Applying for Study Abroad

First, check you meet our minimum entry requirements:

Academic requirements

• You should normally have completed at least one year of university study
• The minimum entry requirement is equivalent to a cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.0 (out of 4.0). If a student's average is below this, they may still apply, but the Admissions team may request additional information from the sending institution such as references or evidence of mitigating circumstances.
• You can find out if there are any specific requirements, such as previous study of a subject for a particular module on our Choose your module pages.

English language requirements

If English isn’t a native language for you, and if you haven’t studied in an English-speaking environment before, we will usually ask for evidence of your English language skills and require the following minimum standard level of English for direct entry to our credit-bearing courses:

• • IELTS: 6.5 overall (with no subscore below 5.5)
  • Pearson: 61 (with 54 in writing and no subscore below 51)

Due to visa requirements, for students coming for a full year, we require evidence of the level via a SELT (Secure English Language Test) and students will need to offer this evidence as part of their application.

Students may also able to use their English qualifications from their high school to prove their abilities - a full list of the acceptable qualifications (for visa purposes) can be found here.

We are also currently accepting the tests listed on this page - click link for more details.

What to do if your English qualifications are at a lower level:

If your IELTS level is between 6.0 and 6.5, and you’re applying to start in September, you can take an Online Pre-sessional English Language Programme over the summer to bring your English up to the required level. Please follow the link below for more information about how to apply:

Pre-sessional English language programmes (royalholloway.ac.uk)

Masters students

• To apply as a Masters student, first look at the department where you want to study for information on postgraduate courses.
• Next, contact the Study Abroad team direct - studyabroadstudents@rhul.ac.uk - regarding your module choices (you can disregard ‘Step 2 - Choose your module’ below).
• Apply online - see Step 3 below.

• Take a look at our module information and find out what options are available.
• For this reason, if you want to join us for a full year, you should choose modules that total at least 150 - 180 UK credits (75 - 90 ECTS). If you’re joining us for just one or two terms, you should choose modules that total 90 - 120 UK credits (45 - 60 ECTS).
• Please be aware that due to possible timetable changes or clashes, we cannot always guarantee a place on the modules that you select. 

• To register and apply, complete our online application form.
• When you complete the online application form, you will need to upload the following supporting documents. You can begin your application without all of the items below present so that we can start to review your details, but an unconditional offer cannot be made until all the following have been uploaded:
  
  • An authorised transcript of your university studies
  • An English translation of your transcript (if necessary)
  • If your university is NOT a Royal Holloway 'study abroad partner', you will need at least one academic reference
  • Proof that you meet our English language requirements (see Step 1)
  • A photocopy of the personal details page of your passport
  • A personal statement

• Please ask your advisor to let us know about your upcoming application by completing our Partner Universities Nomination Form.
• Our deadlines for applications are:
  • 24 May for September starters 
  • 24 October for January starters

• We’ll send you an offer by email. This offer will be subject to satisfactory agreement of your module choices.
• Once you’ve accepted your offer, we will send your module requests to the relevant academic departments for their consideration. In some cases (for example, where there are no spaces on a module), they may suggest an alternative.
• Once you’ve agreed your module choices, we will then send you a Study Plan to accept. This will show the modules you will study during your time at Royal Holloway. Very occasionally, slight changes may need to be made to your Study Plan during your first week due to timetable clashes or other unforeseen circumstances.

• As soon as you’ve accepted your offer from us, you can register on our portal to apply for accommodation.
• As a Study Abroad student, you are guaranteed campus accommodation provided you apply before the deadline.
• See our accommodation pages to see the different options you can choose.
• For all accommodation queries, email:  studentaccommodation@rhul.ac.uk.