in listening and 17 in speaking
Higher intermediate to lower advanced	LanguageCert International ESOL SELT Exam – B2 Communicator or C1 Expert	33 overall with a minimum score of 33 in each component
Higher intermediate to lower advanced	Kaplan Test of English	Minimum 442 overall with all four components at 411
Higher intermediate to lower advanced	Occupational English Test, accepted only for Medicine and some allied health profession courses, including Pharmacy, which have vocational training elements.	Minimum 270 overall with all four components at 220

Postgraduate: standard requirement for most taught postgraduate courses
Level	Qualification	Result
Lower advanced to advanced	IELTS Academic IELTS Academic UKVI IELTS Online	6.5, with no less than 5.5 in each component
Lower advanced to advanced	Cambridge	B2 First (FCE) 176 with no less than 162 in each component
Lower advanced to advanced	Cambridge	C1 Advanced (CAE) 176 with no less than 162 in each component
Lower advanced to advanced	Cambridge	C2 Proficiency (CPE) 180 with no less than 162 in each component
Lower advanced to advanced	PTE Academic UKVI	59 overall, with 59 in each component
Lower advanced to advanced	Trinity College London	ISE III with a Pass in each component
Lower advanced to advanced	TOEFL iBT centre-based test	85 overall, 18 in writing, 10 in reading, 10 in listening and 17 in speaking
Lower advanced to advanced	LanguageCert International ESOL SELT Exam – B2 Communicator or C1 Expert	39 overall with a minimum score of 33 in each component
Lower advanced to advanced	Kaplan Test of English	Minimum 477 overall with all four components at 411
Lower advanced to advanced	Occupational English Test, accepted only for Medicine and a range of allied health profession courses including Pharmacy, which have vocational training elements	Minimum 320 overall with all four components at 220

Research degrees: standard requirements by subject
Subjects	IELTS requirement
Applied sciences Technology and engineering	6.5 overall with no component below 6.0.
Architecture Art and media Business and law Education Humanities and social science Sport and health sciences	7.0 overall, 7.0 for writing and no component below 6.5.

We accept a number of other qualifications, if you have a question about English qualifications please get in touch.

Meeting the UK Visa and Immigration Authority (UKVI) English language requirements

For some courses the UKVI requires prospective students to provide evidence they have met the language requirement through a secure English language test (SELT), with an approved test provider.

The University of Brighton accepts IELTS Academic UKVI, PTE Academic UKVI, LanguageCert SELT and Trinity College London SELT taken in the UK.

We can also accept a number of non-SELTs as long as they meet our validity policy.

We need evidence of this before we can issue you with a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) which you will need for your visa application.

If you have any questions about the university or the UKVI English language requirements we recommend speaking to one of our helpful advisers.

Pre-sessional English courses

If you need to improve your level of English before joining us, you could join an in-person pre-sessional English course at the University of Brighton International College.

Alternatively, you could join an online pre-sessional English course with partner Oxford International Digital Institute.