China (mainland) / Entry requirements
General requirements for undergraduate courses
Foundation year
Due to differences in the China and UK education systems, students who have completed Chinese senior high school are required to complete a University-recognised foundation programme before joining an undergraduate course.
We require an average of at least 80% from Chinese senior high school Year 3 (with 80% in key subjects such as Maths and Physics where relevant) for entry to The University of Manchester’s Integrated Science and Engineering Foundation Programme, or the foundation programmes for science and engineering, biosciences, psychology or humanities run by the University’s partner INTO.
Applications for the University’s Biosciences with a foundation year programme will be considered following completion of Chinese senior high school Year 3 on a case by case basis.
We are a member of the Northern Consortium (NCUK), which offers an International Foundation Year (IFY) at Beijing, Changsha, Chengdu, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Kunming, Lanzhou, Qingdao, Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuhan and Xi'an. Students who have completed the IFY programme and have obtained the required grades will be considered for admission to the degree programme
Students who completed Year 1 of undergraduate degree studies from a recognised Chinese university may be considered for direct entry to some of the first-year undergraduate programmes. However, we strongly advise you to check this with the Admissions Tutor of the relevant programme before making the application. Applications must be made through UCAS.
You would also need to demonstrate proficiency in the English language.
Undergraduate studies
If you are studying A-levels or the International Baccalaureate (IB) then you can apply for ‘direct entry’ to the first year of a bachelor’s degree. Please note that only A-levels or IB will be considered for admission to Medicine or Dentistry.
The University considers the Canadian-Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) for entry with the following conditions:
- where it has been taught in person at a school officially authorised to grant credits towards the diploma;
We recognise that due to the COVID-19 pandemic many schools have had to move to some or all online teaching. We will consider students who have been taught online as a direct result of the pandemic but will require proof from the school that this was a necessary course of action.
- where it has been taught remotely through a formalised partnership between the awarding school and an overseas school. The awarding school will be asked to provide details of the partnership, and the teaching and assessment arrangements used. We reserve the right to make our own judgement regarding this;
- we do not generally consider the diploma where it has been taught online only, through a virtual or online school, without a formalised partnership. Where it has been taught wholly online, we expect to see the home address of the student on the UCAS form and not the address of the teaching body.
- the student who is applying to study at Manchester will need to provide evidence of English Language proficiency (especially if they have studied online). An English Language proficiency test may be required;
- awarding schools must be listed on the Canadian Ontario Government website as a school authorised to award Ontario Secondary School Diploma credits:
- accelerated routes (fast track routes) to the diploma are not accepted. We expect students to have achieved all 30 credits from Canadian OSSD courses, and for these to be detailed on their transcript;
If the applicant has been studying in the Ontario education system for fewer than three years, the awarding school will be asked to provide details of all courses taken in the previous school which meet the requirements of the Canadian Ontario Secondary School Diploma curriculum, and the number of credits that have been awarded on that basis.
The University will not consider a Canadian OSSD if it is not shown that courses studied in a different education system cover all the areas expected from a student who has studied only in the Ontario education system.
- transcripts can only be accepted if they are provided directly by the school and confirmed as being the final results. Transcripts provided by applicants will not be considered.
General requirements for postgraduate/research courses
Taught master's
Entry requirements differ between courses but generally taught master's applicants with a bachelor's degree from a recognised good-quality Chinese university, with a minimum overall average grade of 80% or a minimum GPA of 3.0 (out of 4.0) will be considered for admission on to taught masters programmes.
Applicants must demonstrate proficiency in English language and some our MBA programme requires GMAT scores. Please refer to the entrance requirements of individual programmes for further guidance.
PhD
Applicants with an undergraduate bachelors degree with a minimum grade of 80% and, in many cases, a master's degree from a recognised Chinese university will be considered for postgraduate research programmes of Master of Philosophy (MPhil) or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).
As the research programmes involve individual supervision, we strongly recommend the applicant makes initial enquiries with the supervisor or the relevant school first. A research proposal is required when submitting your application.
English language requirements
All applicants to the University (from the UK and overseas) are required to show evidence of English language proficiency.
UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) requires that every student from outside the UK and the EU must show evidence of a minimum level of English language in order to be granted a student route visa to study at undergraduate or postgraduate level. This level is often called the ‘B2 level’.
Additionally, our individual Schools may ask for specific English language proficiency levels that are necessary for their academic programmes. In most cases, these requirements are likely to be higher than the B2 level. Further information about our English language policy, including a list of some of the English language qualifications we accept, can be found here.
Some Schools ask that the appropriate score has been met before you apply for a course, while others give conditional offers subject to applicants achieving our general entry requirement level of English language proficiency before starting the course.
Under certain circumstances, the University may consider IGCSE/O-level English, or International Baccalaureate Language (English) or Language and Literature (English) at high grades as a recognised English language qualification.
Other entry requirements
Please note that this is general information only. Faculties and Schools have different entry requirements and some qualifications may not be acceptable for certain courses, so it is important to check with the School directly before you apply.
Some courses have additional entry requirements such as previous work experience, submission of written work with the application or previous study of a particular subject.