International Students
The School of Education has a diverse community of taught and research postgraduate students, many of which are international students from a variety of different countries.
As well as the traditional full-time study route, available for each of our postgraduate programmes and popular with home and overseas students alike, a number of our postgraduate programmes are available through part-time International Summer Postgraduate Institue (ISPI) which is delivered through a combination of summer school teaching and distance learning. These programmes are designed to suit overseas students who are looking for an alternative to full-time study in the UK. Because the teaching on ISPI is delivered intensively at four-week summer schools, students are often able to retain their existing teaching positions (or other employment).
Details of our full-time programme provision can be found by following the links below or on the left-hand menu:
International Student Support
The University's International Student webpages contain comprehensive information and support to assist international students in applying and preparing to come to Durham University, including information on visas and entry clearance, pre-departure checklists and other useful information about living in the UK. See: http://www.dur.ac.uk/international/prospectivestudents/
Visas and Entry Clearance
It is essential that international students have the necessary entry clearance before coming to the UK as a student. You can find further details in the "Postgraduate Study - important information about your offer" booklet and on the University's Immigration Office webpages.
Deposits for overseas self-financing postgraduate taught applicants
Please be aware of Durham University's new deposit scheme, introduced in March 2011, for all overseas self-financing PGT applicants. Applicants will be required to pay a tuition fee deposit once they have accepted their offer. Click here for further information.
English Language Requirements
If English is not your first language, you will need to be able to demonstrate satisfactory English proficiency before the start of your programme of study, by taking an English Language Proficiency Test. The British Council Internal English Language Testing System (IELTS) is our preferred test and can be taken in most countries.
The School of Education has recently revised its English language entry requirements for its postgraduate programmes. For programmes commencing August 2013 onwards, students will be required to meet the following standard of English:
IELTS: an overall score of at least 7.0 with no element under 6.5
TOEFL IBT (Internet Based Test): at least 102 with no element under 25
If you have already completed a degree programme where English was the language of instruction, it may be possible to use this as evidence of your English language proficiency, in lieu of a language test.
If you have not taken one of the above tests, you should arrange to do so without delay. If your language proficiency falls below the standards stated above, an offer may still be made, but it will be conditional upon you completing an intensive English course and being able to demonstrate that you have reached a level of English appropriate to your course, e.g. IELTS or a satisfactory written report from the University's Language Centre. The University's English Language Centre runs pre-sessional courses, for which application forms are available directly from the English Language Centre.
Note: Attending pre-sessional courses does not guarantee automatic entry.
Pre-sessional English Language Courses
Durham University's English Language Centre offers a number of intensive courses in academic English language and literacy skills that run from July to September. For further details see: http://www.dur.ac.uk/language.centre/englishlanguage/presessional/
Please note that if your offer includes a condition of attending an English Language pre-sessional course, you must contact the English Language Centre to secure your place on the relevant course before you can register for your main programme of study.
Further English Language Support
The University aims to help international students with the challenges that academic study in a different country brings by offering a range of in-sessional English language support programmes designed to support your programme of study. You can find further details of this in the "Postgraduate Study - important information about your offer" booklet and from the English Language Centre.
