English language certificates

We accept a range of English Language certificates for entry to our pre-sessional courses. Entry requirements for our pre-sessional courses are shown for IELTS scores. 

You can use the information on this page to check which certificates we accept, and to find out the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) equivalencies for certificates other than IELTS.

Please carefully consider which test you take, as it may affect the type of visa you are eligible to apply for. Read more about visas.

We accept the following English Language certificates for entry to our pre-sessional courses:

Find your equivalent IELTS score

Entry requirements for our pre-sessional courses are shown for IELTS scores.

If you have a Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic, TOEFL iBT or LanguageCert ESOL test, use the following tables to find the IELTS equivalent for your test score. If you have another certificate from the previous list,  email the Language Centre at langc@leeds.ac.uk.

Then visit our pre-sessional entry requirements pages for undergraduate applicants, Masters applicants or Research applicants to find the length of pre-sessional course you should study.

Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic 

Your Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic score  Equivalent to IELTS 4.0  Equivalent to IELTS 4.5  Equivalent to IELTS 5.0  Equivalent to IELTS 5.5  Equivalent to IELTS 6.0 Equivalent to IELTS 6.5   Equivalent to IELTS 7.0  Equivalent to IELTS 7.5 
Overall  43 48 54 59 60 64 68 74
Reading component  43 48 54 59 60 64 68 74
Writing component  43 48 54 59 60 64 68 74
Speaking component  43 48 54 59 60 64 68 74
Listening component  43 48 54 59 60 64 68 74

TOEFL iBT (Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-Based Test) 

You must have at least the given score in each component, as well the overall score:

Your TOEFL iBT overall  
score 
Equivalent to IELTS 4.0  Equivalent to IELTS 4.5  Equivalent to IELTS 5.0  Equivalent to IELTS 5.5  Equivalent to IELTS 6.0  Equivalent to IELTS 6.5  Equivalent to IELTS 7.0  Equivalent to IELTS 7.5 
Overall 50 57 63 72 80 88 95 103
Reading component  9 12 14 18 20 22 23 24
Writing component  13 15 16 19 21 22 24 25
Speaking component  16 17 19 20 22 24 25 26
Listening component 12 13 14 17 19 22 23 24

LanguageCert International ESOL

For summer pre-sessionals, find the right course option using the following list. Then see course information for our undergraduate 10 week or undergraduate 6 week summer pre-sessionals or postgraduate summer pre-sessionals.

If your International Foundation Year requires an overall IELTS score of 5.5 (B2 Communicator with a minimum of 33 in each of Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing): 

  • Your current B2 Communicator score: minimum of 25 in each of Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing. You need: Summer 10 week 
  • Your current B2 Communicator score: minimum of 33 in each of Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing. You need: Summer 6 week  

If your International Foundation Year requires an overall IELTS score of 6.0  (B2 Communicator with a minimum of 36 in each of Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing): 

  • Your current B2 Communicator score: minimum of 33 in each of Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing. You need: Summer 10 week 
  • Your current B2 Communicator score: minimum of 36 in each of Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing. You need: Summer 6 week 

If your undergraduate degree, research degree, exchange or Study Abroad Programme requires an overall IELTS score of 6.0 (B2 Communicator with a minimum of 36 in each of speaking, listening, reading and writing):

  • Your current B2 Communicator score: one component below 33 allowed none below 25. You need: Summer 10 week
  • Your current B2 Communicator score: minimum of 33 in each of Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing. You need: Summer 6 week 

If your undergraduate /postgraduate /research degree / exchange / Study Abroad Programme requires an overall IELTS score of 6.5 (B2 Communicator with a minimum of 39 in each of speaking, listening, reading and writing):

  • Your current B2 Communicator score: two* scores below 36 allowed. No scores below 33. You need: Summer 10 week 
  • Your current B2 Communicator score: one* score below 36 allowed. No scores below 33. You need: Summer 6 week 

If your undergraduate degree, postgraduate degree, exchange or Study Abroad Programme requires an overall IELTS score of 7.0 (C1 Expert minimum of 33 in each of speaking, listening, reading and writing):

  • Your current C1 Expert score: No scores below 25. You need: Summer 10 week 
  • Your current C1 Expert score:  Two scores below 33 allowed. No scores below 25. You need: Summer 6 week 

*MSc (Eng) Engineering Project Management, MSc (Eng) International Construction Management and Engineering and masters applicants of Leeds University Business School are only allowed to have one score below 36 and no scores below 33.  

  • Applicants with a score below 36 in either reading OR writing are eligible to study summer 10 week  
  • Applicants with a score below 36 in either listening OR speaking are eligible to study the summer 6 week