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Guidance for applicants

Find out how we've adapted our application processes in light of coronavirus.

Undergraduate applicants

September 2022 entry

Queen Mary will continue to assess applications through its usual process. A Level results day will be on Thursday 18 August 2022. Please see announcements from DfE and Ofqual regarding the assessment and awarding of qualifications in 2022.   

We are aware that some alternative assessments will be in place and we will continue to consider these as and when we get more information. We remain flexible and will accept teacher assessed grades achieved from 2020 and 2021.

Postgraduate applicants

Tuition fee deposit – refunds 

In response to COVID-19, we introduced additional flexibility to support postgraduate applicants applying to Queen Mary University of London in the 2021/22 academic year.  Please see our Refund policy for deposit payments 2021-22 [PDF 554KB] for more information.

International applicants

English language requirements

In response to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic we accepted the Duolingo English Test for entry in September 2020 and January 2021 only to our Pre-sessional English courses and postgraduate degree programmes that are delivered solely by distance learning. We are not accepting Duolingo for admission from September 2021 onwards. For further information on our accepted English language tests and qualifications, please visit our dedicated webpages.

Visa applications 

UCAS and foundation applicants will receive a CAS request notification and instructions in their applicant portal once they are Unconditional Firm. If you have any questions regarding your CAS please contact cas-admissions@qmul.ac.uk. 

Students can start to prepare your Student visa supporting documents in advance, so that they are ready to apply for student immigration permission once they have received a CAS. 

Our Advice and Counselling Service has a web page with guidance about immigration and Covid-19.

For up-to-date advice on services in each country, please visit the relevant website: 

Graduate route (previously Post Study Work visa)

The Advice and Counselling Service has published information on eligibility for the new Graduate route if you start your course outside the UK. 

Arrivals from Red List countries

The UK Government is operating a traffic light system for arrivals into the UK, with different conditions applied to passengers arriving from Green, Amber and Red listed countries. Passengers arriving from Red list countries are required to quarantine in a hotel for 10 days. This period of quarantine has a fixed cost of £1,750 for individuals who arrive before the 12 August. Arrivals from 12 August will be charged a higher fee of £2,285. Should two travellers from red list countries wish to share a hotel room the second adult will be charged £1,430 from 12 August. The fee includes 10 full days of quarantine, meals and two PCR tests that individuals self-administer on days 2 and 8 of their quarantine.

To help our students joining us from Red list countries, Queen Mary will share the cost of quarantine. For most students we will do this by deducting 50% of the cost of the quarantine from these students’ tuition fees upon their enrolment. Students who have already completed their full tuition fee payment to Queen Mary will be issued with a refund covering the 50% of the fee they were charged for their quarantine period.

  • Queen Mary will cover 50% of the fee for the ten day quarantine.
    • Where students are sharing a quarantine hotel room and their individual fee is reduced, Queen Mary will cover 50% of the students shared contribution towards that cost. For example, from 12 August two Queen Mary students sharing a room in a Managed Quarantine Hotel will be charged £3,714. Queen Mary will refund each student 50% of their contribution which will be £928.
  • For new students in 2021 and those who are returning to Queen Mary to continue their studies the 50% will be credited against any outstanding tuition fee balance you have left to pay. Therefore if you have paid 50% of your fee in September, your remaining balance will be 50% minus the credited amount from your Red List Refund.
  • For 2021/22 entrants/returning students who pay their tuition fees in full, the university will issue a refund covering the 50% during the autumn semester.
    • Please note refunds may take longer to process in peak periods of September and October.
  • Where a student is in their final year of study with Queen Mary, i.e. a 2020/21 Masters student, and has entered the UK since 21 June 2021, a refund covering the 50% will be issued by the Fees Office.
  • Where students are sponsored to study at Queen Mary, the expectation is that the sponsor will cover the cost of quarantine for their students.  However, where this is not the case, Queen Mary may cover these costs on a case by case basis.
  • The Global Engagement Office (GEO) will process the claims and be the primary point of contact via globalengagement@qmul.ac.uk.

Process

  • Students who are required to quarantine on arrival in the UK need to submit a ‘Red List refund’ claim through the Global Engagement Office via globalengagement@qmul.ac.uk.
  • Students will need to download the Red List refund claim form [DOC 19KB], complete it on a computer and send it to globalengagement@qmul.ac.uk.
  • Students will be asked to provide evidence of their hotel booking and arrival in the UK (stamped passport).
  • Students will be notified via their MySIS portal when their account has been credited, or their refund has been processed by the Fees Office.

Vaccinations

NHS England has announced that International students will be eligible for a vaccine once they have arrived in England. Students who have received their first dose before travelling to the UK can receive their second dose once they have arrived. You can find out more on our Student Health pages.

EU students

From September 2021, the UK Government has announced that EU, EEA and Swiss national students will be required to pay international fees. The current EU fee status rules will apply to students joining up until August 2021. More information about this can be found on our Fee Status Assessment pages.

Please also see our guidance for EU/EEA nationals which will be updated on an ongoing basis.

Recognition for part-studied online degrees

Many countries are making concessions around partial online delivery of teaching in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Please visit the Global Engagement Office channel to speak with one of our Regional Managers about the situation in your country.

All applicants and offer holders

Our first concern is the safety and welfare of our communities. We will continue to support our students, on and off our campuses, and are reaching out to our applicants, to reassure them about the new semester. Since government-mandated social distancing is ending, we will timetable for the new semester with full capacity. For further information on what to expect in the autumn, please visit our dedicated Coronavirus pages.

Application documents

If the Covid-19 pandemic means you are unable to obtain documents you need to support your application, we will be as flexible as possible. 

If this is the case, you are advised to contact the relevant Admissions team and discuss details of your circumstances.

Get in touch

Accommodation

Please visit our Residential Services and Support webpages for more information on our residences and information on how to apply.

If you are concerned that you may not be able to travel to join us at the beginning of the term, please contact residential services.

 

What to expect in Semester 1

We’re excited to welcome new and continuing students for this academic year. We’ve prepared an innovative and inclusive mixed-mode educational offering. For specific information about face-to-face activities on your programme, look out for communications from your school or institute.

The COVID-19 pandemic means that life and study for all of us has changed in the UK and we understand you might have some questions about the educational and social aspects of our experience here at Queen Mary.   

Our primary concern is the wellbeing and safety of our students and staff. We have invested enormously in ensuring that we are following the latest government guidance and that all our campuses are Covid-secure so that all students are welcomed to our campuses in person. We have reconfigured our campuses – including our lecture theatres, libraries, and our study and social spaces – to ensure that we maintain social distancing and the hygiene standards necessary to mitigate the risk of coronavirus.

If you are able to join us on campus, please do so. If you can’t travel, we have made sure you can fully access your education from wherever you are and will look forward to welcoming you in person as soon as your circumstances allow.

To enable this, from September 2020 to January 2021, we offer an inclusive mixed-mode learning approach, which has been co-created with our current students.

mixed-mode learning is a mix of campus-based study and distance (online) learning. We offer world-class online provision, supplemented by face-to-face campus-based educational activities for those who are able to travel to our campuses.

What is mixed-mode learning?

To ensure you can access your world-class education whether or not you can join us on campus, we provide a ‘mixed-mode’ educational experience. This means it has a core backbone of online lectures and seminars, and wrap-around academic advising and mentoring support, all delivered online.

For those able to join us on our campuses, we supplement this backbone of online provision with face-to-face educational activities. For example:

  • our History students enjoy our local history walking tours and weekly small group study sessions
  • our Law students can work with our award-winning Legal Advice Centre with online and face-to-face client interviews
  • our Foundations students in Computer Science, Maths and Physics have access to face-to-face tutorials for each of their modules throughout the Semester 1
  • our medical and dental students have a range of enrichment activities; and
  • across all programmes we offer various academic advising activities weekly.

Your safety

The safety and wellbeing of our community remains our highest priority. For students learning remotely, our IT systems are equipped with the latest protection to safeguard you and your work. For students on campus, we are following the latest government guidance and ensuring that all our campuses are Covid-secure.

Keeping our campuses Covid-secure is a shared responsibility. We need everyone who steps onto campus to play their part. All students should take a moment to read the latest government guidelines, and to be alert to any changes in those guidelines.

To help ensure everyone knows how to be Covid-secure on campus, we have created:

  • The Queen Mary Covid Code, which sets out the behaviours we expect of everyone – students, staff and visitors.
  • Our safety guidance checklist for keeping Covid-secure on campus, including when to wear a face covering.

If you have health conditions that have required you to shield during the COVID-19 pandemic you should make an appointment with your GP to discuss your concerns. If your GP recommends that you continue shielding, please let us know by emailing studenthealth@qmul.ac.uk.

Supporting you

We’re here to help you through the challenges and uncertainty this period brings. There are many ways we help:

  • Your School/Institute is there to help you with academic and pastoral concerns
  • All students have the chance to take part in our Buddy Scheme, designed to help you settle into university life, socialise and meet new people by matching incoming first-year students with trained Queen Mary students from the same academic School in a group.
  • Find out about the range of student support services on our new students website.
  • Read our current students' tips on studying at home

There is a Financial Assistance Fund at Queen Mary. We are currently updating the guidance for 2020/21. We are committed to supporting all our students to study at Queen Mary. Please ensure you have adequate financial support for all of your tuition fees before starting your course.

You can find guidance on undergraduate funding at welfare.qmul.ac.uk/money.

We recommend that all students buy their own IT equipment. Visit our dedicated page for advice on adequate specifications and the financial support we have available: qmul.ac.uk/newstudents/before-you-arrive/it/

Your degree

The qualification you will receive at the end of your studies will be the same, whether you study face-to-face or by partial mixed-mode learning. 

Assessment changes 

All students are informed about assessment arrangements by the module organisers at the start of each module, as was also usual practice before the Covid-19 outbreak.

Queen Mary accommodation and studying abroad

Student residences

We provide support for students living in on-campus accommodation, or in the private sector housing market.

If you have questions about accommodation, we’ve published guidance and information for current students and new applicants.

Returning home 

Visit gov.uk/coronavirus for the latest UK Government information and guidance.

Tier 4 immigration permission

Queen Mary's Advice and Counselling Service has a webpage with detailed guidance for Queen Mary current students and applicants about the immigration implications of the current coronavirus situation. This page is frequently updated in line with UK Visa and Immigration developments.

Field trips

The ban on international field trips, introduced by Queen Mary at the start of the pandemic, has now been lifted and students are permitted to travel to countries which have been updated by the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) and classified as ‘exempted’.

For full details, please visit our coronavirus travel page.

Students on overseas exchange programmes

The Global Opportunities Office and your Queen Mary School have sent out guidance to all students currently participating in overseas programmes or due to go abroad to participate in programmes during the 2020/21 academic year.

If you have any questions, please contact goabroad@qmul.ac.uk or your home school.

Modern Languages students from the School of Languages, Linguistics and Film should contact sllf-yearabroad@qmul.ac.uk.

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