The information on this page relates to programmes with a start date of November 2024 or later. Click here for programmes with a start date of up to October 2024.
Queen Mary University of London offers a range of Pre-sessional English Language courses, which provide excellent preparation for your future study. If you fall below our standard English Language requirements, you may consider one of our Pre-sessional English courses.
The English language requirements for our programmes are indicated by English bands, and therefore the specific test and score acceptable is based on the band assigned to the academic department within which a course of study is administered. See which English band each of our academic departments falls within to find the English band required for the course you wish to study.
The entry requirements for our Pre-sessional courses are aligned to the English band for your main programme. See table below which illustrates the requirements for the 5-week, 9-week, and 13 week Pre-sessional courses.
You can apply for the Pre-sessional programmes in your applicant portal once you have received your offer for your main programme. Find out more about the application process for pre-sessional programmes.
Foundations Pre-sessional Programme
If your main programme is any of our Foundation Courses that allow entry to undergraduate programmes for example (including courses integrated with undergraduate programmes) or any of our Pre-Masters courses (including Masters integrated with Pre-Masters), then the only Pre-sessional course available to you will be the 9-week Foundations Pre-sessional programme. The requirements for Foundations Pre-sessional course is the same as the standard 9-week Presessional course - see table below.
SELT requirement
For entry to Pre-sessional English programmes you will normally be required to present a UK government approved Secure English Language Test (SELT) which is also approved by Queen Mary as acceptable such as IELTS Academic UKVI or PTE Academic UKVI (unless you qualify for a joint CAS for the 5 and 9 week Pre-sessional courses).
Pre-sessional English programmes delivered Online
Pre-sessional English programmes delivered online have the same entry requirements as the standard on campus delivered Pre-sessional programmes, as listed in the table below. However, for Pre-sessional programmes delivered entirely online you do not necessarily need to have SELT test (as you do for on campus Pre-sessional programmes), and therefore, we may be able to consider a wider range of English tests. See some of the common non-SELT tests that we can consider benchmarked against the IELTS test.
Pre-sessional Entry Requirements table
The entry requirements for our Pre-sessional courses are aligned to the English band for your main programme. See which English band each of our academic departments falls within to find the English band required for the course you wish to study. The table below which illustrates the requirements for the 5-week, 9-week, and 13 week Pre-sessional courses in relation to the English bands.
Requirement for 5-week pre-sessional course
Requirements for 9-week Pre-sessional course & 9-week Foundations Pre-sessional course
Requirements for 13-week Pre-sessional course
Presessional requirements for programmes in Band 5 (IELTS 7.0 overall with 6.0 in each component)
Presessional requirements for programmes in Band 4 (IELTS 6.5 overall with 6.0 in each component)
IELTS Academic UKVI with 6.0 overall and 5.5 in each component
PTE Academic UKVI with 65 overall and 59 in each component
Presessional requirements for programmes in Band 3 (IELTS 6.0 overall with 5.5 in each component)
IELTS Academic UKVI with 5.0 overall and 4.5 in each component
PTE Academic UKVI with 55 overall and 49 in each component
Presessional requirements for programmes in Band 2 (IELTS 5.5 overall with 5.5 in each component)
Presessional requirements for programmes in Band 1 (IELTS 5.0 overall with 5.0 in each component)
IELTS Academic UKVI with 4.5 overall and 4.5 in each component
PTE Academic UKVI with 49 overall and 49 in each component
For a more thorough list of English Language tests that we may be able to consider where a SELT is not required can be found on our Accepted English Language Tests and Qualifications page.
Please get in touch with the Admissions Office if you want advice on Pre-Sessional English entry requirements that is not covered here.