ENTRY REQUIREMENTS DETAILS

ENTRY TO THE PROGRAMME DETAILS

This guide details the entry requirements for students applying to the NCUK International Foundation Year (IFY).

Entry to Medicine

NCUK offers a number of progression routes to medical courses. Students who wish to apply for these courses must have a science background in their qualification prior to IFY and have performed well in excess of the minimum entry requirements outlined below.

Art & Design

Students wishing to study Art & Design on the International Foundation Year should have previous experience of studying Art & Design at High School.

English Language Requirements

The English language entry requirements are outlined in detail in a table at the end of this document. Students must be able to show English language ability at IELTS 5.0 level or equivalent prior to entry. Students should present a form of English language certification as well as the academic qualifications outlined below.


Qualification International Foundation Year Entry Requirement
GCSE/IGCSE/Cambridge International O Levels O Level / IGCSE Pre-2017 - Successful completion of 5 modules with grades of CCCCC (to normally include Maths and English). Post -2017 - Successful completion of 5 modules with grades of 4 or above (to normally include Maths and English).
AS Level 2 E Grades from a UK A-Level board.
A Level One E Grade from a UK A-Level board.
International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP) Successful completion with a total of 34 points or more with a grade of 5 or more in both Maths and English. Students must have completed eAssessment. Students entering the IFY via this route may have limited progression outcomes.
International Baccalaureate Successful completion with a minimum of 22 points.
US High School Diploma Successful completion including good passes in Maths for Engineering related progression. This includes students who are studying in a US school system overseas. Such students would not normally be required to provide evidence of English language level. Note that if the student has completed SATS I plus either SATS II or APs they may be eligible to enter the International Year One.
General Education Development Tests (GED) Successful completion of each of the four tests with a mark of 145 or more in each test.
Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) Successful completion with an overall average of 50% or a GPA of 3.0 or more on a 5.0 scale (with a grade of 70% or more in Maths)

English Language Requirements Below are the English Language entry requirements for NCUK qualifications. NCUK accepts a variety of qualifications for progression onto its qualifications and you can use these tables to determine if your qualifications match NCUK’s requirements. The minimum accepted English Language grades for our qualifications are displayed in the table. Note that normally where a test gives a grade for each skill we would expect each skill to be no more than half an IELTS point below the overall entry requirement. For example, for students entering IFY we ask for an overall IELTS 5.0, we would also expect all skill grades to be IELTS 5 or above.


Percentage Grade Password IELTS TOEFL IBT PTE Academic Duolingo Skills for English LanguageCert International ESOL* CEFR
9.0 118 - 120 86+ 155 - 160 C2 Pass C2 C2
8.5 115 - 117 83 - 85 145 – 150 C2 Pass C2 C2
8.0 110 - 114 79 - 82 135 – 140 C1 Pass C1 C1
80%+ A* Password Plus 7.5 102 - 109 73 - 78 125 - 130 C1 Pass C1 C1
70 – 79%+ A 7.0 7.0 94 - 101 65 - 72 115 - 120 C1 Pass C1 C1
60 – 69%+ B 6.5 6.5 79 – 93 58 - 64 105 -110 B2 Pass B2 B2
50 – 59%+ C 6.0 6.0 60 – 78 50 - 57 95 - 100 B2 Pass B2 B2
40 – 49%+ D 5.5 5.5 46 – 59 42 - 49 85 – 90 B2 Pass B2 B2
35 – 39%+ E 5.0 5.0 35 – 45 36 – 41 75 – 80 B1 Pass B1 B1
<35% U 5 5 32 - 34 30 - 35 65 - 70 B1 Pass B1 B1

Qualification Percentage IELTS TOEFL IBT PTE Academic OTE (Oxford Test of English) Duolingo Linguaskill LanguageCert International ESOL* Skills for English NCUK EAP
University Access Programme 5 5 32 30 90 65 146 B1 B1 Pass N/A
International Foundation Year 5 5 35 36 100 75 153 B1 B1 Pass E (no skill less than a E)
International Year One in Business International Year One in Engineering 5.5 5.5 46 42 111 85 160 B2 B2 Pass D (no skills less than a D)
International Year One in Law 6 6 60 50 126 95 169 B2 B2 Pass C (no skills less than a C)
Master’s Preparation 5 5 35 36 100 75 153 B2 B1 Pass E (no skills less than a E)
Master’s Preparation Enhanced 5.5 5.5 46 42 111 85 160 B2 B2 Pass D (no skills less than a D)
Master’s PreSessional 5.5 5.5 46 42 111 85 160 B2 B2 Pass D (no skills less than a D)