Prospective Students

Offers & Entrance Requirements

Admissions

We operate a personal admissions policy. All applications are considered on their merits, and we can be highly flexible as regards the offers we make. 

We accept and encourage applications from:

• Applicants with one or more A level in a foreign language
• Applicants who don’t have A level but who wish to study a language ab initio (this is available in French, German, Italian and Spanish)
• Applicants with BTEC National Diploma
• Applicants with Scottish or Irish qualifications
• Applicants with international qualifications
• Mature-age applicants

A levels

We normally expect applicants to have 280 points, to include a B grade in the language to be studied [or one of the languages to be studied in the case of Joint Honours or Major/Minor students]. General Studies may be offered as one of the subjects.

Ab initio (Beginners' Courses)

Students can study French, German or Spanish to degree level from scratch. Italian can also be studied to degree level as the minor language in R900 (SH European Languages degree scheme). Italian is also available within Q990 (Romance Languages degree scheme). Applicants not offering a language at A level are expected to show evidence of language-learning ability, e.g. a pass at grade B or above in a language at GCSE level or residence abroad. We also normally expect applicants to have 280 points. Such students may be asked to attend for interview.

BTEC National Diploma

The standard offer is 5 Distinctions and 1 Merit, plus evidence of competence in the language to be studied.

International Qualifications

The standard offer for applicants taking the International Baccalaureate is 28 points with a specified subject. Applications from students with other international qualifications are considered individually. All such applicants must show evidence of ability in the English language, e.g. by getting a GCSE at grade C or above, a British Council IELTS qualification passed with a minimum score of 6.5, a TOEFL qualification passed with a minimum score of 580 for a paper-based examination or 237 for a computer-based qualification or a pass in the Cambridge Proficiency Test.

Mature-age Applicants

We are particularly keen to receive applications from mature candidates. All such applications will be considered on a case by case basis. Where formal qualifications are not present, relevant experience and motivation will be taken into consideration.