Hello everyone, welcome to the How to apply as an international student live
session. Before we start we have a couple of housekeeping notes for you to be
aware of. This event is being recorded live, there will be a live
question and answer function running through the presentation, so please
submit any questions you have using the chat box to the right of your screens. We
will answer as many as we can towards the end of the session. If you see a
question that you would also like to know the answer to, please like it so we
can ensure the most popular questions are being answered. I'm now going to hand
over to Jenni from our International Admissions team to tell you how to apply
as an international student. Good morning everyone, my name is Jenni Kinsey and I
work in the International Admissions team here at the University of Derby. So
you can contact our team with any questions you might have about applying
and then once you've applied to check the progress of your application. So I'm
going to speak briefly today about entry criteria, how to apply and English
language criteria and you'll then have a chance to ask any questions you might
have. So before we start I just wanted to tell you a bit more about why more than
1,700 international students a year from over 100 countries choose the University
of Derby for where to study in the UK. So Derby is a really safe and welcoming city
in the heart of the UK, has a low cost of living when compared to other UK
cities and it has great transport connections to the rest of the UK.
We have a really diverse and multicultural student community which is supported by
the best International Student Centre in the UK and we provide advice and support
throughout your time with us, so starting right from your application which we'll
be talking about in today's session right through to graduation and beyond.
So in the past ten years the university has invested around £200 million
on study, sport, recreation and wellness facilities to ensure that we provide the
best possible experience for our students. Our student accommodation is
award-winning and a great place for you to make new friends
and to feel at home. So Derby has a significant strength in teaching and
learning which is reflected in our achievements. We're very proud to be
rated gold in the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework and we're
top 30 in The Guardian University Guide 2020. So the University offers a wide range of
undergraduate courses in business, engineering, science, health and art
subjects, so we'll have a look now at the entry criteria for some of our programmes.
So each course has its own entry criteria so it's best to check the
website for the most up-to-date qualifications. So at the moment the
website is showing the typical entry criteria for both 2020 and 2021 if
you're completing a tariffable qualification. You can also find the
international qualifications we accept for entry onto a course at the link here
in the slide. So you'll be able to see entry requirements for individual
countries, so for example the screenshot here is showing the entry criteria for
Ghana and it tells you what programmes you would be eligible to apply for depending
on the qualification you're currently completing. So you can see here in the
example, if you wanted to apply for an undergraduate programme what would we be
looking for. So we'd be looking for an Ordinary National Diploma or a Higher
National Diploma. So on each course page you'll also be
able to find the Programme Leader's email address, so if you have any specific
questions about the content of that course you can always go directly to the
Programme Leader or if you have any general queries you can contact either
the International Recruitment Officer for your country or contact us at the
International Admissions team and on the side there we've just got our email
address which is iadmissions@derby.co.uk. So all applications to the
University must be submitted online and all students whether you're EU or
international will need to apply through the relevant course page on our website.
So if you did want to apply for more than one programme or at more than one
institution we would recommend that you apply through UCAS because you can
make up to five choices but if you just want to apply to Derby or if you just
want to apply for one programme, you can apply directly to us on our website.
So we also work with a network of educational recruitment agents in most
countries around the world and they would be able to support your
application and so you can contact any of our agents and apply to study with us
directly through them. Some agents do charge for provision of services, so
please do check directly with the agent and you can find your nearest
recruitment agent on our website at derby.ac.uk/agents.
So when you're completing your application you'll go through our online
application form and first of all you'll enter things like your personal details,
work experience and then there's a number of documents you'll be asked to
submit. So you'll need to have the following information available:
Qualification details including certificates and transcripts for any
qualification that you've already been awarded or details about any
qualifications you're currently studying. You'll need a scanned copy of your
passport. You'll need to complete a personal statement which shows your
interest for the course or subject. You'll need to provide a relevant
reference from a manager, supervisor or tutor and you'll need to show proof of
your English language proficiency. If you're an applicant from India Pakistan
or Bangladesh you will also require IELTS.For many European countries we
accept the English grade on your high school qualification and we do also
accept a range of other English language tests including the Derby English
language test. So we accept all UK VI approved tests. Most of our programmes require
IELTS 6 with a minimum of 5.5 in all areas, but
you can also find the English language requirements that you'll need on the
course page, so some programmes do require IELTS 6.5. We also accept the
International GCE O-level in English language, grades C or above or the IGCSE or
English as a second language. So due to the current situation with COVID-19
we're also accepting some additional qualifications for entry in September 2020 only.
So we're accepting TOEFL online, the
IELTS online indicator and the Derby English language test - that's a
recent test which has just been developed, but if you're applying to us
through an agent your agent will have details of this and we also accept
Duolingo from applicants from mainland China. So once your application has been
submitted you'll receive an email confirmation, so that will go back to
the email account that you registered with,
so please do ensure that you check your email regularly and you'll also receive
an offer letter again as a PDF attachment to an email - so from
Admissions we don't send anything out in the post, so you will need to ensure that
you check that email regularly. So once you've met the conditions of your offer
and you've accepted an unconditional offer from us you'll need to pay a £3,000 tuition fee deposit.
So EEA students - that's students from Norway
and Iceland, are not required to pay the deposit if you're in receipt of loan
funding and the £3,000 deposit is only refundable in the event that your
visa is refused. So you'll also need to provide evidence of maintenance funds in
order to receive your CAS letter or your confirmation of acceptance to study
and that's the document that you need when applying for your Tier 4 visa
and further details on the maintenance funds can be found on our website. If
you're an EU student you'll need to have your financial arrangements in place at
the point of enrolment and you would need to make a payment of 20% of your
fees by the 1st of November or you would need to provide confirmation that
you had the student loan funding. So course fees do vary depending on which
course you choose and depending on whether you're in the EU or an international
student and also on the mode of study - so you might choose to study on campus or
online. For the latest the information you will need to check the individual
course page on our website. So we have a range of scholarships and discounts
available, both to international students from countries in the European
Economic Area and outside the EU and these offer a reduction in your fees
during your first year of study. Students from EU countries are not currently
eligible for the international scholarships. So we'll award scholarships
based on your application to study - you don't need to complete an additional
form and any application from an eligible student will be considered for
a scholarship by our International Admissions team. We would then notify you
of your scholarship at the point we made you an offer and we would apply the
discount to your remaining fees So to be eligible for a scholarship you must be
applying for a full-time degree and applications for our postgraduate
research, online, foundation courses or professional English language programmes
are not eligible for a discount or scholarship. So our scholarships for
September 2021 are still to be confirmed , but I can tell you about the
scholarships that we've had for the 2020 academic year. So one of those has been
our Vice-Chancellor's scholarship which was for one full year's tuition fees - so
to be considered for that, students had to achieve their highest
academic results exceeding the entry criteria for the course and they had to
demonstrate exceptional achievements in extracurricular activity either in their
own time or through employment in the last two years. We also have some
additional scholarships worth £5,000 or £3,000 off tuition fees
and there's a further £500 discount if you paid your
tuition fees in full by the time of enrolment. So terms and conditions do
apply to our discounts and offers, so please do check our website for full
details and eligibility and if you need any help with the application process,
you can contact our Admissions team and once again please visit the website for
more detail on applications or international requirements. So the final
thing to say is there's no deadline for applications, but it is important that
you leave enough time to sort out your visa, so please do check what the current
visa processing times are in your country. I hope that's been useful and
again we've just got our email address on there, so if you've got any questions
please do email international@derby.ac.uk.
Thanks everyone.
Thank you very much Jenni.
So we're just going to move along
now to the question and answer part of our session and we've been joined by Jodie
who's also part of the International team here at Derby.
Hello.
Hi Jodie - so one of the first questions that's come
in is from Sydney: For an honours programme
what are the equivalent American prerequisites?
Okay so we do you have entry requirements information for each country on the website and the
requirements will depend on which course you're
applying for. Just as a rough example though for an American applicant, we would
usually be looking for a GPA of 3 or higher plus SATs, ApS or a ACTs, however
each application is considered on an individual basis and as I said it very
much depends what course you're applying for as there may be additional things
that we need such as an interview or a portfolio as well.
Thank you Jodie. Okay next
question is about the BA (Honours) Film Production programme, so it's from Nick:
Hello, just wanted to know, is there a requirement for a portfolio
submission in order to get admitted onto the BA (Honours) Film Production programme?
So that's quite course-specific, can you answer that one?
Yes I can do.
So there is portfolio requirements for some of the programmes, Film Production is
one of those and it's usually expected that you need to submit a portfolio of work
or showreel just demonstrating your your technical abilities in that subject
area. Again there's some quite specific information on what your portfolio
should contain and how it should look - that's also available on the website.
So it's worth having a look at the Film Production course page from
following the link for the portfolio advice on there.
Okay thank you.
So we've got another question from Sydney:
When do applications open for 2021/2022 school year?
So for applications direct to Derby through the
Derby course pages that should be later in the year I believe - I think
once the next intake has begun, the applications
usually start opening then, however I think that applications by UCAS are
currently open for students to apply for 2021 but applying directly to Derby that
will be coming very soon.
Thank you.
And then there's just one last question about
Europe: What's going to happen with the
loans to Europe students once the Brexit completely happens?
Well I think at the moment it's about waiting and seeing unfortunately. I think
we're still a little unsure about what exactly will happen in that regard,
however we do have a Recruitment Officer for Europe, a lady called Mikaela - the best
thing to do would be to speak to Mikaela, she will have the latest
information as soon as that's available. She'll also be able to offer some
reassurance as well as guide you with your application and answer any
questions about EU entry requirements as well, as that is her specialist area.
So I would certainly recommend contacting Mikaela, her details are on
the University website if you take a look at the website and follow the link
for Europe then you will be able to find Mikaela's details there.
Fantastic, thank you.
Okay that's all the questions that we've had today. Thank you very much for
joining us today, we hope that's been useful to you. For more information you
can go to our website derby.ac.uk/international or you can
get in touch with us at international@derby.ac.uk.
Thank you very much Jodie and Jenni and we look forward to welcoming you as
students at the University of Derby soon. Goodbye.