Offer holders

We are planning for the 2020/21 academic year to start as scheduled and putting detailed arrangements in place to protect the health and wellbeing of our students and staff in line with UK Government guidance.

We are looking forward to welcoming students onto our campuses. The numbers of students able to be on campus at any one time will be governed by the safe distancing guidelines and we are planning for a combination of campus-based and online teaching and digital services to ensure that all our students can receive the highest quality education, no matter what their circumstances are.

Through our planning our intention is to prioritise small group teaching activity such as seminars, group teaching, supervisions, laboratory sessions and other practical elements of programmes to be delivered on campus, whilst respecting safe distancing guidelines. Large teaching events such as lectures will be delivered online for at least the first semester.

We are planning for Welcome to King's to take place from 14-25 September 2020. We are working with our student union to prepare imaginative and exciting ways to ensure you have opportunities to connect with London, share experiences with fellow students, take part in a range of extra-curricular social, sporting and development activities.

The health and well-being of our students and staff are the top priority of the university. We are following the guidance set out by UK Government and Public Health England. Guidance will be provided in advance to all students and staff before they come onto our campuses and adherence to the guidance will be continually monitored and managed.

Measures in place will include safe distancing across the King's estate, encouraging students and staff to wear self made face coverings, provision of hand sanitisers at entrance points and in common spaces and an enhanced cleaning regime across all university buildings. If a student becomes unwell with COVID-19 symptoms we have a clear process in place to support them.

Given the uncertainty in light of the COVID 19 pandemic, we are actively planning to provide options to support students who cannot attend in attend in-person classes.

We are monitoring the evolving situation very closely and will continue to update you as our plans develop in line with UK Government guidance. Look out for emails from us and keep checking our offer holder pages for the latest information.

Visit the offer holder hub

Resources and support will be made available to students to support those aspects of their learning that will be undertaken online. This will be available as part of induction and re-induction programmes.

We are working with our partners on the mechanisms and timing of placement learning. There may be some changes to the timing of this learning from how your programme was originally structured, depending on partner requirements and UK government guidance.

Your department will confirm arrangements with you as plans for the new academic year are developed. In all cases, you will be supported to achieve the outcomes for the programme.

For the majority of our September programmes, our first acceptance deadline for offers made before the end of March is 30 April 2020. After the end of March, our standard acceptance deadline is a month from the offer date.

Given the current circumstances, we have extended the acceptance/deposit deadline to Tuesday 30 June 2020 for the offer holders on these programmes who have yet to respond to their offer. From the beginning of June, we will be returning to the standard acceptance deadlines which are below:

- If you receive an offer between 1 June and 30 June 2020, payment is due within one month.

- If you receive an offer between 1 July 2020 and 31 July 2020, payment is due within two weeks.

- If you receive an offer on or after 1st August 2020, payment is due within one week.

- If you receive an offer in late August 2020, payment is due within 2 days.

For our postgraduate taught courses starting in January, we have amended our acceptance/deposit deadline to Wednesday 30 September 2020. From the beginning of September, we will be returning to the standard acceptance deadlines, which are below:

- If you receive an offer between 1 September 2020 and 30 September 2020, payment is due within one month.

- If you receive an offer between 1 October 2020 to 31 October 2020, payment is due within two weeks.

- If you receive an offer between 1 November 2020 and 30 November 2020, payment is due within one week.

- If you receive an offer in December 2020, payment is due within 2 days.

All offer holders can see their current acceptance deadline on their 'Your Offer' tab.

Given the current circumstances, UCAS has extended the applicant response deadline, giving all students more time to make decisions on their offers. For most students, this means the new deadline to reply to offers is Thursday 18 June 18:00 (UK time). More information can be found on the  UCAS website.

You don’t need to wait until Thursday 18 June to make your decision, but if needed the extra time can be used to allow you to research your options before making your firm and insurance choice.

We hope this will not be necessary as the academic year will start as scheduled.

After careful consideration, we have taken the decision not to allow any further deferrals on many of our postgraduate programmes from 2020/21 to the next academic year. We have adopted this approach as it is the fairest way to ensure that the cohort of applicants for 2021/22 have an equal opportunity to gaining a place at King’s.

We hope this will not be necessary as the academic year will start as scheduled.

The option to defer varies for programmes and not all programmes accept deferrals. You should be aware that where programmes accept deferrals there is no guarantee and conditions of your offer and fees in subsequent years may be higher than for 2020/21. This process also applies if you have previously deferred. Students who do wish to make a deferral request should contact us via King's Apply and we will contact you directly to discuss your concerns.

All requests for deferrals will be considered after Wednesday 15 July on a case by case basis and at the discretion of your programme department, where a programme accepts deferrals.

In order to be eligible to request a deferral of your application you would still need to meet all conditions, if any, and pay your deposit (if applicable) this academic cycle and by the date stated in your offer letter. Where a deferral is possible, we will only be able to process a deferral when you have made King’s College London your firm or insurance choice on UCAS.

We understand that this is a very unsettling time for those due to take examinations this year. We are aware that a number of schools, colleges and universities are experiencing disruption to teaching, coursework and examinations and we will inform applicants and offer holders as soon as further information is available.

If you are a current undergraduate offer holder, you do not need to contact us to discuss your individual examinations circumstances. We are monitoring the situation closely and liaising with the relevant organisations (including UCAS, schools, colleges and examination boards). In the meantime, please do not submit a mitigating circumstances form for coronavirus-related educational disruption. If you believe that other mitigating circumstances (not relating to the coronavirus) apply to you then please get in touch through our usual mitigating circumstances process.

If you are a postgraduate offer holder, please note we can only accept mitigating circumstances if this affected your admissions interview. Read our policy.

The university’s standard deadline for offer holders to meet any academic or English language offer conditions usually falls the month before the start of your course. If you are an offer holder, please refer to your offer letter on King’s Apply for the specific dates for your course as this may differ.

For undergraduate courses, the deadline to meet any conditions will have passed by 13th August 2020. Please refer to our dedicated results page here: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study-at-kings/results-faqs for further information.

For postgraduate courses, the standard deadline to meet any conditions is by 28th August. If you are not able to meet your offer condition by the deadline set in your offer letter, we are allowing extensions for those courses starting on 28 September (PGT)/1 October (PGR) to a certain date depending on your fee status - please see the dates below and ensure you contact us if you require an extension:

- If your fee status is Home or EU, we will be able to allow an extension up to 18th September for you to provide official proof of you meeting your offer conditions. This date also applies if your fee status is Overseas but you do not require tier 4 visa sponsorship from King's for your intended course of study. You must still inform us that you require an extension - if you do not do this, your offer may be withdrawn before this date for failing to meet the offer conditions by the deadline.

- If your fee status is Overseas and you require King's to sponsor your tier 4 visa for your intended course of study, we will be able to allow an extension up to 11th September for you to provide official proof of you meeting your offer conditions. You must still inform us that you require an extension - if you do not do this, your offer may be withdrawn before this date for failing to meet the offer conditions by the deadline.

- If you are unable to meet these extended dates, please contact the Admissions team via King's Apply and inform us when you expect to provide official proof of you meeting your offer conditions. We are currently holding requests for extensions beyond the above dates as we cannot guarantee that this will be possible; we will contact you with further updates.

Please keep reviewing this page as we will provide guidance on how to proceed when we have further information. We are continuing to monitor the situation and we will provide updates here as and when they become available.

We are happy to consider applicants for 2021 entry should they wish to defer their assessment or are unhappy with the grades they are given in the summer examination result release. Applicants will be required to re-apply and will be considered in competition with other applicants for 2021 entry. However, we will not consider sitting the examinations in the Autumn as re-takes and therefore applicants taking this route will not be disadvantaged in the application process.

We recognise that a commitment to higher education study is a significant one. One aspect of this is arranging to pay your college fees and we recognise that the current economic environment may make this more challenging for students and their families.

King’s is committed to supporting our students through such difficulties, including when you encounter more personal financial challenges. For the 2020-21 academic year, in line with current practice, students who encounter difficulties in meeting fee due dates can seek out further advice and flexibility from Credit Control.

We remind all current and future students that payments can be made at any time to smooth the cost out throughout the academic year so long as key payment milestones are met. This can mean making more frequent payments towards the cost of tuition. Students who encounter further challenges should contact us for help and advice.

New and existing students in England and Wales can continue to apply for Student Finance.

Student Finance England has advised that there may be delays to processing 2020-21 applications due to the impact of Coronavirus, so it is important to apply as early as possible.

Apply for Student Finance online.

For the majority of our courses, e.g. postgraduate research, postgraduate taught and undergraduate courses, we are actively reviewing additional English language tests to expand the options available to offer holders who need to take an English language test. Please check the question "What additional English tests will King's accept?" for updates as we are not accepting all new tests that have been introduced since Covid-19.

The university’s standard deadline for offer holders to meet any academic or English language offer conditions usually falls the month before the start of your course so for our courses that start in September, there is currently time to take a test. If you are an offer holder, please refer to your offer letter on King’s Apply for the specific dates for your course as this may differ.

A full list of the English language tests we accept and the scores we require for undergraduate and postgraduate courses on our website. You will be required to meet the individual section scores and the overall score fully in one test sitting to meet the English language condition.

The position of test centres in certain countries is rapidly changing as a result of Covid-19. When reviewing the test providers' update pages, please check whether newly introduced tests as a result of Covid-19 are being accepted by King's by referring to the FAQ below and our English language requirements pages.

Please note: Our King's International Foundation programme requires a Secure English Language Test to be taken if you need a tier 4 visa. These tests are approved by UK Visas & Immigration and a non-SELT test will therefore not be suitable for this programme.

King's have been actively reviewing English language tests, in addition to those usually on our undergraduate and postgraduate English language pages, to expand the options available to those who are applying or holding an offer for 2020/21 academic year.

Please check our updated English language pages to see the scores required for all our acceptable tests and scoring bands for our undergraduate and postgraduate postgraduate courses here.

The test(s) below are now being accepted as evidence of English language proficiency for the 2020/21 academic year by the stated deadlines to meet any conditions in the offer letter. The same English band as the test centre version is required. Note: the deadline to meet English requirements for undergraduate courses passed at the end of July so these tests are now only applicable to postgraduate courses:

- TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition
- IELTS Indicator (where this test was taken from 1 July 2020 onwards). To send your scores to King’s, please search for King's College London - PG Admissions on the IELTS indicator webpage and let us know you have done this via King’s Apply providing your Score ID and date taken.

The test below is no longer being accepted as evidence of English language proficiency:

- Duolingo English Test – this must have been taken and sent to King's via the Dashboard by 10th August 2020.
- This test needs to be taken in combination with a King's English test and in the following circumstances: for September (PGT)/October (PGR) 2020 entry) where a minimum overall score of 115/160 had been achieved and for those residing in mainland China or Iran

Please note: Our King's International Foundation (KIF) programme requires a Secure English Language Test to be taken if you need a tier 4 visa. These tests are approved by UK Visas & Immigration and a non-SELT test will therefore not be suitable for this programme. Pearson PTE Academic is now a recognised SELT as of May 2020 and so, this test can now be used to meet the English condition for a KIF programme.

If you have not received your English test report/certificate from IELTS or TOEFL, please send a message on King's Apply. You will need to provide some details of the test so that we can verify your results on the English test providers' webpages.

For all tests, please upload a scan of your passport clearly showing your photograph, the date you took the test and your obtained scores. In addition, you will need to provide the below details for these specific tests:

- IELTS (Academic): provide your Test Report Form (TRF) number

- TOEFL iBT: Appointment Number/Registration Number

We do accept other tests to meet the English language requirements so do send in test details so that we can see if these can be verified. If we are unable to verify the results with the details you provide, we will contact you to obtain a scan of the certificate.

Please check both the advice of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the advice of your own government before making any arrangements to travel. Further information on study and work abroad can be found below.

We will be closely following the UK Government's advice with regard to quarantine arrangements for inbound travellers to the UK in order to understand any impact it may have on our new and returning students by September/October 2020.

King’s has the expertise and experience to offer online study options for most of our programmes. Once a decision has been made to resume on campus study, we will support new and returning students to apply for their next visa. New and returning students can contact our Student Advice & Guidance Team about their individual circumstances.

If you are unable to obtain the necessary student visa to study on the programme and King’s is satisfied that the failure to obtain the visa was not your fault you will receive a refund of your deposit.

For students who are studying or working overseas as part of your degree, we can reassure you that you will not be academically disadvantaged if you choose to return home. Students currently on placement are following advice from their host organisations and are in contact with teams at King's at this time.

For the 2020/21 academic year

To ensure the wellbeing of our students King's has taken the decision to suspend study and work abroad to the end of 2020. We are working through what this means where this is a compulsory or optional element of your programme. If your programme usually involves a compulsory year abroad, we can assure you that you will not be academically penalised as a result of this decision.

In line with Foreign & Commonwealth Office advice, students are advised against making any plans for study, internships or placements at overseas organisations outside of where they are currently living for the rest of the calendar year 2020, without explicit approval from King’s to do so.

As the situation with the pandemic is continually evolving, King's is unable to sign any required Host Agreements for international internships or year-in-industry provision at this time unless undertaking such a placement is possible without international travel, for instance if a student is already based in the host country, or if the opportunity can be conducted remotely or online. Please see the latest advice on the King’s Careers & Employability intranet for advice and support.

We appreciate your patience while we develop our plans.

You must check that you meet the UK immigration eligibility requirements to apply for your visa in the UK.

We are pleased to hear that the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) have resumed processing ATAS applications as of 1 June 2020.

Some of our courses will require offer holders to obtain ATAS clearance. Your offer letter will include details on how to apply for ATAS clearance if this is required.

We recommend you apply as soon as possible now that the FCO has re-opened the ATAS clearance scheme, as it may take longer for them to process your application because this was paused since 6 April 2020.

If you require a visa to study in the UK, you will need to have obtained ATAS clearance before you can apply for your visa. Please note if your ATAS clearance is refused, you may not be able to pursue your study at King's.

To find out more information on what you need to do to prepare your ATAS application, please see the FCO's webpage.

If you have a valid Tier 4 visa, you will be able to re-enter the UK using your current passport and valid Tier 4 visa. We would always advise students to carry a ‘Confirmation of Studies’ letter in your hand luggage or on your phone when you travel, as evidence that you are still studying if you are questioned on re-entry.

You can download this via Student Services Online.

If your Tier 4 visa has expired or will expire before you return to the UK, please contact Student Advice & Guidance for further guidance.

If you arrive in the UK on a tourist visa, you will not be eligible to enrol for your programme of study. This is because the current immigration rules do not allow those on a tourist visa to study on course that is longer than 30 days.

The immigration rules do not allow those who hold a visitor visa to switch into a Tier 4 visa, inside the UK. Therefore, you would need to travel back to your home country to apply for your Tier 4 Visa.

If you need support with your individual situation, or have questions on the application process, please contact the Student Advice & Guidance Team: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/campuslife/services/student-advice-support/contact/online

This process usually begins three months prior to the start of the course as the immigration rules would not allow you to apply before this date. The Admissions team started the CAS number process for unconditional offer holders, who have accepted their place to study (and with King's as their firm choice for undergraduate offer holders) at the end of July.

The first part of this process will alert you to check the information we have included for your CAS number. We thank you for your patience as we are processing a high volume of CAS numbers later than our usual timeframes. We expect that it can take three weeks from the date an offer holder becomes unconditional firm or the date we started the process to receive a CAS number.

Please check that you have indicated to us that you need a tier 4 visa to study at King's; to do this, you will need to update your King's Apply or UCAS account as required.

Yes, we have availability for the academic year 2020/21. However we recommend that new and returning students request rooms in our residences as soon as possible in order to secure their place.

Rooms within King's Residences are subject to availability and are confirmed at the time of booking when a contract will be issued for you to review and accept.

For any student that cancels their booking before 1 August the university will not raise any cancellation charges. If a booking is cancelled after 1 August a £500 cancellation charge applies.

However please note, visa issues and international travel restrictions that prevent a student from enrolling at the start of Term 1 will be taken into account after 1 August.

Should the UK have quarantine controls in place at the time of a student's arrival, our intention is for students who have booked accommodation in our halls of residence to be able to quarantine on arrival, in line with UK Government guidelines. We are exploring ways to provide students with appropriate support during this period, including educational, social and mental health support.

If you have requested a flexible accommodation start contract, you will need to make a one-month payment at your rental rate, payable before 19 September to secure your accommodation. This will be instead of our usual cancellation fee. The accommodation team will contact you.

Unless you are already living in London and need to move in the next 4-6 weeks, we would advise you to think very carefully before committing yourself to a housing contract for next academic year at this stage. It is important that you sign up for accommodation only after fully considering if it meets your needs, and when you will be realistically able to move.

Please be assured that London has a vast and fluid housing market, it is not uncommon for tenants to not look for somewhere to live until 4-6 weeks before they need to move in. For example, the University of London Housing Service has not yet launched its new letting site or housing list for next academic year, and we don’t expect them to do so until the end of July. Remember you can speak to the University of London Housing Service or the Housing Advisers, in Advice & Guidance if you wish to check the terms of your tenancy agreement.

As always if you have any concerns about your options and would just like to talk through your situation please do not hesitate to call the KCL Student Advice Line and speak to one of the Housing Advisers.

Following Public Health England guidelines, we have moved our events online. We invite you to connect with us to learn more about your course and have your questions answered by King’s staff and students. Keep an eye out on your emails for invitations to join webinars, online chats, and to visit our webpages which will be updated with virtual campus and department tours in the coming weeks.

Here are some quick ways for you to connect with us online right now:

Follow us at Life at King's Instagram

Chat to current students, staff and academics

Visit our offer holder hubs for more

We have moved our offer holder events online, and we invite you to connect with us virtually. We have several upcoming events that will help you get familiar with King’s and with your chosen course. Please visit the offer holder hubs to find more details.

Visit our offer holder hubs

We know that regular interaction, and discussion with our expert teaching staff, with individual support, is central to your experience and this will continue to be at the heart of our educational provision across all activities, however teaching is delivered.

Visit the offer holder hubs for more details

We are supporting all departments and faculties in developing their plans for education in the coming year, and supporting academic colleagues to adapt programmes and modules so that they can be delivered flexibly. King's has significant experience in online and digital education, and we are drawing on all of that expertise to ensure we maintain the high quality of teaching and learning.

Visit the offer holder hubs for more details

We will be offering a combination of small group on-campus teaching and learning with online delivery through enhanced use of technology. The numbers of students able to be on campus at any one time will be governed by the safe distancing guidelines. Our intention is to prioritise small group teaching activity such as seminars, group teaching, supervisions, laboratory sessions and other practical elements of programmes to be delivered on campus, whilst respecting safe distancing guidelines.

Visit the offer holder hubs for more details

Free LinkedIn Learning access

All students have free access to LinkedIn Learning which is an online training library with thousands of high-quality, current and engaging video tutorials. Using LinkedIn Learning’s expert-led videos, you can access courses covering a huge range of business skills, software skills and wider creative skills, to help support online learning. Students do not need to have or set up a LinkedIn account to access LinkedIn Learning. Please use this link to log in using your King’s email and password. Email ctel@kcl.ac.uk if you need any support.

Finally, King’s has a range of technologies which can help you engage with your studies online.

Visit the offer holder hubs for more details

A wide range of online databases, journals, ebooks and other material is available online. Due to licencing restrictions some resources are not available off campus – these resources will be clearly marked. We have a variety of online support and learning to help you access and make the most of our resources.

Our primary email address library@kcl.ac.uk and our online library chat service will be staffed Monday – Friday 09.30-17.30.

Visit the offer holder hubs for more details

If you would like to discuss anything related to your studies, we recommend emailing your personal tutor in the first instance.

If you feel emotionally impacted, please do make use of the support services available to you.

• Student Services Online – a range of informative articles and enquiry forms for direct contact with Student Services
• Togetherall – a 24-hour confidential online support and wellbeing service available for free to all KCL students.
• Chaplaincy - for all faiths and none the Chaplains are availalbe for informal discussions. Contact the Dean's office on +44 (0)20 7848 2373 and +44 (0)20 7848 2333 or at chaplaincy@kcl.ac.uk and dean@kcl.ac.uk
• KCLSU Advice

The Student  Advice & Guidance team will continue to provide advice and support to all current and prospective students by phone and email.  We are running telephone advice sessions via our AdviceLine.

The King’s community of nurses, midwives, academics, scientists, medics and researchers are focusing on supporting the country’s response to the pandemic. Learn how King's is helping in the fight against COVID-19.