I’m writing to let you know of an important change being made to the admission policy for English language test exemptions of overseas nationals. Currently we will exempt English language test requirement where a student has studied for three or more years in an English-speaking country (usually the UK). This exemption will no longer apply – so we will require an English test result such as IELTS, TOFEL, etc., from any applicant unless they are a national of an English-speaking country (as defined by UKVI).

The change in policy is being applied with immediate effect. It will have an effect on your Chinese students with first degrees in UK (or other English speaking country) as they all need to submit the English language test results with their applications. Same as all other applicants who have studied in the UK (or other English speaking country) at Bachelor level or above for one or more academic years, they are not eligible for a place on the pre-sessional English course and thus, should attain IELTS 6.5 with broadly consistent scores in the elements of the test (or equivalent).