All applicants are required to meet both the academic and English language requirements for the programme they are applying for.
All applicants, for both undergraduate and postgraduate study, must satisfy the College that they have a sufficient command of spoken and written English to meet the demands of the programme. We therefore require all applicants to obtain one of the options in the list below by the time of submitting their application to Oak Hill1:
Qualification
Level required
GCSE or GCE O Level English Language (or equivalent international qualification)2
Grade C or above, or 4-9 under the new GCSE grading structure
IELTS Academic Test
Overall score of 7.0 or above, with no less than 6.5 in each component
AS or A level English Language
Grade C
Cambridge English
C1 Advanced/Certificate in Advanced English (CAE) or C2 Proficiency/Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE): overall score of 185 or above, with at least 176 in each component
IGCSE English as a First Language
Grade C
International Baccalaureate
English A: Language & Literature – Grade 4 at Standard or Higher Level
Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic)
Overall score of 69 or above, with at least 65 in each component
Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) internet-based test (IBT)
Overall score of 100 or above, with at least 22 in listening and 23 in speaking, writing and reading
Scottish National English 5
Grade C
Scottish Higher English or Advanced Higher English
Grade C
Exemption from the English Language Requirement
An applicant will be considered to have satisfied the English language requirement if they meet all of the following criteria:
1 For IELTS, Cambridge English, PTE and TOEFL tests, an applicant should have been awarded the relevant test result within the two years prior to the start of the programme that they are applying for or we will not be able to accept it. Additionally, please note that an applicant cannot combine scores from more than one sitting of a test.
2 An applicant who has studied in a majority-English speaking country other than the UK should contact us for details of the level required in an equivalent international qualification. Majority English-speaking countries are defined by the British government as follows: 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, United Kingdom and USA.
3 Majority English-speaking countries are defined by the British government as follows: 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, United Kingdom and USA.