All teaching at Royal Holloway (apart from some language courses) is in English. You therefore need to have good enough written and spoken English to cope with your studies right from the start.
The English language qualifications we accept
We accept the following internationally-recognised English language qualifications:
- IELTS
- Pearson Test of English
- Cambridge ESOL
We also accept some local English language qualifications from certain countries. For details, see the information on our Find your country pages.
The scores we require
For IELTS and Pearson Test of English, see the table below for the scores needed by our individual departments. For other English language qualifications, give details in your application of the level you have achieved.
Does my English language qualification need to be a SELT?
A SELT is a Secure English Language Test that is acceptable for UK immigration purposes. It has to be taken at an approved centre.
Your IELTS qualification must be a SELT if one of your IELTS subscores is below 5.5 and you are:
- applying for one of our Pre-sessional English Language Programmes with IELTS
- eligible for a linked Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies (CAS) covering both your degree and your pre-sessional English language programme.
If all of your IELTS subscores are at 5.5 or above, then we can give you a linked Confirmation of Acceptance of Studies (CAS) for a non-SELT IELTS.
Need to improve your English?
If you don’t meet our English language entry requirements, we offer a range of support to help you improve your English. This support includes:
- Pre-Sessional English Language Programmes - these intensive programmes of four, eight or 12 weeks are aimed at students holding a conditional offer who need to improve their English and study skills before they start their studies
- International Foundation Year - this one-year full-time foundation year will give you the academic English and study skills you need for undergraduate study in the UK. Find out more here.
- Pre-Masters Diploma for International Students - this one-year full-time course will prepare you for postgraduate study in the UK.
- Support with your English while you study - We offer a range of courses, workshops and tutorials to help you improve your academic English as you study. This support is mainly aimed at students with IELTS scores of below 7.0.
Find out what score you need
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Classics
Undergraduate and postgraduate degrees
IELTS: 6.5 overall. Writing 7.0. No other subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. Writing 69. No other subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Drama and theatre
Undergraduate and postgraduate degrees
IELTS: 6.5 overall. Writing 7.0. No other subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. Writing 69. No other subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
English
Undergraduate and postgraduate degrees
IELTS: 7.0 overall. Writing 7.0. No other subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 69 overall. Writing 69. No other subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE IV
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
European Studies
Undergraduate degrees
IELTS: 6.5 overall. Writing 6.5. No other subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. Writing 61. No other subscore lower than 51.
History
Undergraduate degrees
IELTS: 6.5 overall. No subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. No subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Postgraduate degrees
IELTS: 6.5 overall Writing 7.0. No other subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. Writing 69. No other subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Media Arts
Undergraduate degrees
IELTS: 6.5 overall. Writing 7.0. No other subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. Writing 69. No other subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Postgraduate degrees
IELTS: 6.5 overall. Writing 6.5. No other subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. Writing 61. No other subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Modern languages, Literatures and Cultures
Undergraduate and postgraduate degrees
IELTS: 6.5 overall. Writing 7.0. No other subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. Writing 69. No other subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Music
Undergraduate and postgraduate degrees
IELTS: 6.5 overall. Writing 7.0. No other subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. Writing 69. No other subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Politics, International Relations and Philosophy
Undergraduate and postgraduate degrees
IELTS: 6.5 overall. Writing 7.0. No other subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. Writing 69. No other subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Social Work
Postgraduate degrees
IELTS: 7.0 overall. No subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 69 overall. No subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE IV
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Faculty of Management, Economics and Law
Law
Undergraduate degrees
IELTS: 6.5 overall. No subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. No subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Postgraduate degrees
IELTS: 6.5 overall. Writing 7.0. No other subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. Writing 69. No other subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Economics
Undergraduate degrees
IELT: 6.5 overall. Reading and writing 6.0. No other subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. Reading and writing 54. No subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE):ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Postgraduate degrees
IELTS 6.5 overall. No subscore lower than 6.0
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. Writing 61. No other subscore lower than 54
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Management
Undergraduate degrees
IELT: 6.5 overall. Reading and writing 6.0. No other subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. Reading and writing 54. No subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE):ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Postgraduate degrees (except MBS - see below)
IELTS 6.5 overall. No subscore lower than 6.0
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. Writing 61. No other subscore lower than 54
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
MBA
IELTS: 7.0 overall. Writing 6.0. No subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 69 overall. Writing 54. No other subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE IV
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Faculty of Science
Biological Sciences
Undergraduate degrees
IELTS: 6.5 overall, with no subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. No subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Postgraduate degrees
IELTS: 6.5 overall. Writing 7.0. No other subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. Writing 69. No other subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Computer Science
Undergraduate and postgraduate degrees
IELTS: 6.5 overall. No subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. No subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Earth Sciences
Undergraduate and postgraduate degrees
IELTS: 6.5 overall. No subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. No subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Electronic Engineering
Undergraduate and postgraduate degrees
IELTS: 6.5 overall. No subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. No subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Geography
Undergraduate degrees
IELTS: 6.5 overall. Writing 7.0. No other subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. Writing 69. No other subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Postgraduate degrees
IELTS 6.5 overall. Writing 6.5. No other subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. Writing 61. No other subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Information Security Group
Postgraduate degrees
IELTS: 6.5 overall. No subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. No subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Mathematics
Undergraduate degrees
IELTS: 6.0 overall. No subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 54 overall. No subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Postgraduate degrees
IELTS: 6.5 overall. No subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. No subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Physics
Undergraduate and postgraduate degrees
IELTS: 6.5 overall. No subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. No subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Professional Studies
Postgraduate degrees
IELTS: 6.5 overall. No subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. No subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Psychology
Undergraduate degrees
IELTS: 6.5 overall. No subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. No subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
Postgraduate degrees
IELTS: 6.5 overall. Writing 7.0. No other subscore lower than 5.5
Pearson Test of English: 61 overall. Writing 69. No other subscore lower than 51
Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE III
Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C
