Entry Requirements

All courses have their own entry requirements, which you can check on a course-by-course basis by visiting the course pages.  As a guide our minimum requirements are: 

• Achievement of an upper second-class honours degree (2:1) from a UK university or an equivalent degree qualification from an overseas university. 
• Evidence of English language for applicants whose first language isn’t English. 

Where a course has different or additional entry requirements this will be listed on the course page. 

Durham has a large and thriving international postgraduate community, and information about qualification equivalences can be found on our country information pages. 

If you’d like advice about entry requirements or if your qualifications are suitable for entry please Ask Us.

Dates and Deadlines

Most postgraduate courses start in September or October.  For some courses there may be alternative starts dates, for example in January or April. If alternative start dates are available, these will be listed on the course search and the applicant portal.

Applications can normally be submitted all year round and open in the October of the year preceding the start of your course.  In order for it to be possible to start your studies at Durham on time at the start of the 2024/25 academic year, we require applicants who require a student visa to apply for their postgraduate programme by no later than 31 July 2024 and applicants who do not require a student visa to apply for their postgraduate programme by no later than 31 August 2024.  It's really important that offer holders supply the necessary evidence to meet any offer conditions as soon as possible, but by no later than 14 August 2024 if a student visa is needed and 14 September if not.

For some courses you will need to apply early as entry is very competitive.  If you’re an international applicant and need a visa you’ll also need to apply in enough time to arrange this.  Some Business School MSc courses have application deadlines for some applicants, and the University can close admissions to any programme if it becomes over-subscribed.

The Full-Time MBA programme, MSc Business Analytics and MA Conservation of Archaeological & Museum Objects all operate a staged admissions process, with application deadlines throughout the year.  You can find out more information at:

Full-Time MBA programme

MSc Business Analytics

MA Conservation of Archaeological & Museum Objects

How to Apply

For most postgraduate taught degrees you apply through Durham’s Applicant Portal.  You don’t have to submit your application all in one go.  The application is organised into sections so once you’ve started it you can save it and come back to it at any time.  You’ll need to upload certain documents as part of the application process so it’s a good idea to have these ready when you apply. These include: 

• Transcripts of your qualifications 
• English language test certificates if taken
• Personal statement (if not written directly into the portal)
• Scholarship documentation (if applying)

Don’t worry if you don’t have all of your documents with you when you apply as you can always upload them later through the portal.

We communicate with you through your applicant portal through action requests and notifications, so it’s a good idea to log in to your portal regularly so you can check on the progress of your application.   

Application Fee

All Business School MSc programmes require applicants to pay a small application fee before we can consider your application.  If you are applying for one of these courses, please submit your application as normal and then you will receive an action request in your applicant portal with instructions on how to do this.  We can’t consider your application until the fee is paid so it’s a good idea to do this as soon as you can. 

Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE)

If you want to apply for a PGCE International programme, you can do this via the postgraduate Applicant portal.