Your offer: admissions policy and regulations

Our aim is to support all students to have the best possible opportunities to succeed and so our application and enrolment deadlines are in place to ensure you stand the best chance of doing so.

Joining the programme later may harm your chances of success on your course. It is therefore vital that you take note of the dates and ensure you accept your offer, submit all required documents to meet any outstanding conditions and where a 'Student Route Visa' is required you submit all of the required documents by the deadlines outlined.

Please note deadline dates vary by intake so please see the key dates for your intake.

The fee status included in your offer email determines what fee you pay each year of your course and you have been given this fee status based on the information you have provided in your application.  Please check this carefully and you must contact us within 14 days of receipt of your offer if you disagree with the fee status given.

UK full-time undergraduate students*

Fee for 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 entry:

• £9,250 per year
• £11,100 year for an accelerated degree: LLB (Hons) Law and BA (Hons) Professional Policing

*This includes DfE (Teacher Training).

International full-time undergraduate students*

Fee for 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 entry:

• £14,045 per year
• £14,700 per year for BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy
• £16,850 per year for an accelerated degree: LLB (Hons) Law and BA (Hons) Professional Policing

International students will be required to pay a fee deposit.

Please note, undergraduate fees are regulated by the UK government, and so may increase each year in line with government policy. If your entry is for a deferred place, please note we are only able to quote fees for the current academic term which you can use as a guide.

*This includes DfE (Teacher Training).

UK or International part-time undergraduate or postgraduate fees

 The fee status included in your offer email determines what fee you pay each year of your course and you have been given this fee status based on the information you have provided in your application.  Please check this carefully and you must contact us within 14 days of receipt of your offer if you disagree with the fee status given.

The standard fee for the programme is included in the offer letter. For further information, please visit the ‘Fees and funding’ section on your course page. Should you have any queries, please contact Student Records and Awards on +44 (0)1332 591063 or email studentrecordsandawards@derby.ac.uk. 

Postgraduate research fees 

These fees apply to UK, EU and International students who have enrolled or are enrolling for a research degree of MPhil/PhD or MPhil. These are the annual fees payable for the academic year 2021/2022. The fee is increased annually by the prevailing UK rate of inflation. The standard fee for the programme is included in the offer letter. For further information, including Doctoral loans and Alumni discount, please visit the PGR Tuition Fees page on our website. 

Online Students

Your fees depend on what course you are studying. Online course fees are usually less than on-campus course fees. Check the tuition fees for your online course.

We realise that getting to grips with what financial assistance is available to support you throughout your studies can be quite overwhelming but we have some really useful information about fees and financial assistance on our fees and finance page for all routes.

For full-time undergraduate, UCAS also provide some useful information about how to apply for your student finance and what help you can get. You can create your application for student finance at gov.uk.

For some courses you will need to complete a placement or you may opt to do one. We recommend you read further information on what to expect of placements.

If the course you will be studying includes a compulsory or optional placement or requires access to restricted premises, you may be required to obtain Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and/or Certificate of Good Conduct (CoGC) clearance. We ask that you read through our DBS and CoGC policy and procedure information on our website as well as the specific information on students undertaking courses with compulsory placement or optional placement.

It is a requirement of some courses for you to have a satisfactory occupational health check. For more information on how and when to complete this, please go to our policy page on occupational health clearance. To find out whether or not this is required by your course, please go to your course page.

As an organisation, we welcome applications from the widest range of students who would benefit from our courses, and a criminal record does not automatically mean that you will not be accepted onto your chosen course. Now that you have been offered a place, if you have any relevant ‘unspent’ criminal convictions/cautions, you must email myapplication@derby.ac.uk with details of the incident so that it can be assessed prior to starting your course. 

Please note, relevant unspent convictions declared and the additional information requested will be reviewed by the University Criminal Conviction Panel who will then confirm whether your offer of a place can be upheld, deferred (so that you would start your Study Programme later) or withdrawn. On occasion the risk assessment made may mean that the Panel decides to defer or withdraw your offer- we will update you with the outcome of any decision made by the Panel.

Our policy page on criminal convictions gives guidance and offers support for you on what determines a relevant ‘unspent’ criminal conviction/caution as well as further information about how we manage your declarations.

If instead, you would like advice outside of the University of Derby, for independent guidance you can contact Unlock or Nacro so that you are not disclosing any information we do not need to know.

Please note that some courses require Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and/or Certificate of Good Conduct (CoGC) clearance and they are managed separately by our DBS and CoGC policy and procedure. If this is relevant, then this should have been discussed with you at your interview.

If you have any questions, or would like any help or support in understanding this process and what you need to do, please contact our Admissions Department on myadmissions@derby.ac.uk.

Qualified Teacher Status or Early Years Teacher Status competency requirements: Fundamental English and Mathematics

All trainees completing an Initial Teacher Training programme must demonstrate the required competencies in the fundamentals of English and Maths outlined by the Department for Education before Qualified Teacher Status is included in the award.

To ensure trainees meet the required competencies you will be required to undertake a number of activities which will take place when you commence your course. Full details of the required competencies will be provided to you following enrolment. Please note it is the trainee’s responsibility to secure these fundamental skills. In the event that the required competency is not achieved, your award will not include Qualified Teacher Status.

Prior to starting a course that leads to Qualified Teacher Status we will need to complete a Prohibition List Check. Prohibition List Checks are conducted to determine suitability for Qualified Teacher Status.

If you have been offered a place on a four-year degree that includes a foundation year, you will need GCSE Maths and English or equivalent (level 2 or above) as part of the entry criteria. If you don’t have this level of Maths or English or both, you will be required to undertake these as part of your degree during the foundation year by selecting the required level 2 module(s) during enrolment.

There is no restriction for universities to admit students under the age of 18 years. However, universities operate within an adult environment and no adjustments can be made for under-18 students. The acceptance of an offer means you and your parents/carer/guardian understand that the University does not have parental responsibility.

Our Under-18s Admissions Policy provides guidance and information required to proceed with your admission.

If you have received an offer from our Clearing team to ensure your place is secured it is important that you formally apply to us via UCAS within the timeframe outlined in your offer. 

Learn how to apply and receive further support

When you have completed your application we will accept you subject to relevant Admissions' checks which include verification of your qualifications, disability support requirements and tuition fee assessment and you will be notified of the acceptance on UCAS Track.

By formally applying and accepting your offer, you agree to abide by our student admissions policy and regulations which can be found on this page. This information is really important and includes important content to be aware of, including details about tuition fees and funding, what to do if you have a criminal conviction if your course needs a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, if there is any reason why you cannot, for instance, study to become a qualified teacher, or if you may require an Occupational Health Assessment.

Please make sure you take a look at this site and understand the regulations. If you have any questions at all please just get in touch.

Find out more about Clearing

Details of how to accept your offer we have made to you varies based on the method of your application to us. Please see full details in the section relevant to you, as either a UCAS, DfE applicant or direct applicant.

UCAS applicants

When you have received all of your offers back from the universities you’ve applied to, you will be able to do the following on UCAS Track:

• Accept an offer as your Firm Choice
• Accept an offer as your Insurance Choice
• Decline all other offers

You need to make your decision by the deadlines specified by UCAS otherwise your offer will be declined by UCAS. 

On acceptance of this offer, you will have a further 14 days as a cooling-off period in case you have a change of mind. You can do this via UCAS Track. If you change your mind after the 14-day cooling-off period, you will need to contact UCAS and inform them, as well as contact us in writing to acceptmyoffer@derby.ac.uk, so your request can be considered.

DfE (Teacher Training) applicants

When you are ready to accept your offer you can do this on the DFE Portal.

You need to make your decision by the DFE deadline otherwise your offer will be automatically declined by the DFE (Teacher Training).

On acceptance of this offer, you will have a further 14 days as a cooling-off period in case you have a change of mind. You can do this via the DfE portal. If you change your mind after the 14-day cooling-off period, you will need to contact us in writing to admissionsadvisor1@derby.ac.uk, so your request can be considered.

Direct applicants

Please email within 14 days of the offer being sent to you to indicate whether you wish to accept or decline this offer. If you do not accept our offer within 14 days your application may be withdrawn.

• Undergraduate applicants email acceptmyoffer@derby.ac.uk
• Postgraduate applicants email acceptmyoffer_pgt@derby.ac.uk

Please visit our key deadlines page.

After responding to this offer, you will have a further 14 days as a cooling-off period in case you have a change of mind on your original response, which you will need to request by email. If you change your mind after the 14-day cooling-off period, again you will need to contact us by at the relevant email above so your request can be considered.

The enrolment date is fixed and, if the date you receive your offer does not allow you to utilise the full 14 days, you will have to make a decision in the shorter time frame in order to enrol. However, you will have a full 14-day cooling-off period from completion of online enrolment should you change your mind.

If you are unhappy with any aspect of your admissions process, we advise you to raise this with us using our admissions complaints process.

If you choose the University of Derby as your firm choice and wish to live in University accommodation, you should apply as soon as possible. Full details relating to university accommodation, and the online booking form, can be found on our accommodation pages. We can only guarantee a room in halls if you apply by the 31 July (for September entry). After this date, we expect that there will be rooms available but we may not be able to allocate the room of your choice.

UCAS applicants

We receive a wide range of results electronically from the awarding bodies via UCAS during the main results period, such as A-Levels, BTECS, Access, Scottish Highers. However, not all qualification results are received from UCAS, so we do advise for any other results or conditions you have been asked to meet as part of your offer, such as GCSEs, copies of certificates, Tuition Fee Assessment Forms and portfolios, are sent to myresults@derby.ac.uk.

We will need to have received the required information as stipulated in your offer by the dates outlined for each intake. However, it is your benefit to provide the required information as soon as possible to help finalise your place at the University. Late applicants will need to ensure that all conditions and information requirements are met before enrolment, otherwise, a place cannot be guaranteed.

Please be aware of the key deadline dates you will be required to provide the relevant documents. 

Please note: if the evidence of your qualifications is going to be in a language other than English, you will be required to get an official translation into English from a local or online certified translation service provider.

DfE (Teacher Training) applicants

We will need to have received the required information as stipulated in your offer by the dates outlined for each intake. However, it is your benefit to provide the required information as soon as possible to help finalise your place at the University. Late applicants will need to ensure that all conditions and information requirements are met before enrolment, otherwise a place cannot be guaranteed.

Please be aware of the key deadline dates you will be required to provide the relevant documents.  

Please send evidence of your qualifications to myresults@derby.ac.uk.

Please note: if the evidence of your qualifications is going to be in a language other than English, you will be required to get an official translation into English from a local or online certified translation service provider. 

Direct applicants

If your offer is conditional or requires you to provide further information as stipulated in your offer letter, we will need to see documentary evidence of your qualifications and any other conditions outlined in the offer to confirm that you have met the minimum entry requirements – 

Please be aware of the key deadline dates you will be required to provide the relevant documents. Online Learning courses have different deadline dates, please see key dates for Online Learning. 

Late applicants will need to ensure that all conditions and information requirements are met before enrolment otherwise a place cannot be guaranteed. 

Please forward any required documentation to the relevant email below:

• Undergraduate: myresults@derby.ac.uk
• Postgraduate: myresults_pgt@derby.ac.uk

Please note: if the evidence of your qualifications is going to be in a language other than English, you will be required to get an official translation into English from a local or online certified translation service provider.

Enrolment is the registration process to start your course. Enrolment is a two-part process which requires you to firstly complete online enrolment from home and then the University will formally confirm your enrolment, at which point you will then be fully enrolled.

In order to enrol, you must meet all the academic conditions (including any reference requirements) of your offer and become an Unconditional Firm (UF) with us. You must also complete any non-academic conditions (if any), such as DBS clearance etc, as outlined in your offer before your course starts. In exceptional circumstances, you may be permitted to complete any outstanding non-academic conditions, at the very latest, four weeks after your course start date, after which your place will be withdrawn if the conditions have not been met.

If you are studying on-campus and require a student-route visa, please note, if you are assessed as International for fee purposes, you will not be invited to commence your enrolment until your Confirmation of Acceptance to Study (CAS) has been issued and the enrolment period for your course has opened. 

You will need to be fully enrolled to be able to access any loans and funding, obtain a student ID card, use the library and our course resources portal. Full details of how and when to enrol will be provided in your induction communication nearer the time.

We offer a range of scholarships and bursaries. We also offer discounts for Alumni on postgraduate study and discounts for Online Courses.

If you are not a British or Irish citizen or are subject to immigration control you will need to demonstrate your Right to Study at the point of application or enrolment, depending on your immigration status. If you do not have a current permission to study or wish to switch from your current immigration category into the Student Route in order to obtain permission to study in the UK, you will need to obtain a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) from University of Derby in order to study with us. Before you successfully enrol for your course, you must provide your original passport and physical visa or e-visa as evidence of your right to study in the UK; to find out how to do this, please visit our  international enrolment page. Failure to do so could affect your enrolment on the course. Please see our visas and immigration page or email InternationalCompliance@derby.ac.uk for more information.

If you have successfully passed English Language tests as part of your entry requirements, it is extremely important that you maintain these levels during the time you are deferring the start of your degree. We would strongly recommend that you undertake a local or online English class or tuition to ensure that this happens. For more support from the university with this matter please email englishsupport@derby.ac.uk.

f you choose the University of Derby as your firm choice, you will be required to pay a deposit of £8,000 for undergraduate and postgraduate taught courses. Some courses may require a higher deposit payment - this will be indicated in your offer letter.

Please be aware of the key deadline dates you will be required to pay the deposit.

Advance deposit payments are not applicable if you are in receipt of a full US Federal Loan, Lånekassen (Norway), CSN (Sweden), LIN (Iceland), Qatar, Kuwait or you are studying at one of the following partner institutions: HTL Spengergasse, Herbststrasse, Escuela Internacional de Gerencia (Granada), Kristiania University College, or the Higher Hotel Institute Cyprus. If your funding provider is not listed above, the deposit requirement may be waived in the case of full evidenced sponsorship to be agreed upon on an individual basis. 

If you are an Indian applicant who will use an educational loan letter from an Indian bank, please note that the letter must be a signed and verifiable agreement. The only condition the bank attaches to the loan is your receipt of a student visa from UKVI. The agreement must confirm the funds can be available to you prior to your travelling to the UK. Please note that any other conditions are not acceptable. The letter must clearly state that the loan is for education purposes only and has been sanctioned. You will still be required to pay the deposit prior to the issuance of a CAS. 

Please note that your deposit will only be refunded in line with the Refund Policy.

Following payment of your deposit ensure you attach a copy of the bank transfer when submitting your CAS Request and also send a copy to salesledger@derby.ac.uk.

f you are a sponsored student please ensure you submit a copy of your Financial Guarantee letter as part of the CAS Shield submission in order to apply for a CAS. 

Any further discounts will be applied in line with the information available on the Scholarships, Bursaries and Discounts for International Students.

All international students are required to make a deposit payment of £8,000. Some programmes such as English for Academic Purposes require the full tuition fee to be paid before the CAS can be issued. The deposit amount for your course will be confirmed in your offer letter. We recommend that you make your tuition fee payment no later than six weeks before the start date of your programme.

When making your deposit payment to the University of Derby, please do the following:

• Include your student ID and name as your reference. Please quote your Student ID number followed by your full name. If a sponsor is paying your deposit, please supply them with your student ID and name to use as their reference. Failure to do this may cause a delay in processing your payment and issuing your CAS
• Make your payment in GBP £ (British pounds sterling)
• Some banks may charge an additional transfer fee. Please be aware that the payer/applicant must pay all costs associated with the International Bank Transfer including those of the beneficiary bank ie: University of Derby
• If you have qualified for a University of Derby Scholarship, the amount granted to you will be deducted from the first available instalment of the outstanding fees after your deposit has been paid
• If you are eligible for the £1,000 Full Payment Discount and you are planning to pay in full, please deduct the £1,000 from your initial payment. Ensure that you obtain confirmation that you are eligible or assess the information on the Full Payment Discounts page ahead of deducting £1,000 from your full payment.

Please note that your deposit will only be refunded in line with the Refund Policy.

Our preferred method of payment is via our online payment portal.

Make a payment

All visitors to the UK have to pay Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) before they will be issued with their visa. This also includes sponsored students and students from the EU, EEA and Switzerland. You can find more information about IHS at gov.uk.

Certain courses require International students to have an Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) certificate. If you need to apply for an ATAS certificate, this will be indicated in your offer letter. 

Please note, if you are a national of the UK, European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, United States or hold Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK then this does not apply to you. 

If you require a Student Route visa, you will need to provide this before you receive your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) number.

For further details on how to apply for an ATAS certificate, please visit our Visas and Immigration page. Please note it will take at least 20 working days to process a student ATAS application; processing times will increase between April and September and can take 30 or more working days to complete.

Once you have your ATAS certificate, you should email it to myresultsPGT@derby.ac.uk. 

A Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) is an essential document issued by universities to international students. It confirms that the student has been accepted onto a specific course and provides all the necessary details required for a visa application. The CAS contains a unique reference number and important information about the course, tuition fees, and the student's personal details. This document is crucial for obtaining a student visa to study in the UK. 

At the University of Derby, we strive to make the CAS process as seamless and efficient as possible for our international students. To achieve this, we utilise CAS Shield, an innovative platform that simplifies the process of requesting a CAS. Through CAS Shield, students can easily submit their documents, request their CAS, and complete pre-CAS interviews. This streamlined approach ensures that all necessary steps are completed accurately and promptly, helping students focus on their academic journey without unnecessary stress.

CAS application

Issuing your Confirmation of Acceptance to Study

There are several steps that you need to undertake to obtain your Confirmation of Acceptance Certificate (CAS) number.

Please be aware of the key deadline dates you will be required to complete the steps below in order to ensure that your Confirmation of Acceptance Certificate (CAS) number can be issued in advance of your course start date. 

• Meet all academic and non-academic conditions: For some courses, you may have non-academic conditions to meet e.g. a certificate of good conduct and/or a health questionnaire. These will be detailed in your original offer
• Provide evidence of your qualifications in English language
• Pay a deposit
• Complete a Confirmation of Acceptance to Study (CAS) form
• Provide evidence of maintenance funds or financial guarantee letter from your sponsor – further details can be found below in the ‘Maintenance’ section

Once all these documents have been provided and confirmed, we will then issue your Confirmation of Acceptance to Study (CAS). The Admissions team will send you a CAS letter by email. This will include your CAS Number and, in the CAS Details document, outline the details we have provided to UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) about you and your course. Please be aware that we cannot produce the CAS letter more than three months before the start date of your course.

Preparing your visa application

We have a guide on what to do next on our visas and immigration page. Nationals from the EU, EEA, and Switzerland will be able to apply using an app on your smartphone.

Your Student Route Credibility Interview

Student Route applicants can expect to be invited to attend an interview as part of the application process. All students applying outside of the UK will be emailed with details about attending an interview so please make sure you check your email account regularly, including the ‘junk’ folder. Students applying in the UK will be posted a letter if an interview is required.

Qualifications

Your CAS Details document will state the qualifications used to offer you a place on your course. For each qualification listed in your CAS you must provide the original certificate or transcript of results. The GOV.UK website has details on documents you must provide for a Student Route visa.

Maintenance (this does not apply to sponsored students)

For students requiring a Student Route, once your deposit has been paid, we will need to see a copy of the Bank Statement that you intend to use for your visa application to ensure that you have the correct maintenance funds available to you. The bank statement must meet the Student Route visa maintenance requirement. This will need to be checked before we can issue you a Confirmation of Acceptance to Study (CAS). Please ensure you attach a copy of your bank statement when submitting your CAS Request form.

You will need to show that you have access to sufficient funds to pay your tuition fees and your living expenses.

To demonstrate this you will need to show that you have had access to the amount of money required to pay your tuition fees and your living expenses for at least 28 days before you make your application. To see how much money you need to provide evidence of, please visit our maintenance requirements page.

Please be aware:

• If the balance falls below the required level of funds during the 28‐day period, your application will fail and you will be refused
• Company bank statements will not be accepted
• All bank statements that are not in English will need to be submitted with a certified translation
• Online bank statements must be authenticated and stamped on every page by the issuing bank
• Fixed‐term bonds and other fixed‐term accounts will not be accepted
• If you are being funded by your parents, you must provide your birth certificate proving that they are your parent and a letter written by your parents confirming your relationship and that they consent to sponsoring your study in the UK
• You cannot be sponsored by any family members other than your parents or guardian

Applicants studying on block delivery programmes do not require a Student visa but may still need to come to the UK for short, intensive study periods on campus. If you will be coming to the UK to study a course which is less than six months in length you should apply for a Standard Visitor visa. This would apply to MN2CR - MBA Block Delivery and PN1AA - Doctorate of Business Administration. You can find further information on our short-term visa information page. 

For more information about the documents you will need to provide, please go to our visas and immigration page.

If your visa application is refused, please ensure you submit the refusal letter on CAS Shield or send it via email to CASRequest@derby.ac.uk and we will provide you with any necessary information. Please be aware that we cannot issue you with a new CAS number for a fresh visa application until we are certain that the reason for the visa refusal has been corrected. 

To find out if you need a TB (tuberculosis) test before entering the UK, go to TB tests at gov.uk.

Please bring with you your original certificates and transcripts used in your application along with your passport and visa to complete your registration and enrolment confirmation. 

Please note that your offer letter or email cannot be used for visa purposes. 

Please ensure that you travel in line with the dates stated on your CAS letter. 

Further details about arrivals, airport pick-ups and other information you might need before you come to the UK can be found on our travelling to the University of Derby page.  

Please visit our international enrolment page for further information on the enrolment process.