The Student Room Group

IELTS and UCAS

I am going to enroll at a university in 2012, so I have one more year for preparing. I read all the insrtuctions at www.ucas.com but I didn't understand... when do I send them my IELTS results? Do I send them with my application (before 15.01.12) or with my exam results in June 2012?
And I don't understand - if I send my application before 15.01.12, do I have to send my exam results at all?
And the last question. Is the IELTS result very important for my application? Is 6.5 enough or I should do it much better to be confident in myself?
Reply 1
If you have already taken an English language exam such as IELTS or TOEFL by the time you're applying then you can just include the results on your UCAS form (the overall score, the subscores, and the reference number so that universities can verify your results). Then all you have to do is take the original score sheet with you to registration or send it to the university in June (this is up to them so you'll have to ask... each university has its own rules).
If you're taking the exam after January 15 then you have to let the universities know as soon as you receive your scores. They may or may not want you to send a score report so that's something you have to ask once you have the results.

You have to let the university know of your exam results, no matter when you apply. I understand that you're applying while in your last year of high school, this means that your application will contain your predicted exam results and universities will make their decisions based on those predictions (and any actual results you may hold by then). Then when you receive your results in June you'll have to let the university know. They may want you send photocopies first and bring originals with you to registration (or they may want originals straight away... that's something you have to ask once you have your results).

The language test is important in the sense that you have to achieve at least the minimum they require (which may not be 6.5 for all universities and all courses!). A perfect score will be impressive, but it won't really help your application, all they want is for you to have reached a certain level of English, anything above that level is good and will help you in your studies, but it's not going to make up for poor exam predictions or anything like that (unless you want to study English or Literature or something in which case the results may have more weight).
Reply 2
Tnahk you very much for your answer.
No, I haven't pass my IELTS exam yet, I'll do it next year. I was reading some information about the application yesterday and I read that IELTS exam should be passed before the 15th January. I got really embarrassed because I can only start my english courses from summer. Now it's clear that I have a little bit more time. =) I can calm down.
most unis have 6.5 as the cutoff for IELTS I think maybe lower depending on the course
Some require 7.0 even 7.5 as minimum...it really depends on the subject/course you're thinking of, what do want to study in the UK?
Reply 4
Original post by nedyalkova
Tnahk you very much for your answer.
No, I haven't pass my IELTS exam yet, I'll do it next year. I was reading some information about the application yesterday and I read that IELTS exam should be passed before the 15th January. I got really embarrassed because I can only start my english courses from summer. Now it's clear that I have a little bit more time. =) I can calm down.


It's not an absolute requirement that you must have the result by the time you're applying. Some places allow you to send in the result after you have submitted the application (for example, if you took the test before applying, but the results won't be in until after the deadline, or if for some reason you're not able to take the test before the deadline). However, if at all possible you should definitely choose a test date that allows you to receive the result by the time you want to submit your application. This way there won't be any delays in processing your application (meaning that some places may hold off on deciding if they don't know whether you satisfy their language requirements).
On UCAS, they ask you for your IELTS number.
They will check the score later once you submit your UCAS.
The minimum req. for some university are 6.o/7.0.
It just depends on the course you're going to take.
Reply 6
Thank you all very much =)
Now I can be more confident in myself.:smile:
Reply 7
Thanks for the info, but how do i make the university know what i got ???
I will apply with UCAS as an individual and I am thinking about asking my teacher from the "Volkshochschule" where I attend english courses every week to wirte for me the references needed. Is that possible or would it be strange not to receive references from my general school? Are there any advantages or disadvantages concerning my application?

My second question is about the predicted grades. My teacher predicted me 1.3 in the Abitur but he stressed that it is nearly impossible to say because there is still so much to do. When I predict 1.3 is that then the entry requirenment or is that still 1.5? Becuase I am now thinking about only predict a 1.4 to make it more sure that I get my grades even if the exams are not as good as anticipated?
Reply 9
So does this mean that I will only have to send them a test report form after I am accepted at university ?
Reply 10
Could you please help me with filling in the results on my UCAS form? I can only see the box for the reference number, but don´t know where to mention my overall score and subscores. Isn´t the reference number enough as they can find out my score themselves?
I would like to enroll at UCAS a Bachelor degree of ''Fire Protection Engineering''. I found this course offered at a university's website as they need 6.0 and a minimum 5.5 in each part of the IELTS exam, whereas, I earned an overall 5.5 (speaking 6.5 , listening 5.5, reading and writing 4.5).
Will they accept me with my score?? Anybody recommend me to take an English course before the course??
Original post by Hassan Almousa
I would like to enroll at UCAS a Bachelor degree of ''Fire Protection Engineering''. I found this course offered at a university's website as they need 6.0 and a minimum 5.5 in each part of the IELTS exam, whereas, I earned an overall 5.5 (speaking 6.5 , listening 5.5, reading and writing 4.5).
Will they accept me with my score?? Anybody recommend me to take an English course before the course??


You need to contact the university offering the course (not UCAS - they are just the application service) directly and ask them whether they will accept someone with your IELTS scores.

Latest