English Language Requirements

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English Language Requirements (IELTS, TOEFL, Pearson, and more)
Exemptions

English Language Requirements

To be accepted onto our programmes, you must be able to satisfy the University's English language requirements. The level required will depend on the programme you are applying for. We strive to make your application process as easy as possible, however in all cases we reserve the right to request an English language qualification and / or conduct an interview.

We accept a wide range of English language qualifications including:

IELTS Academic
TOEFL
PTE Academic
IELTS Indicator
TOEFL iBT Home Edition
Password
Duolingo English Test (for entry onto Pre-Sessional English programmes, and direct entry courses starting in September 2020 and January 2021, excluding Aston Medical School, OSPAP, and Postgraduate Research degree programmes).

Check the tables below on this page to find out our required scores for a range of English language tests.

For IELTS Academic, you can download our PDF summary:

Download our IELTS English Language Requirements PDF

Group of students sitting around a laptop

Main Entry IELTS Minimum Band Scores

Foundation

School / Programme	Reading	Writing	Listening	Speaking	Overall
All	5	5	5	5	5.5

Undergraduate (Bachelor Degrees)

School / Programme	Reading	Writing	Listening	Speaking	Overall
Aston Medical School	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0
Aston Business School *	Two bands at 5.5 and other bands at 6.0 and above				6.5
Engineering and Applied Science	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	6.0
Life and Health Sciences **	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.5
Languages and Social Sciences	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	6.0

* The above is applicable to students entering Years 1 and 2 of undergraduate programmes. Articulation into the Final year will vary depending on the degree programme and subject to the agreement with the partner.

** BSc Biochemistry, BSc Neuroscience, BSc Biology, and BSc Psychology programmes (all) will accept applications from candidates where one band is at 5.5 and the others at 6.0 and above.

Postgraduate (Masters Programmes)

School / Programme	Reading	Overall
Aston Business School	1 band at 5.5 as a minimum. Other bands at 6.0 and above	6.5
Aston Business School – MBA	1 band at 5.5 as a minimum. Other bands at 6.0 and above	6.5
Engineering and Applied Science	5.5	6.0
Engineering and Applied Science Engineering Systems and Management programmes	6.0	6.5
Life and Health Sciences	6	6.5
Life and Health Sciences – OSPAP	7	7
Languages and Social Sciences	1 band at 5.5 as a minimum. Other bands at 6.0 and above	6.5

* Postgraduate masters students enrolling with Aston Business School with a 5.5 in one of the 4 IELTS sections will be required to engage with English language tuition as part of the Aston Global Advantage. There will be no extra cost to the student.

Postgraduate Research Programmes

School / Programme	Reading	Writing	Listening	Speaking	Overall
Aston Business School	6.5	6.5	6.0	6.0	6.5
Engineering and Applied Science	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.5
Life and Health Sciences	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.5
Social Sciences & Humanities	6.5	6.5	6.0	6.0	6.5

Main Entry TOEFL (iBT) Minimum Range Band Scores

Foundation

TOEFL is not accepted for entry onto foundation programmes.

Undergraduate (Bachelor Degrees)

School / Programme	Reading	Writing	Listening	Speaking	Overall
Aston Medical School	26	28	26	23	109
Aston Business School *	18	23	19	19	93
Engineering and Applied Science	12	20	11	17	78
Life and Health Sciences	18	23	19	19	93
Languages and Social Sciences	12	20	11	17	78

* The above is applicable to students entering Years 1 and 2 of undergraduate programmes. Articulation into the Final year will vary depending on the degree programme and subject to the agreement with the partner.

Postgraduate (Masters Programmes)

School / Programme	Reading	Writing	Listening	Speaking	Overall
Aston Business School	18	23	19	19	93
Aston Business School - MBA	18	23	19	19	93
Engineering and Applied Science	18	23	19	19	93
Life and Health Sciences	18	23	19	19	93
Life and Health Sciences - OSPAP	26	28	26	23	101
Languages and Social Sciences	18	23	19	19	93

Postgraduate Research Programmes

School / Programme	Reading	Writing	Listening	Speaking	Overall
Aston Business School	23	26	19	19	93
Engineering and Applied Science	18	23	19	19	93
Life and Health Sciences	18	23	19	19	93
Social Sciences & Humanities	23	26	19	19	93

Main Entry Pearson Minimum Band Scores

School / Programme	Reading	Writing	Listening	Speaking	Overall
Foundation
Foundation programmes	36	36	36	36	42
Undergraduate (Bachelor Degrees)
Aston Business School	57	57	57	57	63
Engineering and Applied Science	50	50	50	50	57
Life and Health Sciences	57	57	57	57	63
Languages and Social Sciences	50	50	50	50	57
Aston Medical School	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Postgraduate (Masters Programmes)
Aston Business School	57	57	57	57	63
Aston Business School - MBA	57	57	57	57	63
Engineering and Applied Science	57	57	57	57	63
Life and Health Sciences	57	57	57	57	63
Life and Health Sciences - OSPAP	72	72	72	72	72
Languages and Social Sciences	57	57	57	57	63
Postgraduate Research Programmes
Aston Business School	63	63	57	57	63
Engineering and Applied Science	57	57	57	57	63
Life and Health Sciences	57	57	57	57	63
Social Sciences & Humanities	63	63	57	57	63

Main Entry Password Band Scores

Undergraduate (Bachelor Degrees)


School / Programme	Reading	Writing	Listening	Speaking	Overall
Aston Medical School	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.0
Aston Business School*	Two bands at 5.5 and other bands at 6.0 and above (applies to reading, writing, listening and speaking)				6.5
Engineering and Applied Science	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	6.0
Life and Health Sciences**	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.5
Languages and Social Sciences	5.5	5.5	5.5	5.5	6.0

*The above is applicable to students entering Years 1 and 2 of undergraduate programmes. Articulation into the Final year will vary depending on the degree programme and subject to the agreement with the partner.

**BSc Biochemistry, BSc Neuroscience, BSc Biology, and BSc Psychology programme (all) will accept applications from candidates where one band is at 5.5 and the other at 6.0 and above.

Postgraduate (Masters Programmes)


School / Programme	Reading	Writing	Listening	Speaking	Overall
Aston Business School - MSc or LLM	One band at 5.5 as a minimum. Other bands at 6.0 and above (applies to reading, writing, listening and speaking)				6.5
Aston Business School - MBA	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.5
Engineering and Applied Science	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.5
Engineering and Applied Science, Engineering Systems and Management programmes	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.5
Life and Health Sciences	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.5
Life and Health Sciences - OSPAP	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.5
Languages and Social Sciences	Our band at 5.5 as a minimum (applies to reading, writing, listening and speaking)				6.5

* Postgraduate masters students enrolling with Aston Business School with a 5.5 in one band will be required to engage with English language tuition as part of the Aston Global Advantage. There will be no extra cost to the student.

**Aston Online**
Aston Business School	6.5	6.5	6.0	6.0	6.5
Engineering and Applied Science	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.5
Life and Health Sciences	Not accepted
Social Sciences & Humanities	6.5	6.5	6.0	6.0	6.5

Pre-Sessional English course Duolingo Entry Requirements

Undergraduate (Bachelor Degrees)

School/Programme	5-week Aston Pre-sessional Entry Requirements	9-week Aston Pre-sessional Entry Requirements
Aston Business School	100	90
Life and Health Sciences*	100	90
Engineering and Applied Science	90	80
Languages and Social Sciences	90	80
Life and Health Sciences - Pharmacy, Optometry and Audiology programmes	100	90

*With the exception of UG Pharmacy, Optometry and Audiology that are now mapped with PGT LHS.

Postgraduate (Masters Programmes)

School/Programme	5-week Aston Pre-sessional Entry Requirements	9-week Aston Pre-sessional Entry Requirements
Aston Business School	100	90
Languages and Social Sciences	100	90
Life and Health Sciences (excluding OSPAP)	100	90
Engineering and Applied Science (Engineering Management & Supply Chain Management programmes)	100	90
Engineering and Applied Science	90	80

Exemptions

If you meet any of the criteria below, then you may not need to provide an English language qualification:

Graduated from a UK university?

If you studied for a minimum period of one year in the UK and achieved at least a 2:2 within the last two years then we will consider you to have met Aston’s English language requirements for Postgraduate study.

National of a majority English Speaking Country

If you have one of the following nationalities then you will be exempt from the English Language requirements:

Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, New Zealand, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago United States of America.

Students discussing notes in the classroom

Academic qualification equivalent to a UK Degree - Taught in majority English Speaking Country

If you have a qualification from overseas and it is deemed to be equivalent to a UK degree. The degree must have been taught in one of the following majority English speaking countries:

Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, United States of America.

Students will also have to provide provide official documentation produced by UK NARIC which confirms the evaluation that the overseas academic qualification is equivalent to a UK degree (does not include professional or vocational qualifications).

Students who have recently graduated at the University

Exemptions for Undergraduate applicants

If you have studied or are studying recognised qualifications in English, such as GCSE English or IB, an IELTS qualification is not required provided you meet our minimum requirements.

Unfortunately this does not apply to any courses below degree level.

These don't apply to me

If you don't meet the above criteria you will need to meet our English language requirements as listed below.

For applicants whose English falls short of our minimum entry requirements we provide a range of Pre-sessional English Language programmes which aim to enable our applicants to reach our requisite levels of English and help them to become more confident about studying in English in the UK.

See pre-sessional dates and costs here

Which English Language test should I take?

IELTS

If you have been asked to provide evidence of an IELTS Academic test (not the IELTS General test) at a certain level, there are now two to choose from.

A standard IELTS Academic test.
IELTS Academic test from a UKVI approved test centre.

The following applies to those who need a Tier 4 visa and have been made an offer based on an IELTS score:

If you have a direct entry unconditional offer for an undergraduate or postgraduate programme, you can take any IELTS Academic test, whether from a UKVI approved centre or not.
If you require a CAS for a single Pre-sessional course, or have been made an unconditional offer for a Foundation year you must take your IELTS Academic test from a UKVI approved test centre.
If you are not sure which to choose, we strongly recommend that you take the UKVI approved test.
If you have any further questions, please contact the Visa Compliance Team or alternatively please contact the International Office.

TOEFL

We will only accept TOEFL for Undergraduate and Postgraduate programmes, and will be able to issue your CAS to support your overseas Tier 4 Visa application (if you hold a suitable level). However we will not be able to accept TOEFL for programmes below degree level, including Foundation and pre-sessional programmes.

If you have been made an offer for direct entry on to an undergraduate or postgraduate programme, then we will still accept a range of qualifications as evidence of your English Language ability, and you are NOT required to provide evidence of these for a Tier 4 visa application.