IELTS Equivalencies - Postgraduate

To study at York, you will need to meet English language requirements for your course.

Each postgraduate course and programme we offer has its own requirements in terms of English test scores. Although score requirements vary by course, typical scores for entry to York are summarised below. 

Please note that all accepted language test scores must be the results of one test, and not be comprised of multiple tests. The only exception to this is IELTS One Skill Retake, which is accepted at York for most courses.

Please click on the IELTS requirement for your programme to see what other language tests we can accept and the scores required.

Got a question about applying to York? Email our friendly Postgraduate Admissions Team for advice and support. If you've already applied to study at York please use You@York to upload any documents. Please do not email documents to us.

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  • iBT: 102, with 24 in each component
  • ISE: Level 3, with ‘Distinction’ in each component
  • PTE: 73, with 67 in each component
  • Cambridge C1 Advanced: 191, with 185 in each component
  • LanguageCert SELT C1: 33/50 in each component
  • LanguageCert Academic: 80 with a minimum of 75 in each component
  • KTE: 527-559 with 495-526 in each component
  • Skills for English: C1:Pass with merit overall, with Pass in each component
  • Oxford ELLT: 8, with 8 in each component
  • GCSE: B/6 or above
  • iBT: 96 with a minimum of 24 in Writing and no less than 23 in all other components
  • ISE: Level 3 with Distinction in all components
  • PTE: 67, with a minimum of 67 in Writing and no less than 61 in all other components
  • Cambridge C1 Advanced: 185, with a minimum of 185 in Writing and no less than 176 in all other components
  • LanguageCert SELT C1: 33/50 in each component
  • LanguageCert Academic: 75 with a minimum of 75 in Writing and no less than 70 in all other components
  • Duolingo: 130, minimum 130 in Production and 120 in all other components
  • KTE: 495-526, with 495-526 in writing and 459-494 in all other components
  • Skills for English C1: Pass overall, with Pass in each component
  • Oxford ELLT: 8, with 8 in writing and no less than 7 in all other components
  • GCSE: B/6 or above
  • iBT: 96, with 23 in each component
  • ISE: Level 3, with ‘Distinction’ in each component
  • PTE: 67, with 61 in each component
  • Cambridge C1 Advanced: 185, with 176 in each component
  • LanguageCert SELT C1: 33/50 in each component
  • LanguageCert Academic: 75 with a minimum of 70 in each component
  • Duolingo: 130, with 120 in each component
  • KTE: 495-526, with 459-494 in all other components
  • Skills for English C1: Pass overall, with Pass in each component
  • Oxford ELLT: 8, with 7 in each component
  • GCSE: B/6 or above
  • iBT: 96, minimum 21 in each component
  • ISE: Level 3, with Distinction in each component
  • PTE: 67, minimum 55 in each component
  • Cambridge C1 Advanced: 185, minimum 169 in each component
  • LanguageCert SELT C1: 33/50 in each component
  • LanguageCert Academic: 75 with a minimum of 65 in each component
  • Duolingo: 130, with 105 in each component
  • KTE: 495-526, with 426-458 in each component
  • Skills for English C1: Pass overall, with Pass in each component
  • Oxford ELLT: 8, with 6 in each component
  • GCSE: B/4 or above
  • iBT: 87, with a minimum of 23 in Writing and a minimum of 21 in all other components
  • ISE: Level 3 with Merit in all components
  • PTE: 61, with a minimum of 61 in Writing and no less than 55 in all other components
  • Cambridge B2 First: 176, with a minimum of 176 in Writing and no less than 169 in all other components
  • LanguageCert SELT B2: 33/50 in each component
  • LanguageCert Academic: 70 with a minimum of 70 in Writing and no less than 65 in all other components
  • Duolingo: 120, minimum 120 in production and 105 in all other components
  • KTE: 459-494, with 459-494 in writing and 426-458 in all other components
  • Skills for English: B2: Merit overall, with Merit in writing and Pass with Merit in all other components
  • Oxford ELLT: 7, with 7 in writing and no less than 6 in all other components
  • GCSE: B/6 or above
  • iBT: 87, with 21 in each component
  • ISE: Level 3 with Merit in each component
  • PTE: 61, with 55 in each component
  • Cambridge B2 First: 176, with 169 in each component
  • LanguageCert SELT B2: 33/50 in each component
  • LanguageCert Academic: 70 with a minimum of 65 in each component
  • Duolingo: 120, with 105 in each component
  • KTE: 459-494, with 426-458 in all other components
  • Skills for English B2: Merit overall, with Pass with Merit in each component
  • Oxford ELLT: 7, with 6 in each component
  • GCSE: B/6 or above
  • iBT: 87, with 21 in each component
  • ISE: Level 3 with Merit in each component
  • PTE: 61, with 55 in each component
  • Cambridge B2 First: 176, with169 in each component
  • LanguageCert SELT B2: 33/50 in each component
  • LanguageCert Academic: 70 with a minimum of 65 in each component
  • GCSE: B/6 or above
  • iBT: 79, with a minimum of 17 in Listening, 18 in Reading, 20 in Speaking and 21 in Writing
  • ISE: Level 3 with Pass in all components
  • PTE: 55, with a minimum of 55 in Writing and no less than 51 in all other components
  • Cambridge B2 First: 169, with a minimum of 169 in Writing and no less than 162 in each component
  • LanguageCert SELT B2: 33/50 in each component
  • LanguageCert Academic: 65, with a minimum of 65 in writing and no less than 60 in all other components
  • Duolingo: 105, minimum 105 in Production and 95 in all other components
  • KTE: 426-458, with 426-458 in writing and 396-425 in all other components
  • Skills for English: B2: Pass with Merit overall, with Pass with Merit in writing and Pass in all other components
  • Oxford ELLT: 6, with a minimum of 6 in writing and no less than 5 in all other components
  • GCSE: C/4 or above
  • iBT: 79, with a minimum of 17 in Listening, 18 in Reading, 20 in Speaking and 17 in Writing
  • ISE: level 3 with Pass in all components
  • PTE: 55, with no less than 51 in each component
  • Cambridge B2 First: 169, with no less than 162 in each component
  • LanguageCert SELT B2: 33/50 in each component
  • LanguageCert Academic: 65 with a minimum of 60 in each component
  • Duolingo: 105, minimum 95 in all other components
  • KTE: 426-458, with 396-425 in all other components
  • Skills for English B2: Pass with Merit overall, with Pass in each component
  • Oxford ELLT: 6, with 5 in each component
  • GCSE: C/4 or above
  • PTE Academic: 51, with no less than 51 in each component
  • CAE and CPE (from January 2015): 162, with no less than 162 in each component
  • TOEFL: 72, with a minimum of 17 in Listening, 18 in Reading, 20 in Speaking and 17 in Writing
  • Trinity ISE: level 3 with Pass in all components
  • Duolingo: 95, minimum 95 in all other components
  • LanguageCert Academic: 60, with a minimum of 60 in each component
  • LanguageCert SELT B2: 33/50
  • PTE Academic: 51, with no less than 46 in each component
  • Cambridge B2 First: 162, with no less than 154 in each component
  • TOEFL: 72, with a minimum of 15 in Listening, 14 in Reading, 19 in Speaking and 16 in Writing
  • Trinity ISE: level 3 with Pass in all components
  • Duolingo: 95, minimum 80 in all other components
  • LanguageCert SELT B2: 33/50 in each component 
  • LanguageCert Academic: 60, with a minimum of 60 in each component
  • KTE: 396-425, with 357-395 in all other components
  • Skills for English B2: Pass overall, with Pass in each component
  • Oxford ELLT: 5, with 5 in each component
  • PTE Academic: 46, with no less than 41 in each component
  • Cambridge B1 Preliminary: 154, with no less than 147 in each component
  • TOEFL: 63, with a minimum of 12 in Listening, 9 in Reading, 18 in Speaking and 15 in Writing
  • Trinity ISE: level 3 with Pass in all components
  • Duolingo: 80, minimum 65 in all other components
  • LanguageCert SELT B2: 33/50
  • LanguageCert Academic: 55, with a minimum of 50 in each component
  • KTE: 357-395, with 311-356 in all other components
  • Skills for English B1: Merit overall, with Pass with Merit in each component
  • Oxford ELLT: 5, with 4 in each component

If you’ve not met the departmental requirements

If you’ve taken one of the accepted tests but not met the departmental requirement, you may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English language courses. These courses will provide you with the level of English needed to meet the conditions of your offer.

If you require a Student Visa

If you’re applying for an on-campus pre-sessional English course and require a student visa then you must take a UK government approved Secure English Language Test (gov.uk). Only IELTS for UKVI (Academic), Trinity ISE or PTE Academic UKVI can be accepted for entry to pre-sessional courses.

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