Lancaster University

Highly ranked global university

Lancaster University gives an outstanding performance in all areas that matter to students. This has been continuously recognised by national and international university rankings and surveys, and Lancaster’s performances for 2019 and 2020 have been no different.

Lancaster has achieved a top 10 in the three major national league tables:

• 6th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2019
• 7th in the Complete University Guide 2020
• 7th in the Guardian University Guide 2020

The university has outshone many of the Russell Group institutions in these major UK rankings.

It has also impressively ranked 128th in the QS World University Rankings 2020, and 146th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2019.

Furthermore, Lancaster has been named as having the Best University Halls in the National Student Housing Awards – seven times since 2010. The university has also been awarded the International Accommodation Quality Mark, which only six other institutions in the nation have achieved. This highlights providers that have an international student satisfaction rate of higher than 90 percent.

Lancaster University holds the highest ‘Gold’ rating in the 2017 Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). This is based on high quality teaching, excellent teaching facilities and good careers that its graduates go into. The university’s staff aim to produce research-led teaching and in the last Research Excellence Framework, 83 percent of its research was rated as either internationally excellent or world leading.

The panel assessing universities provided feedback saying that Lancaster students from all backgrounds continuously achieve excellent outcomes. Many students continue studying and progress into professional employment, which notably surpasses Lancaster’s benchmarks.

The TEF analyses three key areas: the learning environment the quality of teaching and student outcomes and learning. To rank as ‘Gold’, universities need to provide sufficient evidence of outstanding provision in all three.

Lancaster University is comprised of four main faculties, each with several departments, centres and institutes.

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Lancaster’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences is home to over 20 disciplines, with many placing in the top ten in the major UK league tables and top 100 in the world rankings. The nine departments include Educational Research History The Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts Languages and Cultures English Literature and Creative Writing Linguistics and English Language Politics, Philosophy and Religion Sociology and Law School.

Faculty of Health and Medicine

The Faculty of Health and Medicine's multidisciplinary research and teaching operates across three Divisions: The Medical School, Biomedical and Life Sciences and Health Research.

Management School

Lancaster University Management School is one of the few business schools in the world to hold quadruple accreditation and is consistently ranked among the UK’s top ten. Many of its programmes are highly ranked in the UK and across the world by leading rankings from the Financial Times, Forbes, QS, the Economist and more.

Faculty of Science and Technology

The faculty’s eight departments offer high quality education by internationally renowned academics which are delivered in top facilities. Its eight departments include Chemistry Computing and Communications Engineering Lancaster Environment Centre Mathematics and Statistics Natural Sciences Physics, and Psychology.

English Language Test scores

Standard undergraduate entry level

• IELTS Academic (UKVI Approved)
  • 6.5 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component
• IELTS Academic (Other Centres)
  • 6.5 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component
• Pearson PTE Academic
  • 62 with minimum of 51 in each of the four skills
• Cambridge English: Advanced CAE
  • Grade C
• Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE)
  • Grade C
• GCSE/ IGCSE/ O Level English
  • Grade C
• TOEFL iBT
  • 93 overall - minimum of 17 in listening, 18 in reading, 20 in speaking, and 17 in writing
• CaMLA ECPE
  • C2

For students who currently have an IELTS score of 6.0 and have not achieved the required IELTS score and want a direct entry to Lancaster University, they may be able to attend the 4-week English for Academic Purposes course to bring them up to the required level.

Standard postgraduate entry level

• IELTS Academic (UKVI Approved)
  • 6.5/7.0 minimum scores in each component required.
• IELTS Academic (Other Centres)
  • 6.5/7.0 minimum scores in each component required.
• Pearson PTE Academic
  • 62/70 minimum scores in each component required.
• Cambridge English: Advanced CAE
  • Grade C
• Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE)
  • Grade C
• TOEFL iBT
  • 93/100 overall, with a minimum of 20/22 in each skill.
• CaMLA ECPE
  • C2

If students applying for postgraduate programmes at Lancaster have not met the minimum entry requirements for their chosen courses, the university has a range of pre-sessional English language courses. These are designed to help students bridge the gap between their current English language score and the normal minimum entry requirement of their degree programmes. The courses are between 4 and 40 weeks in length, depending on the level of their English when they apply.

Accommodation

Lancaster University has made significant investments to provide students with high quality, well equipped and comfortable accommodation. The university offers a wide range of options for all students to suit different preferences and budgets. The university’s accommodation has been rated the UK's Best University Halls seven times since 2010 in the annual National Student Housing Survey.

Library

The library offers a flexible, inspiring, technology-enabled environment with a range of individual and group work spaces to support different learning styles. Open all day, every day during term-time, it is built around a central atrium filled with natural light and is home to a real living tree – named Norman.

Students' Union

With more than 12,000 members from more than 100 countries, Lancaster University Students’ Union has a wide variety of support services available to students.

The Students' Union Education and Support service has a dedicated team who supply students with free and confidential advice. They assist students with any issues they may have whilst at Lancaster, including financial, academic, housing, employment and consumer issues. There is also ample support for international students, and an Education and Support service which assists students on campus and online, all year-round and even during holiday periods.

The SU’s ‘Involve’ initiative allows students to enjoy many opportunities outside of their studies, with over 200 sports clubs and societies to get involved in.

Undergraduate study

International students studying an undergraduate course at Lancaster University will pay tuition fees from one of three bands. The amount of fees also depends on the chosen subject area.

Scholarships may be available from specific academic departments with most awards offering a tuition fee discount.

Students can find out more information from the academic departments they are interested in applying for by visiting the university website.

Postgraduate study

The tuition fees for postgraduate study depend on the students’ choice of specific course and subject area. Most awards offer a tuition fee discount.

Living costs

Students at Lancaster can benefit from a campus university positioned in North West England, which offers a lower cost of living in comparison to many other areas of the UK.