• Your Offer of Admission
• Before accepting your offer of a place
• Replying to an Offer of Admission
• Special arrangements for Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) applicants responding to offers
• Conditional Offers - Notification of Examination Results
• Conditional Offers - which include payment of a deposit
• Unconditional Offers
• Deferred Entry
• Applicants to Research Degree Programmes
• Induction workshops

Your Offer of Admission

The only official letter confirming your offer of admission to undertake a postgraduate programme of study is that issued by the Admissions and Access Service.

An offer of admission does not constitute an offer of financial support.  If you are not in receipt of financial support you should ensure that you are fully aware of the financial commitments and that you have the necessary resources to cover fees and maintenance for the duration of your studies.

See Money Matters for additional information

Before accepting your offer of a place

All students must agree to conform to the Statutes of the University:

‘We, the students of Queen’s University Belfast, on admission do hereby promise that we will conform to the Statutes of the University and to all regulations, rules and orders from time to time made by the authorities of the University for the proper conduct of its business and due maintenance of discipline, that we will refrain from words or acts prejudicial thereto or from any conduct or activity which conflicts with the University’s policies on Equality and Diversity, and Student Anti-Bullying and Harassment (including harassment on the grounds of age, religious belief, political opinion, race, gender, colour, ethnic origin, sexual orientation or disability), that we will refrain from injury to the property of the University and will endeavour to promote its interests and studies and will not engage in any conduct liable to bring the University into disrepute.’

Prospective students should be aware of this obligation before deciding to accept the offer of a place.

Replying to an Offer of Admission

To accept or decline an offer of a place, you should reply online through the Postgraduate Applications Portal.

If you have applied and been offered a place on more than one course/programme of study, you must indicate whether you wish to accept or decline the offer against each course/programme.

Given that your final course choice may be dependent on funding and/or other factors, you may initially decide to accept more than one offer of a place. In this case, when you make your final course/programme choice, email the Admissions and Access Service at postgrad.admissions@qub.ac.uk and we will advise you of the procedures.

Special arrangements for Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) applicants responding to offers -

Please reply to your offer as soon as possible and no more than 14 days from the date of your offer letter.

Candidates must also complete and return additional information (Access NI Enhanced Disclosure and Health Declaration).

Please refer to the section 'Important information for PGCE applicants' for the PGCE Offer Holder Guide which explains the next steps such as returning forms (including deadlines).  You should read it carefully.

Admission to the PGCE is competitive and waiting lists are in operation. Therefore, an early response would enable us to offer the place to another applicant.

Conditional Offers – Notification of Examination Results

If your offer is conditional upon the completion of a degree and/or other academic qualification, you will be required to upload evidence to the Postgraduate Applications Portal to confirm that you have satisfied the condition(s) of your offer.

The facility will also allow you to decline or request reconsideration, if you have not met the condition(s) of your offer. Please ensure that you upload scanned copies of your documentation to the My Applications section of the Portal as soon as possible.

For UK and ROI applicants who have met the condition(s) of their offer or wish to be reconsidered:

If you are not a Queen's student, you should upload an official transcript from your Higher Education Provider, confirming the classification awarded. If you are a Queen's student, you should also upload evidence which confirms the classification awarded. This can be in the form of an unofficial transcript which should be available for you to download from your Queen's Online account.

For other EU applicants who have met the condition(s) of their offer or wish to be reconsidered:

You should upload an official transcript and final award certificate from your Higher Education Provider, confirming the title of the qualification awarded and the overall result. If English language is a condition of your offer, you should upload the relevant test certificate.

If you do not provide this information your application cannot proceed to the next stage of the admissions cycle and you will not be notified of the registration procedures.

Applicants who subsequently fulfil the conditions of their offer of admission and who have replied online confirming they wish to accept the offer of a place, will be sent a final letter of acceptance.

Note – you will be required to bring original documentary evidence of your degree qualification(s) (and a certified English translation, where applicable) to registration in September.   Documentary evidence of English Language qualifications (if appropriate) will also be required at registration. 

Conditional Offers - which include payment of a deposit (UK and ROI applicants)

For September 2024 entry, the following postgraduate taught programmes will require payment of a deposit to secure a place on the course.  If your offer is conditional upon payment of a deposit, this must be paid by the date stipulated in your offer letter from the Admissions and Access Service.  If you do not pay the deposit by the stated date, your application will be withdrawn.   Please refer to the appropriate Deposit Payment Letter below depending on your chosen course. The deposit amount should be paid online, and you should follow the instructions at the following page to make your payment: https://www.qub.ac.uk/Study/Feesandfinance/pay-tuition-fees/.

Pay your deposit on Flywire

Unconditional Offers

If you meet all the admission requirements for your chosen programme/course of study, you will receive an unconditional offer letter which you may use as evidence that you have been accepted on to the programme/course of study.

Deferred Entry

Applications for deferred entry may be permitted. However, in considering requests for deferred entry it will be necessary to consider if the course will be offered in a subsequent year or, in the case of research, the research project and/or intended supervisor is available in a subsequent year. Requests will be considered on an individual basis, particularly in relation to non-UK/Irish applicants who may have experienced delays in obtaining an entry visa in time to commence their studies. Applications for deferral of University administered funding are not permitted.

Applicants to Research Degree Programmes

If you meet all the admission requirements for your chosen programme/course of study, you will receive an unconditional offer letter which you may use as evidence that you have been accepted on to the programme/course of study.

You should note that if you identified a project title on your application, this offer is made on the understanding that the School reserves the right to revise the title either before admission or at the initial review which takes place within three months of the start of your research.

PhD applicants must successfully complete differentiation by the end of year one, in order to progress on the PhD pathway. The normal overall period of study for the PhD is three years full-time or six years part-time, although you may submit your thesis after two years of full-time registration or four years of part-time registration. The corresponding periods for the MPhil are normally two years full-time and four years part-time.

The University's Code of Practice for Research Degree Programmes along with links to the Study Regulations for Research Degree Programmes is available at: http://go.qub.ac.uk/CoPResearchDegrees. In accepting an offer of admission you are agreeing to meet the responsibilities for your academic studies and candidacy for a research degree as outlined in the Code of Practice for Research Degree Programmes.

Induction Workshops 

All Postgraduate Research students at Queen's are advised to attend the induction workshops for students who are commencing research degree programmes. These are held at the beginning of each semester i.e. in October and in February each year.

Further information on the workshops will be sent to you nearer the time of registration.