Applying

Source: https://www.leeds.ac.uk/international-exchange-and-study-abroad/doc/applying Parent: https://www.leeds.ac.uk/international-applying/doc/international-how-to-apply

Find out how to apply to the University of Leeds as an exchange or study abroad student, including application deadlines and what to expect once you’ve submitted your application.

Eligibility criteria

To enrol on the study abroad programme, you must:

• Have completed at least one year of study by the time you arrive in Leeds, with a GPA of 3.0 (US system), 5.5 (Australian system) or equivalent accepted qualifications.
• Meet our English language requirements.

We welcome study abroad applications from students who:

• Are nominated by one of our partner universities for a place on the exchange programme.

or

• Will pay the University of Leeds tuition fee themselves, applying either independently or through an agent.

Please check with your home university whether they have an exchange agreement with the University of Leeds.

Before you apply

Before you apply, you should check:

• You meet our English language requirements.
• You have the supporting documents you need.
• Which modules you can study at Leeds for the duration of your programme.
• If your teaching school has any subject-specific academic requirements or guidance for incoming study abroad or exchange students.
• If you are in your final year of study at your home university, check when your home university will need your final transcript from Leeds. Please read our exams and transcripts page before submitting an application.

Please speak with advisers at your home university before applying to ensure you meet our requirements and receive guidance on module selection and credit transfer.

Application deadlines

Semester 1 (September) start

Apply by 15 April.

Semester 2 (January) start

Apply by 31 October.

If you want to do a pre-sessional language programme before your study abroad semester

On our application portal, please apply for Study Abroad/Exchange with pre-sessional language before our deadlines:

• To start your Study Abroad/Exchange in Semester 1, apply to us before 15 April.
• To start your Study Abroad/Exchange in Semester 2, apply to us before 31 October.

When we have accepted your application, the Language Centre will invite you to apply to them for the pre-sessional part of your programme. You can check the pre-sessional language programme website for their deadlines.

How to apply

We’ve created the following step-by-step application guide to help you complete the form. Please keep it open as you work through each section. Read it carefully, some answers cannot be changed later, and incomplete or incorrect information may delay your admission. We’ve also recorded a video to talk you through the application process.

If you have any questions, ask your study abroad representative at your home university or contact the Study Abroad team at studyabroad@leeds.ac.uk.

Complete our application form

Create a new account and application

• Go to the Admissions log in page.
• Click on ‘create an application account’.

Create your Login ID and PIN

• Type in a Login ID – it can be a combination of letters and numbers and be up to nine characters long.
• Type in a PIN. It must be six numbers.
• Click ‘login’.
• You can get help with creating an ID and PIN from the ‘help’ button.

Select the application type and academic year

• For ‘application type’ select ‘study abroad/exchange - undergraduate’.
• You can’t edit this page later. If you make a mistake, you will need to submit a new application.

Admission year and name

• For ‘admission year’ please select ‘2026/27’. This includes the following applicants: January to January.
• Please note that your ‘last name’ is your family name. Write your name as it appears on your passport or National ID card.
• You can’t edit this page later. If you make a mistake, you will need to submit a new application.

Review your application checklist

• After Step 4, you will go to a checklist page. You can return to this checklist at any stage. You do not have to complete the application in one go, but please save every page.
• The checklist page shows you which steps you have already completed, as you will see a tick next to them. You can also use the checklist to move between steps. You can return to sections at any stage before you submit your application, so if you make a mistake, you can correct it.
• Please make sure all your written responses are in English.
• Your application will not be submitted until you select ‘application is complete’ at the bottom of the checklist page. The study abroad office will not see your application while it is in progress.
• At the bottom of each page listed on the checklist there are three options:
• Checklist: returns to the checklist
• Continue: takes you to the next checklist screen
• Finish later: takes you back to the application home page

Name information

• If you have applied to or registered with the University of Leeds before, for any programme, please select ‘yes’ to ‘have you previously applied to the University of Leeds?’ or ‘previously registered student with the University of Leeds?’ as appropriate.
• To prevent delays to your application, it is very important that you tell us this now because it means you already have a University of Leeds student ID number.
• This will not affect your chances of acceptance.
• Please make sure you choose the correct title (for example, Mr or Miss) and enter your name as it appears on your passport/ID card. For your ‘last name’ please use your family name. If you have more than one family name, include both in the ‘last name’ field.

Planned course of study

• For ‘course of study’ select ‘study abroad’.
• For ‘what is your programme type?’ select one of the following options:
• ‘Study abroad/exchange’ if you are applying to Leeds as an exchange student or applying for the programme and paying tuition fees.
• ‘With pre-sessional language programme’ if you are taking a six, 10 or 20 week English language course before you start semester 1 or semester 2 of teaching. You will be able to select the exact language course later.
• For ‘what is your intended period of study?’ select one of the following options:
• ‘Semester 1’ to study from September to January
• ‘Semester 2’ to study from January to June
• ‘Semester 1 and 2’ to study from September to June
• ‘Other’ if you are one of the following applicants: January to January
• You must also write a short personal statement (maximum 500 words) telling us why you want to study at the University of Leeds. If you experience any technical issues when adding the personal statement, please upload it as a supporting document instead.

Permanent home address details

• Write your permanent home address (where you normally live). If possible, please include your post/ZIP code.
• For ‘will your correspondence address be the same as your permanent home address?’ please answer ‘yes’.
• We will not post any documents to you before you arrive in Leeds so you do not need to provide a correspondence address. We will send your acceptance by email.
• Please provide a telephone number, if possible, as we may need to contact you about your application.

Correspondence address details

• As you have already indicated that your correspondence address is the same as your home address in Step 7, you do not need to complete your correspondence address details.
• Click ‘continue’ to go to the next section.

Personal information

• We will use the email address you submit to contact you about your application and give you arrival information so please make sure it is an account you check regularly.
• Please enter your ‘birth date’ accurately as this is used for immigration purposes.
• If you have a disability, you can declare it here. This is so that the University can make sure it meets your needs and provide appropriate support where necessary.
• A disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long term (12 months or longer) negative effect on someone's ability to do normal daily activities.
• Examples of disabilities include:
• Dyslexia
• Dyspraxia
• Dyscalculia
• ADHD or ADD
• Asperger Syndrome or autism
• Long term mental health conditions
• Long term medical conditions, eg epilepsy, cancer, HIV, diabetes, IBS, chronic fatigue
• Physical or mobility impairment
• Blindness or significant sight loss
• Hearing loss
• If you submit disability details, this will not impact your acceptance.

If you have any questions about declaring a disability or the support that you could receive, contact our Disabled Students’ Assessment and Support team at disability@leeds.ac.uk.

Residency and funding

• Please select the appropriate nation from the drop down lists for your country of birth, nationality and domicile (where you currently live).
• For ‘fee status’ select:
• ‘Exchange student (no fees)’ if you are coming via the exchange programme with one of our partner universities
• ‘Pay own fees’ if you will be paying tuition fees directly to the University of Leeds
• ‘Home institution/representative to pay fees’ if you are coming through API or Butler, or if your home university is paying your fees for you
• Please enter your passport details accurately, especially if you will need a Student Route visa for the duration of your studies.
• If your passport will expire before or during your stay in the UK, you will need to renew your passport.
• If you are renewing your passport but still hold a passport that is currently valid, enter these details into this section. Please then add a note to your supporting documents telling us when you expect to receive your new passport.

Previous/current education

• Please enter your current and any previous higher education institutions, especially if you have studied in the UK before. We need to know if you have studied in the UK before at any level for immigration reasons.
• Select ‘lookup your institution’ to find your home university.
• To prevent delays, make sure you enter your year of study as this can have visa implications for some applicants.
• For ‘qualification date’ enter the date you received, or expect to receive your completed degree.

English language proficiency

• If you are taught mainly in English at your home university, select ‘yes’.
• If you select 'no' then you should select your language qualifications from the drop down boxes in the 'test' column. In the 'date taken' column, you should enter the test date as it is printed on your certificate.
• If your language qualifications are not listed in the drop down boxes then you should upload evidence of your language qualifications as supporting documents instead. Please see Step 13 for introductions on how to do this.
• IELTS and TOEFL iBT test dates must be within two years (to the day) of the date you will start studying at the University of Leeds. Please note we have to accept your most recent certificate.
• If you are unsure whether you need to submit English Language evidence, please complete the language requirements survey.
• Some schools have a higher English Language requirement. Please see the list of relevant schools on our English language requirements page.

Supporting documents

• If possible, please upload all your supporting documents in one PDF file.
• All applications must include:
• Official transcript of records (in English) or an unofficial print out that is stamped and signed by your home university.
• An explanation of your home institution’s grading system.
• A copy of the information page of your passport or ID card that you will be using to travel. If you are renewing your passport, please include a page in your supporting documents informing us of this and when you expect to receive your new passport.
• Please check the supporting documents page to see if you need to submit other supporting documents, such as English language certificate, references, portfolio of work or a foreign language questionnaire.
• Incorrect or missing supporting documents are the main cause of application delays. We cannot process your application until you have submitted all the required supporting documents, so please read this information carefully and make sure you upload and save your documents.
• You must press ‘attach to application’ to save the documents to your application before you press ‘application is complete’.
• If you are having technical difficulties uploading your supporting documents, please try the following:
• The file name may be too long, try shortening it.
• You may not be waiting long enough for your documents to upload. Sometimes it can take up to thirty seconds to upload properly.
• Try uploading the file directly from your desktop.
• Your file may be too large. Try compressing the file, or breaking it into smaller files.

If you are still experiencing problems, please email the Study Abroad team at studyabroad@leeds.ac.uk with as much detail about the problem as possible.

Submit your application

• You should now have completed everything that we need to process your application. Press ‘checklist’ to go back to the checklist and scroll to the bottom of the screen.
• You can see a summary of your application by selecting ‘show summary of this application’. Sometimes this doesn’t show all the information on your application and sometimes there will be blank sections that you will not have been asked to complete as part of your application. Do not worry about this, we will contact you if we need further information.
• Please tick the ‘use of personal data’ boxes as appropriate, then select ‘application is complete’ when you are ready to submit your application. We cannot process your application until you have selected ‘application is complete’.
• We expect that you will hear from us within six weeks of the date you submit your completed application.

If you have any questions, please see our exchange and study abroad information or email the Study Abroad team at studyabroad@leeds.ac.uk. Our office hours are Monday to Friday 9am–5pm.

Receiving your acceptance and preparing to arrive

The Study Abroad Office aims to process applications within six weeks of receiving completed applications, including all required supporting documents. If you meet all requirements, you’ll be accepted and receive an acceptance email.

Your acceptance email will provide guidance on the following:

• How to submit module choices to the academic teaching schools for approval
• How to apply for housing in University accommodation
• Term dates and recommended arrival dates
• How and when you should apply for a Student visa or an Electronic Travel Authorisation (if this is required)

Please see our preparation and arrival page for further information.

Admissions Policy

The University of Leeds Admissions Policy outlines the admissions principles of the University of Leeds. If you are studying in the 2026-27 academic year, please see the University of Leeds Admissions Policy 2026-27. Any variations to this policy for the Incoming Study Abroad programme are clarified on our Exchange and Study abroad web pages.