How to apply: what you need to know

Postgraduate students

Cardiff University operates an online application service. All the information you need to complete your application is provided as part of the process.

Should you have further questions regarding postgraduate application, please contact our postgraduate office, who will be happy to offer any assistance they can.

Undergraduate students

Applicants for full-time undergraduate courses apply online through Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). The application process is the same for international and UK applicants.

The UCAS system system allows you to:

• Access up-to-date information about courses, institutions and criteria for selection through the Entry Profiles available on the UCAS website.
• Apply for up to five different degree programmes or universities through one application.
• Apply online via UCAS Apply.
• Check the progress of your application through the decision-making process via UCAS Track.

For more information please visit the UCAS website. http://www.ucas.com/students/apply/ Deadlines for application are given on the UCAS website; you will need to submit in the academic year prior to your desired year of entry. The academic year runs from September to August.

Making Choices

Applicants are advised to apply for only one programme from the Business School on their UCAS application. We will usually make an offer for the first choice and automatically reject other choices. If at the time of application you are uncertain of which choice to make, please contact an admissions tutor (email: business-ug@cardiff.ac.uk). As there is a great deal of flexibility within the school, applicants can change schemes at enrolment, in the first few weeks of term and at the end of the first year. For information on Entry Requirements for both UK and International students, please click here.

Open Days

For information about Open Days at Cardiff Business School, please contact business-ug@cardiff.ac.uk

Deferred entry

You also have the choice to apply for deferred entry if you wish to have a gap year, so if you apply in 2011/12, you can apply for entry in 2012/13 or 2013/14. If you did not apply for a deferred entry at the time you made your application, but wish to defer subsequently, it may be possible for you to do so. You need to make a request in writing to the admissions tutor (email: business-ug@cardiff.ac.uk), explaining the circumstances surrounding your intention to defer.

Direct entry

We do, in some instances, accept applications for direct entry onto the second year of a degree scheme at Cardiff Business School. First, applicants would need to meet the entry criteria for first year entry. Second, the programme that you have followed must be judged by us to be the equivalent standard to Year 1 of our degree and you must obtain for the year a criteria that we set you; typically a 60% average or above. Please note that the process of transferring universities may affect the overall exemptions that you are entitled to obtain from professional examinations such as the ACCA or CIMA.

This is because our degree schemes are accredited provided students complete all three years. If you change universities, there may be subject exams such as Legal Studies that you would have taken in our first year that you would miss. It is not possible to take these missed subjects as optional modules in Year 2. You need to apply though UCAS for second year entry (see above). Deadlines for application are given on the UCAS website; you will need to submit in the academic year prior to your desired year of entry. The academic year runs from September to August. We do not consider students for final year entry. This is because our degrees are awarded on the basis of students' performance in both the second and third years of their programme.

Qualifications

English language qualifications:

We require either GCSE English grade C or the equivalent including IELTS 6.5 or TOEFL 90 - to include Listening 21, Speaking 23, Reading 22, (iBT), 570 (paper based) or 237 (computer based). If you have an English qualification different to these and wish to find out if this meets our entry criteria, then please contact an admissions tutor (email: business-ug@cardiff.ac.uk),

Academic qualifications:

We accept a range of international qualifications in addition to accepting Foundation programme qualifications from a number of institutions. Please contact the admissions team to determine if your qualification is accepted by the School and if so, what the entry criteria are. (email: business-ug@cardiff.ac.uk) For more information about the University's Foundation Programme, please see the International Development Division.