Postgraduate entry requirements

If you’re studying an undergraduate or postgraduate course in the EU, your qualification will probably be graded using ECTS – a way of transferring European higher education grades to the UK. One ECTS credit is equivalent to two BU academic credits. 

You may be exempt from parts of your postgraduate academic programme if you can show you already have relevant qualifications in the subject area. There are two ways of doing this – Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and UK Credit Transfer (UKCT).

You can get RPL for professional qualifications which do not carry academic credit, or for academic credit received from higher education institutions outside of the UK. If your prior learning was at a UK higher education institution, it will be considered UKCT. To find out if you’re eligible for RPL or UKCT, please contact us.

Relevant experience can count towards your application. This is known as Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning (RPEL) and is a chance to show you have sufficient subject knowledge.

Usually, you’ll need to write about your experience, in a similar way to an academic assignment. We’ll assess this with the rest of your application. You can then be awarded RPEL credit – which may exempt you from parts of your academic programme.

Entry requirements vary by course and level of study – check our course pages for specific information. If English is not your first language, you’ll also need to meet our English Language Requirements. If you have any questions about your qualifications, please contact our International Admissions Team.