Eligibility and Entry Requirements | International Foundation Programme | University of Edinburgh | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

Details of the eligibility and entry requirements for admission to the International Foundation Programme.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible to be considered for entry to the programme, you must be an international student:

Whose first language is not English
Whose school qualifications were obtained within the last 4 years
Who is not eligible for direct entry to a University of Edinburgh undergraduate degree because your school qualifications are not accepted. Please note that you can check if your qualifications are accepted for direct entry through the following links:
- Undergraduate entry requirements for international (non-European) applicants
- Undergraduate entry requirements for European applicants
Who has a Secure English Language Test (SELT) – usually IELTS 5.5 overall with no band below 5.5

Academic Entry Requirements for the International Foundation Programme

You should be expecting to achieve excellent grades in your high school leaving qualifications or have already achieved excellent grades within the last four years.

To be considered for admission to the programme, the minimum academic qualifications you should be expecting to attain can be viewed in the Academic Entry Requirements document via the link below:

IFP Academic Entry Requirements 2026 (973.66 KB / PDF)

Required Subjects:

IFP Humanities & Social Sciences Pathway

For entry to our Humanities and Social Sciences pathway, you will need to achieve excellent grades in Maths in your final year if you wish to progress to a degree programme that requires maths. This includes for progression to Business, Accounting, Finance, Economics and Psychology degrees, among others.

IFP Art & Design Pathway

For entry to our IFP Art and Design pathway, you will be required to submit an artistic portfolio for progression to an Art or Design degree programme.

If you are applying for Architecture, you will be required to take the Art and Design pathway but will not require a portfolio.

You can access our portfolio guidance via the link below:

Art & Design Portfolio Guidance>

IFP STEM Pathway

For entry to our IFP STEM Pathway, you will need to achieve excellent grades in Maths and Chemistry in your final year.

If you’re not sure if your qualifications are suitable, please feel free to get in touch with our Admissions team at futurestudents@ed.ac.uk

To find out more about each degree programme you can access the link below:

Degree Finder>

English Language Requirements

We require applicants to complete an approved secure English language test (SELT) for entry to this programme. Our approved SELTs meet our English language proficiency requirements and the minimum standard for Student Visas. Accepted tests and scores are:

IELTS for UKVI with overall score of 5.5 or above with at least 5.5 in each component (normal IELTS will not be accepted, you must have an IELTS for UKVI certificate).
PTE Academic UKVI SELT with 54 overall and 54 in each component.

Your English language qualification must be no more than two years old from the start date of the programme.

For more information, please see our English language requirements for programmes below degree level.

English Language Requirements

Academic English language tuition forms a core part of the International Foundation Programme’s curriculum.

To learn more about how to apply to our programme, visit the link below:

How to apply

This article was published on 2024-08-28