FAQs
If you have a question about applying for Postgraduate study at Warwick, you should check the section below as you may be able to find the information that you require. If you are not able to find the answer to your question, please contact the Postgraduate Admissions Service using the enquiry form as we will be happy to assist.
Progression to Postgraduate Study to those affected by the Marking and Assessment Boycott
The Russell Group of Universities has made a joint commitment to support students affected by missing marks due to industrial action and enable them to progress to planned postgraduate study. Wherever possible, Russell Group universities – including Warwick – will admit offer holders currently studying at UK universities, whose official transcripts and completion of studies documentation indicates they would be likely to achieve the degree outcomes required by their offer. The universities will use this principle when making decisions about individual circumstances on a case-by-case basis.
PGCE offer holders: if you are accepted onto the PGCE course without confirmation of your final award, awarding of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) will remain subject to being awarded graduate status prior to the completion of your PGCE in line with DfE guidance.
If you are holding an offer to study at Warwick and have further questions, please contact the Admissions Service using the contact details in your offer.
How important is the Personal Statement?
Your Statement of Purpose, or Personal Statement, is a vital part of your Postgraduate application at the University of Warwick. We read it carefully, think about what you say and how you say it. It helps us to decide if you are suitable for the course, if you will succeed and be happy studying here. Your Personal Statement gives us an opportunity to find out more about you. Therefore, you should think of the Personal Statement as an opportunity to tell us about yourself and to highlight your strengths. You should read about the course you intend to apply for on the study pages and department pages. It is important that you explain to us why you have applied for your chosen course and highlighting specific aspects of the course such as modules that you are interested in should help you do this.
Remember that writing a personal statement takes time and effort – you should jot down a few points on a piece of paper before starting to write it in full. Aim for 500 words. It may seem like a lot, but it will fill up quickly. Be concise and straight-forward in your writing. Keep your sentences short and get to the point. Most of the poor statements we see are too long, not too short. You should focus on why you want to study your chosen course and why you want at study at Warwick. For further information please visit the personal statement guide
What happens if I miss my offer?
We understand that you may be apprehensive about the grades you will receive. If you narrowly miss your offer we will discuss this with the academic department who may be able to flexible in some circumstances. If you know that you will not meet the grade specified in your offer, you do not need to tell us in advance. We will only contact the academic department after we receive your final degree documents. Unfortunately, flexibility will not be possible in all cases.
How do I upload documents to support my application?
Please upload your academic certificates, transcripts, English language certficates and supporting documents through the Applicant Portal. Your degree certificates/transcripts should confirm your final mark and overall classification. If your certificate and transcript are not in English you will need to provide your original and an official certified English translation. Your referee should provide your reference directly to Warwick through the referee portal. For information on how to meet the conditions of your offer please visit the offer holder pages.
I am having problems uploading my documents
Please use the link in your application acknowledgement email to upload documents to your Applicant Portal. You should be able to upload the appropriate documents to meet the required condition. If you are experiencing difficulty with the document upload facility please submit an enquiry through the Postgraduate Admissions Service enquiry form at the bottom of this page or speak to a member of the support team through the Live Chat.
Have you received my supporting documents?
You should be able to see all of the documents you upload to your application in the Applicant Portal. If you are a conditional offer holder, the team will process your documents and will confirm whether or not they meet the conditions of your offer.
How can I send my supporting documents?
Once you have submitted your application, and paid the application assessment fee, if required, you will be sent an acknowledgement email which will contain a link for you to upload your documents in the Applicant Portal. Please use this facility to upload as many documents as required. If you need to upload a new version of any document previously submitted, the applicant portal will allow you to do this. We do not need to delete the previous version of the document for you to upload a new version. If you are submitting documents to meet the academic conditions of your offer please visit this webpage for further information on how to do this.
What is an attested copy/attestation?
Attested documents are 'official' copies of your original documents that have been verified by either your university, British Council, solicitor, lawyer or official notary. Each page of the copy of the document should include an official stamp, confirmation that the original has been seen and contact details of the attesting officer. If you are in the UK, the Post Office offer this service for a small fee. Watch the Meeting your Academic Condition video for more information on how to obtain attested copies of your documents.
Can I send you a scan of my supporting documents?
The Postgraduate Admissions Service can accept scanned copies of Academic documents such as degree certificates, transcripts and English Language certificates uploaded through the Applicant Portal. Referees should submit references through the reference portal and original (or attested copied of) degree certificate/transcripts should be used to meet academic conditions.
Can I send you my academic qualifications by email?
We are unable to accept academic qualifications sent by email to meet the conditions of your offer. Please upload scans of your qualifications, certificates and transcripts through the Applicant Portal so the team can process them.
What supporting documents should I upload?
Please upload scans of degree certificates and/or transcripts that confirm the award and overall result/classification of your studies as requested in your offer. We verify English language scores online, so please upload a scan of the certificate.
Do I need to send anything else?
Your offer will indicate if there are any additional conditions that you need to meet and what you need to do to meet them.
Can I bring my documents to the University?
All students should use the Applicant Portal to upload documents so there is no need to bring documents to the University as part of the application process.
My referee did not receive a reference request.
In the first instance please ask your referee to check if the email arrived in their Spam or Junk folder. Unfortunately we have found this to be the case in the past and resending will only result in the same outcome. You can login to the Applicant Portal and resend the link to your referee.
Could you resend the reference link?
You can login to the Applicant Portal and resend the link to your referee.
What does my referee need to say?
You should ask your referee to comment on your academic ability and general suitability for the proposed programme of study, and to provide any other information they consider to be relevant to your application. If they have knowledge of your recent study, it would be helpful if they could indicate the standard attained. A professional reference needs to state the referee has supervised you in the workplace as well as commenting on your suitability for the course.
What is an acceptable reference?
An academic reference should be provided by a tutor who has taught you on your current or most recent degree and who can provide an informed view of your academic ability and suitability for your chosen programme of study. The University will accept professional references if you have been out of higher education for over two years and these must be submitted by your current or most recent line manager. Please note that personal references, such as those from family and friends, are not acceptable.
If you have studied a postgraduate degree in the past two years, we will require at least one reference from someone who taught you at postgraduate level. If you are applying as a visiting research student, please note that only one reference is required and it needs to be from your current research supervisor.
Please note that, if you have submitted an application in a previous year, we are unable to re-use references submitted in support of it. We require new references for new applications, although you can nominate the same referee/s if you wish.
I graduated a number of years ago and can’t get an academic reference. What do I do?
The University will accept professional references if you have been out of higher education for over two years and these must be submitted by your current or most recent line manager. Please note that personal references, such as those from family and friends, are not acceptable.
I would like to change my referee.
If you have already made an application, you can login to the Applicant Portal, update the referee details and send the link to your new referee.
Can my referee send it via email?
Unfortunately we cannot accept references via email. We use the email address that you list on the online application form to provide your referee with a secure link to upload their reference. If your referee has any technical problems with the upload facility, please ask them to contact the Postgraduate Admissions team by using the Enquiry form.
Can I send the letter on my referee’s behalf?
If your referee has already provided you with a reference, please upload it after you receive the supporting documents upload link in your application acknowledgement email. We can accept scanned uploaded documents from applicants only for the initial consideration of an application, in order for the Course Selector in the academic department to make an application decision.
If your application is successful and you are made an offer of a place, we will then request that your referee uploads the original reference themselves.
Only one reference is required for a taught master’s application, but there are two referee’s details sections on the application form, what should I do?
We require one reference for the majority of taught master’s programmes and two for research. You can enter the details of two referees if you wish to. If you only want to provide the details for one referee, please enter ‘N/A’ in any mandatory fields in the second referee’s details section.
What are the fees?
Postgraduate Tuition fees can be found online here.
Where can I find out about scholarships and funding at Warwick?
For further information regarding the funding opportunities at Warwick please visit our funding pages. There may also be funding and scholarship information on your department website so please check there too.
How do I pay my tuition fees?
Tuition fee and accommodation payments to the University of Warwick are managed by the Student Finance team. For further information on how to make a payment and when to pay, please visit our student finance pages.
Why have I been assessed as an Overseas fees payer?
If you have been assessed as an overseas fee payer this will be stated in your offer letter. This will be based on the information that you provided in your postgraduate application. If you believe that this assessment is incorrect, you can follow the instructions in the offer letter to have your fee status re-assessed. The Postgraduate Admissions Service will use the guidance published by UKCISA to make this assessment. You will need to provide evidence to demonstrate that you meet the Home fee status category.
What are the English Language requirements?
The University requires evidence that your English Language capability is of a level that will enable you to succeed on your chosen course of postgraduate study. We therefore have English Language entry requirements based on minimum standards. There are a number of tests that students can take to meet the English requirements of the course. Further information can be found at www.warwick.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/apply/english/ Please provide your most recent English language test to meet requirements.
What is Pre-Sessional English? Am I eligible?
Pre-sessional English is an academic English language and study skills programme. It prepares you linguistically and culturally for your future degree studies and gives you a chance to settle into your life in and around the University. Pre-sessional English is for students whose first language is not English and who have a conditional offer to study for a degree at the University of Warwick or other UK university that requires them to attend the course or recommends that they do so. The course is also for students who need to acquire well-developed academic English and study skills and who wish to become familiar with British university culture and life before beginning their studies. For further information please visit the Pre-sessional English language pages
If you will require a Tier 4 visa to study the Pre-sessional course at Warwick, you must have a Secure English Language Test (SELT). Currently the UKVI IELTS test is the only English language test (SELT) recognised by the UK Visas and Immigration Service.
Is my English Language Qualification valid?
All accepted English language tests must have been taken within two years and one month of the start date of your course at Warwick.
Can my English condition be waived?
In a small number of cases, your department can contact Admissions to request an English language instituitional assessment decision in support of your application. This will normally be based on established proficiency in the English language and will require you to provide evidence. Please contact your department for advice. In most cases applicants are required to provide one of the accepted English language tests to meet the English language conditions.
I studied my course in English, do I need to take an English language test?
If you have completed a Bachelor degree level (or higher) course in the UK within the last 2 years and 4 months from the start of your new course, this may be sufficient to meet the language conditions of your offer. The admissions service will assess this when considering your application.
What is the deadline for meeting the English language requirements?
You must meet all conditions of your offer by the date stated in your offer. If you are an international student requiring a visa to study in the UK, you must meet all conditions in enough time to complete the CAS request process and visa application process to enable you to travel to the UK to start your course. It is recommended that all conditions are met 4 weeks prior to the start date of the course.
Where can I find out more about enrolment?
Frequently asked questions relating to Enrolment can be found on the Warwick Enrolment website.
When can I enrol?
The University Enrolment Team will contact you by email with enrolment instructions approximately 4 – 6 weeks before your course starts.
I’m having difficulty enrolling. What should I do?
The Enrolment Team have provided detailed Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) . You should check this page first to see if there is a solution to your issue with the enrolment process. If you are not able to resolve your issue from the FAQS, you can contact the enrolment team using the details in the section at the bottom of the contact form.