MSc Admissions Blog

Advice and Information from the MSc Admissions team

Succeed in IELTS

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Every year we welcome students from around 100 different countries. In order to participate fully in the collaborative learning process, it is essential that all students have an excellent command of the English language to study with us here at Cass. This short post is intended to provide you with advice on all aspects of taking the IELTS exam – from initially preparing to take the exam, to reporting your final score to Cass.

We hope you find this guidance useful!

What is IELTS?

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) assesses the English language proficiency of people who want to study or work where English is used as the language of communication. The IELTS assesses four core competencies: listening, reading, writing and speaking. According to the British Council, over 2 million people took the test last year!

When to take the test

Applicants often ask whether they can submit an application for a masters programme first and supply their IELTS score at a later date.

The short answer to this question is, yes!

If you choose not to provide an IELTS score with your application, your application can be assessed by the admissions panel as long as all the other essential supporting documents have been received (please refer to the ‘entry requirements’ page for your chosen masters programme). After an initial review of your application, if successful in receiving an offer, one of the conditions of the offer would be the IELTS exam.

In general, if you are not a national of a majority English-speaking country OR have not been studying in English at a degree level for at least three years in the UK or a majority English-speaking country as defined by the UKVI, it is likely that you will need to take the IELTS exam.

Please note, given that test dates can get booked out quickly, especially towards the summer, if you require a Tier 4 student visa to study in the UK, it is advisable that you register for the IELTS exam sooner, rather than later. The exam is offered at over 500 locations worldwide.

Preparing for the test

The IELTS test results are reported on a scale from 1 to 9. The required IELTS level for admission to a Cass master’s programme is a well-balanced overall score of at least 7.0 with a minimum of 6.5 in the writing section and no less than 6.0 in any other section. You will need to take the IELTS Academic test.

Understanding the layout and format of the test is likely to save you time and prevent you from panicking when it comes to sitting the real-thing. A good way of preparing for the IELTS is to test yourself with a practice exam. Additional practice material and resources are also available via the British Council/IELTS website.

Communicating your IELTS score

Your IELTS results will be available 13 days after your exam. You will be able to view your score online and a copy of the Test Report Form (TRF) will also be posted to you. Please email your admissions officer a copy of the TRF as soon as it is available, so that we can verify your score online. Alternatively, you can request the Test Centre to post a copy of your TRF to us.

If you are submitting your IELTS score at the time of application, then you should upload a clear scanned copy of the whole TRF form to the online application form.

 

We hope that this post has given you useful information about the IELTS test. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact one of the admissions team who will be happy to help!

Last updated 31 January 2017

6 Comments

  1. Hello, I got a 7.5 EILTS but I had 6 in the writing section. Can you accept this results?

    • Dear Daniela
      Thanks for your question! We require 6.5 in the writing section. If you have already received an offer, the best thing to do is to contact your Admissions Officer directly, and send them your IELTS score report so they can advise you. If you have not yet submitted an application, please upload your current IELTS score for the admissions panel to review.
      I hope this helps.
      MSc Admissions Team

  2. Hi, I am currently doing my undergraduate studies and would like to apply for a postgraduate study here in CASS. Am I required to take another IELTS test again?

    • Hi Wei Xin Lim
      Thanks for your question! It is quite hard to answer this as I do not know what your study background is. If you have studied in the UK or a majority English-speaking country (as defined by the UKVI) for at least three years you will not need to take another IELTS test. If you are studying a 2+2 degree in the UK, or have not studied for at least three years in a majority English-speaking country, and have not yet met our IELTS requirements then you will most likely be asked to retake the test.
      I hope this helps. Please let us know if you have any further queries.
      Kind regards
      MSc Admissions Team

  3. Hi, I’m not from an English speaking country, so do you require IELTS for UKVI (academic), or a normal IELTS academic test is ok?

    • Hi Hoang
      Thanks for your query! We are currently accepting both UKVI Academic and normal IELTS Academic tests. Please check our website again before you apply to ensure that the policy has not changed in the meantime.
      I hope this helps!
      Kind regards
      MSc Admissions Team

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