Once you have submitted your application to study at RGU, generally you will receive a Conditional Offer. This means there are still conditions to be met before we can accept you onto the course.
Academic entry requirement
In the main, these are the course entry requirements, whether that be evidenced through
- school qualifications,
- degree certificates or
- academic transcripts.
The entry requirements for each course differ, but details of what is required is on each course web page.
When we receive your educational qualifications, we check these with Ecctis, an online verification service. This tells us what your qualifications are equivalent to in the UK.
English language requirement
All International students have to be at a certain level of English ability before they can come and study in the UK. RGU has specific English qualifications which it accepts and these are listed on each course web pages. These qualifications meet UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) requirements.
If an English qualification is not listed on the English Language Requirements pages, we cannot accept it.
Admissions staff will check and verify what you have submitted.
The level of English required differs depending upon the level of course studied so for example PhD study requires a higher level than Undergraduate study.
The English evidence we accept will be included on your CAS as this is now a condition of your visa application.
Passport
The majority of international students coming to RGU will need to have a valid passport to apply for a Student visa and enter the UK. There are exceptions, but you will need to check this with the UKVI. We recommend that your passport is valid for at least 6 months after your course start date, as it can take some time to obtain a new passport. If at any time during the application process you obtain a new passport, you must notify us of this immediately so that we can notify the UKVI or amend the CAS.
Statement of Purpose
You may be asked to provide a Statement of Purpose as part of your application. When this is needed, you will be told what we expect you to cover in the Statement. This will include details about why you have chosen to study in the UK, why you have chosen Robert Gordon University, what the course means for your career and how it will benefit this in future.
Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS)
A small number of RGU’s courses require additional authorisation to study from the United Kingdom Home Office.To obtain this authorisation, you need to apply for an ATAS certificate.
This certificate is valid for 6 months and is required as part of your visa application.
As part of your conditional offer, the University will tell you if you require an ATAS certificate to study the course you have applied for.
If you require an ATAS certificate, applications are made directly to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). The FCO provide detailed guidance on the ATAS certificate application process:
Other Conditions
There can be other conditions, depending on your circumstances, where you come from, the course applied for and the application submitted. It is not possible to specify all of these conditions, but this may include an interview by RGU staff, a CV, work or academic references or a Portfolio for our Art and Architecture courses. Where these are required, details will be included in conditional offer letters when issued to you.
Deposit
As part of your entry conditions, you may also need to pay a deposit, which is generally 34% of your course fee, but may be higher. Where this is required, details will be provided in your Conditional Offer letter
Further Information
Please do not send any documents until these are asked for as part of the application or by the Admissions Department or Immigration Team. When we ask for documents, unless we tell you otherwise, do not send original documents, send scans of them or very good quality photographs where all the details on the document can be seen. Keep original documents for your visa application.
If you have any questions about your conditional offer, please email admissions@rgu.ac.uk and we will be happy to help.