Frequently asked questions

If you have an offer to study on an undergraduate or postgraduate degree at The University of Manchester, you may be considered for a Pre-sessional course. If you are eligible to attend our 10-week (July) or 6-week course to enable you to meet the conditions of your offer, you will see this as an offer condition in your academic course offer letter.

If you wish to study earlier, we have a 10-week Pre-sessional course which starts in April.  To apply for this course, check your eligibility with the School you wish to study in and visit our 'How to apply' page.

If you have an unconditional offer for The University of Manchester you can study on our 4-week Pre-sessional course. 

• How to apply for your place.

Please also refer to our entry requirements page for more details.

For entry to our Pre-sessional courses we accept a number of English language qualifications in addition to the IELTS, including TOEFL (iBT), Pearson PTE Academic UKVI, Pearson PTE Academic (non-SELT) and LanguageCert International ESOL SELT. The acceptability of each English language qualification depends on whether you will study our Pre-sessional course here in Manchester or wholly online from outside the UK, and whether you will require a single or joint CAS to study in Manchester.

For advice on the entry requirements for an alternative English language qualification to the IELTS, please contact the Admissions Team for your chosen degree programme. You can find their details on the University study pages.

Currently we are only accepting students with an offer from another university onto our 10-week Pre-sessional course starting in April.

You must already hold an offer to study at The University of Manchester to study on our 10-week (July), 6-week and 4-week Pre-sessional courses.

Students who have an unconditional offer for an undergraduate or postgraduate course at The University of Manchester are eligible to apply for the 4-week online Pre-sessional course.

Places on our other courses are limited and priority must be given to those who need to attend a Pre-sessional course to meet their offer conditions.

If you choose to study the 10-week (online) or 6 week (online) Pre-sessional courses, you will not need a visa for the Pre-sessional period of study.

Students studying on the following Pre-sessional courses will require a visa to come to Manchester:

• 10-week (on campus)
• 6-week (on campus)
• 4-week (only available to be studied on campus)

More information can be found on our visa pages. 

Yes, you are welcome to apply via an agent. You must ensure that the preferred email address in your application is the agent’s email address, and all communications to us are sent from your agent. You should submit a letter with your application to confirm that you are happy for us to discuss your application with your agent.

If you have hired an agent to apply on your behalf, you should always contact your agent in the first instance as we will only deal directly with your agent. Please note that if you have an agent acting on your behalf you should speak directly to your agent and request that they contact us with any query.

You will receive an automatic acknowledgment email which confirms your application has been received.

If you have any queries you can contact presessional@manchester.ac.uk and quote your University of Manchester ID number.

If you wish to confirm your Pre-sessional booking on the basis of a sponsorship letter, you will need to email the sponsor letter to tuitionfees@manchester.ac.uk quoting your University of Manchester ID number, in lieu of making a payment for the Pre-sessional course. The Sponsor Letter Team will then review the documentation in order to confirm your booking.

Check the accommodation page for the latest information.

Once you have booked onto a Pre-sessional course, our booking conditions apply, so you may not receive a refund in fees (see below).

Please carefully consider the clear advantages of studying on a Pre-sessional course in terms of raising your level of English language proficiency and academic skills, and preparing you for studying at this University.

Should you cancel your Pre-sessional course within 14 days of booking, you will be refunded in full.

If you cancel after the 14-day cancellation window and up to up to 20 working days before the start of the course, your fee, minus the non-refundable administration fee of £240, will be transferred to your account for your degree course, or refunded (by request)

If you cancel your course fewer than 20 working days before the start of the course, you are not eligible for a refund.

Applications to transfer to a shorter Pre-sessional course will not be considered after the cancellation deadline of the course to which you originally applied. Should we agree to a transfer to a shorter Pre-sessional course, any remaining balance of tuition fees can be transferred to the balance of your new undergraduate or postgraduate degree programme, less the administration fee of £240.

All cancellations must be received in writing.

For full details please refer to the Pre-sessional booking conditions and the dates and fees page which shows cancellation deadlines for each course.

Should you cancel your Pre-sessional course within 14 days of booking, you will be refunded in full.

If you cancel after the 14-day cancellation window and up to up to 20 working days before the start of the course, your fee, minus the non-refundable administration fee of £240, will be transferred to your account for your degree course, or refunded (by request). 

If you cancel your course fewer than 20 working days before the start of the course, you are not eligible for a fee refund.

Applications to transfer to a shorter Pre-sessional course will not be considered after the cancellation deadline of the course to which you originally applied. Should we agree to a transfer to a shorter Pre-sessional course, any remaining balance of tuition fees can be transferred to the balance of your new undergraduate or postgraduate degree programme, less the administration fee of £240.

All cancellations must be received in writing.

For full details please refer to the pre-sessional booking conditions and the dates and fees page which shows cancellation deadlines for each course.

Attendance on the online Pre-sessional course is compulsory to successfully complete the course.

You must therefore start the online course on the specified Pre-sessional course start date. Only in exceptional circumstances (and upon receipt of satisfactory documentary evidence) will we consider a later start date. Starting your online course late can affect your progression on to your main course.

When you apply for a Pre-sessional course via our application system, you will be able to choose to apply to either the on-campus course or the online course.

As part of the Pre-sessional assessment you will not sit an IELTS exam, the assessment for the Pre-sessional course will be internal.

More information can be found on our course content pages

Procedure for complaints

We hope you enjoy your course and experience at the University Centre for Academic English. However, if you do have cause to complain, please follow the steps below and we will do our best to resolve your complaint.

Payment of the full course fee allows you to demonstrate your commitment to attending your Pre-sessional course and helps us to plan the resources required to deliver our Pre-sessional courses and support our students.