Questions and answers

For some Bachelor degree programmes it may be possible to be considered for second year entry, however this is rare at Bristol for several reasons: the syllabus of your university’s programme must match the core syllabus of the first year at Bristol; entrance grade requirements are higher than average; each year the University of Bristol recruits to capacity on the majority of its Bachelor degree programmes and with very few students deciding to discontinue their studies (drop out) after only one year, there is often physically no space to admit any extra candidates. It is not possible to be considered for entry to the final year of any programme.

Please check the admissions statement for the department that you are interested in.Some departments do not accept transfer students, and this will be clearly explained in the admissions statement.

If you would still like to be considered for second year entry and you are eligible, you need to do the following:

• Obtain a full copy of the syllabus of your current programme of study
• Obtain a transcript listing all the university examinations that you have taken so far, with dates and results, and include a list of those exams that you are still to complete in the current academic year
• Identify the course (with its UCAS code) that you would like to be considered for at Bristol
• Write a short explanation about why you would like to transfer from your current studies and be considered for second year entry.

You can then send all this information together to the relevant Admissions Team for your programme of interest with your full name, date of birth and contact details. You should make it clear that you would like to know if you can be considered for second year entry.

You need to plan ahead - for example the UCAS application deadline for European Union candidates is 15 January each year. We cannot give an instant decision on whether you would be eligible to apply for second year entry, so it is worth getting your application together based on either first or second year entry, until you know for sure whether transfer is a possibility. Once you have this information, you can submit your application to UCAS. Please also remember that even if you are told that you are eligible to apply for the second year, this does not guarantee that you will be made an offer if you do apply.

If English is not your first language, or you do not have an internationally recognised English qualification, you will need to provide evidence of your English language ability.

Standards are set to ensure that you are able to cope with the understanding of the course as it can be very difficult to settle in if you are struggling with English.

It is important to note however that these requirements may differ according to the course and it is vital that you are aware of this and check with the department directly. English language requirements for all our programmes are provided under each programme entry in our undergraduate and postgraduate prospectuses.

If you currently do not meet the English language requirements for your chosen course, we offer a range of English language courses to prepare you for your study here at Bristol.

For further details of the University-approved tests please refer to the University's English language entry requirements.

Standard entry requirements for students with UK qualifications are provided in both the undergraduate and postgraduate prospectuses. In order to find out if you have the equivalent qualifications from your own country, please consult our entry qualifications by country pages.

If you cannot find the information there, please contact the International Recruitment Team by email, telling us the name of your qualification, the subjects you have studied, the date you took the exams and the grades that you achieved. Once we have this information, we will be able to advise you on your eligibility to apply.

GMAT stands for Graduate Management Admission Test. It is an American standardised assessment in English that some business schools use to assess the qualifications of applicants who wish to apply for advanced study in the business and management field. You do not need a GMAT score for any application to the University of Bristol.

UKCAT stands for the UK Clinical Aptitude Test, for medical and dental degrees. At present the University of Bristol does not require candidates for medicine or dentistry to take this test. However, as you may apply for up to four different institutions for medicine or dentistry programmes on your UCAS form, it is quite likely that at least one of those institutions will require the UKCAT, in which case you will need to take the test in order to fulfil the requirements of that institution.

The LNAT is the National Admissions Test for Law. All applicants for LLB programmes at Bristol must take the LNAT test. The University of Bristol Law School will not make an offer to a candidate until he or she has taken the test, unless the test is unavailable in the country of residence.

More information is available on the LNAT website.

The University has agreements with a number of education representatives (also known as agents) around the world, who can assist you with your application if you so wish. Please note that using a representative does not put your application at any advantage or disadvantage when the academic decisions are made within the department. Independent applications will be considered on an equal basis.

Please use the services of only one representative to avoid administrative complications. We also strongly advise you to work only with a representative listed on our website.

There are a number of scholarships available each year for international students. Some of the scholarships are offered by the University itself, and others are administered by external organisations. For further information, please use our scholarships search.

Please be aware that each scholarship scheme has its own application procedures and deadline, so you should read the relevant information carefully and allow yourself plenty of time to submit an application if you are eligible.

More detailed information on the scholarships available to students applying to Bristol is provided by the Student Funding Office

There may also be funding available from organisations in your home country - start by checking with the relevant government department, and also the British Council.

Undergraduate students can apply for more than one programme at Bristol. The applications should be submitted together on the UCAS form.

Postgraduate students can apply for more than one programme at Bristol however we would strongly advise applicants to carefully consider the programme they wish to apply for. Please note that some departments will make only one offer at a time and will require a response from the student for that first offer before considering the second application.

All undergraduate degrees at Bristol are offered as full-time programmes and international students should apply for a full-time programme, even if the prospectus says that a part-time alternative is available.

Some postgraduate programmes at Bristol are offered on a part-time basis only.In the postgraduate prospectus, all taught Masters programmes are described as open to international students regardless of whether they are full-time programmes.Potential applicants should be aware that part-time study is only open to international students if they already have the correct immigration permission to be in the UK. There is no student visa for part-time study in the UK.