POSTGRADUATE PROSPECTUS

additional support, according to their needs;please contact the Student Disability Advisor,Zoë Davis, for further details:tel: +44 (0)20 7074 5018email: zd@soas.ac.ukENGLISH LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTSIf your mother tongue is not English, you mustprovide evidence of your English language abilitybefore admission to the School. Other evidencemay be acceptable, including in some instancesuniversity education in fully English medium; forfurther information candidates should contactadmissions tutors and officers. But otherwiselanguage competence is generally demonstratedby success in IELTS or TOEFL tests. Any test scoreprovided must relate to a test taken no more thanone year prior to the start of the relevant academicyear. If applicants wish to submit other EnglishLanguage qualifications, these will be assessed ona case-by-case basis.Students with the test scores as specified belowin the panel, qualify for an unconditional offer tostudy at SOAS. Those with scores lower than thespecification, but who have scores of IELTS 6.0/6.5or TOEFL PBT 560 with TWE 4.0/CBT 220 withER 4/iBT 88 with 20 in writing are encouraged toapply but will normally be required to take a presessionalor in-sessional English course.Applicants whose scores fall below the abovementioned scores are recommended to contactInternational Foundation Courses and EnglishLanguage Studies (IFCELS) at ifcels@soas.ac.ukto discuss the possibility of taking a longerperiod of preparatory English language studies.Applicants should also contact IFCELS with anyqueries about English language entry-levels forSOAS (see page 36 for contact details).ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTSSOAS accepts a range of internationalqualifications. If you hold a qualification that isnot recognised by the School you will be requiredto supplement your studies with a foundationdiploma (Pre-Masters course) before admissionto a postgraduate degree (see below).PRE-MASTERS AND ENGLISHLANGUAGE PROGRAMMESInternational Foundation Courses and EnglishLanguage Studies (IFCELS) is a specialistdepartment of SOAS, which provides a rangeof programmes for international students.IFCELS students are full members of the Schooland enjoy the same access to libraries, sports/social facilities and accommodation as SOASundergraduates. They also benefit from thesupport services provided by IFCELS such astwo full-time academic counsellors to adviseon university applications and the department’sown accommodation and welfare advisor.PRE-MASTERS PROGRAMMEThe Foundation Diploma for PostgraduateStudies (FDPS) is a ten-month, full-time pre-Masters course providing academic and Englishlanguage preparation for international studentswho want to enter Masters degrees (taught andresearched) at SOAS and other British universitiesin social science, business and managementrelatedstudies, arts and humanities. It is aimedparticularly at students who come from educationsystems that differ in approaches to learning andteaching from the UK.The programme is recognised throughoutBritish higher education as providing thenecessary foundation for study on postgraduate35PUBLIC EXAMINATIONSInternational English Language Testing Service(IELTS), organised through the British Councilwww.ielts.orgTest of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)Institution Code 0107www.ets.org/toeflSCORE FOR UNCONDITIONAL ENTRYOverall 7+ with at least 7 in all sub scoresPBT 600+ with 5.0+ Test of Written English (TWE)CBT 250+ with 5.0+ Essay Rating (ER)iBT100+ with 25+ writing subscoreINTERNATIONAL STUDENTS