A high standard of fluency in English is required for admission to the Department of Physics. If English is not your first language you will probably need to demonstrate your English language proficiency—this is usually through the provision of an English Language test certificate, either IELTS or TOEFL.

You do not need to take the test before you apply. However, if you are made a conditional offer and have not already met our English language requirements, one of the conditions of your offer will be that you pass a test at the required level. Please note that test results are only valid for two years.

International English Language Testing System (IELTS)

The University’s preferred test is the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). The minimum IELTS requirement is a minimum overall band of 7.00 with at least 7.0 in each element of the test and 6.5 in reading.

The Princeton TOEFL

If IELTS is unavailable an acceptable alternative is the Princeton TOEFL test. In this test the minimum requirements are 600 in the paper based TOEFL with a minimum of 5.0 in the Test of Written English or 250 in the computer based TOEFL test with 5.0 in the Essay Writing Test.

Details about the English language condition, including acceptable alternative tests, can be found in the Graduate Admissions website.