To benefit fully from a postgraduate programme you will need a good standard of English and will have to provide evidence of your abilities. The standard required for most programmes is shown below although there are exceptions which are detailed within the specific programme pages.

The following qualifications are accepted by the
University as evidence that you meet our minimum level of competence in English:

Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English (grade B)

Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English (grade C)

International English Language Testing System (IELTS) (band 6.5 overall, with a minimum of 6.0 in each of the four components). The test must have been taken no earlier than two years before the date that the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies is issued  

Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) with 92 overall in the internet-based test (or paper-based equivalent), normally with 22 or higher in each component (23 or higher in the speaking test). The test must have been taken no earlier than two years before the date the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies is issued     

The University of Surrey has an IELTS Test Centre on campus.   If you have IELTS at 0.5 below the required level for your programme and no less than 1.0 below the level in any single component, you will meet our English requirements upon successful completion of the University of Surrey’s ten-week pre-sessional programme, PS10, without the need to take another IELTS test.   
www.surrey.ac.uk/languages/english  

You don’t need to show an English qualification if you are a citizen of a majority English-speaking country (see list below) or if you come from elsewhere and have studied and been examined in the English medium for the final two years of a degree in any of these countries and certain other countries. For further details, please contact the Registry Student Centre or International Student Office.
Majority English-speaking countries are defined by the UK Border

Agency as:

• Antigua and Barbuda
• Australia
• The Bahamas
• Barbados
• Belize
• Canada
• Dominica
• Grenada
• Guyana
• Ireland
• Jamaica
• New Zealand
• St Kitts and Nevis
• St Lucia
• St Vincent and the Grenadines
• Trinidad and Tobago
• The UK
• The USA

Visa applications

If you require a student visa, you need to apply through Tier 4 of the Points-based Immigration System. Full information about this new system can be found on:
www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply/infs/ inf29pbsstudent

ATAS

There is an extra permission that you may need to get when you are a postgraduate student researching or studying some science and engineering subjects, if you are a national of a country that is not part of the EU/EEA. It is called the Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS).

You must get your ATAS certification before you apply for your Tier 4 general student visa. Most PhD subjects in science and engineering need ATAS certification. At the time of publication nine Masters-level programmes at the University of Surrey require ATAS.
They are:

• MSc Advanced Materials (F200)
• MSc Physics (EuroMasters) (F100)
• MRes Chemistry (F100)
• MSc Medical Physics (F350)
• MSc Radiation and Environmental Protection (F351)
• MSc Radiation Detection and Instrumentation (F351)
• MSc Space Technology and Planetary Exploration (H643 and H420)
• MSc Medical Microbiology (Research) (C521)
• MSc Medical Imaging (B800 and F350)

You can check if your subject needs ATAS certification once you know the Joint Academic Coding System (JACS) code for your research. JACS is a national system of identifying subject areas.
If you are coming to be a student at Surrey, your offer letter will include the JACS code.
Go to the list of subjects that require ATAS certification at the Foreign and Commonwealth

Office (FCO) website:
www.fco.gov.uk

If the first letter and number of your JACS code is on the list, then you must apply for ATAS certification. You can apply online and it is free. The
FCO aims to process the majority of applications in 20 working days, but some applications can take longer to be processed. They will email their decision to you in the form of a certificate which you should print off and attach with your visa application.

To apply, you need a brief statement of the research you plan to do, about six or seven sentences long, which can be found on your offer letter or, if you are already here, from the Registry Student Centre. MSc students should use the module information as provided in an email from the Registry Student Centre.

Apply promptly for your ATAS certification – you can’t make your visa application without it.