Supporting documents

The required documents vary depending on the course you're applying to.

We'll provide a list of required documents specific to your chosen course at the start of the application process. This guidance will help you to prepare in advance.

At a glance

Mandatory for all applicants:

Course-specific requirements:

Requirements could include:

  • Samples of written work
  • Personal statement
  • CV
  • Evidence of financial support.

Some courses have no specific requirements.

International applicants:

Further details

Contact us

Got a question about applying to York? Email our friendly Admissions Team for advice and support.

If you've already applied to study at York please use You@York to upload any documents. Please do not email documents to us.

Postgraduate Admissions

pg-admissions@york.ac.uk
+44 (0)1904 322142

Academic transcripts

A transcript must be provided with your application before it's submitted.

If you've completed your studies

You need to provide copies of your degree certificates and formal transcripts of your academic record. This should include full details of the degrees, classifications, grades you've obtained and the modules/units you have taken.

If you have taken a qualification in a non-English-speaking country, you must provide the documents in their original language, accompanied by a formally certified translation into English.

If you've not yet finished your studies

If you're still registered for your current course, or your undergraduate or postgraduate results are still pending, you should provide an interim transcript of your results to date.

Any offer you're made will be conditional and subject to completion of the course concerned at a specified level.

Research proposal or outline of academic interests

If you're applying to a research degree, you should provide an outline of your proposed research topic. You must indicate whether you're interested in the work of a particular member of academic staff. Details of what to include in your research proposal will be provided during the application process. To help you prepare see our guidance for research proposals.

Two academic references

You will need to provide two references. You only need to supply the details of your reference at the point you submit your application. Your referees will be contacted automatically by email and asked to provide a reference for you.

This is an important part of the selection process, so it's in your interest to make sure that your referees are both appropriate and informative. You should provide an academic reference if you have graduated within the last five years.

If you do not provide an email address for a referee you must ask them to send us references directly and provide them with a copy of our Guidance for academic references (PDF , 70kb).

Written work

Some courses require a sample of your written work to further demonstrate your suitability. If you're required to submit written work, the details of what is required will be in the application form. To help you prepare see courses with written work requirements.

Personal statement

A personal statement can be included as part of your application. For some courses it forms a part of the assessment process. Details of what to include in your personal statement will be provided during the application process. To help you prepare see course-specific requirements for personal statements.

Curriculum vitae / resume

Your curriculum vitae (CV) or resume can be uploaded as part of your application to provide further information on your prior experience and qualifications.

Evidence of financial support

In most cases, you're not required to submit evidence of funding. A small number of courses require evidence, for example a bank statement or sponsor's letter. Where applicable you'll be asked to submit this as part of your application.

You should aim to make arrangements to cover the cost of tuition fees and living expenses before you start the course. The arrangements should cover the whole period of your proposed course.

Proof of your English language ability

If English is not your first language you may be asked to provide evidence of your English language ability to the required level, in addition to any academic entry requirements.

If you've taken an approved English language test, you should upload a copy of your certificate and we will verify your test scores with the respective provider. These documents can be provided during the application process and after you've submitted your application (via You@York: our applicant portal that you'll get access to after you submit your application).

As part of the Student Visa Sponsorship process, if you are currently studying in the UK and will not get your final result until after your course with us has started, you will be asked to provide us with formal written confirmation of progression from your current Student Visa sponsor.

This should:

  • come from a central department of your University, eg Academic Registry
  • be provided on headed paper and signed
  • confirm that, based on your performance on your course to date, you are deemed highly likely to complete your current course of study successfully
  • give an indication of when the qualification will be awarded.

File formats

We recommend the following file formats:

  • Word (.doc or .docx)
  • Acrobat (.pdf)
  • text (.txt)
  • Scanned documents should be provided as JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg), Acrobat (.pdf) or GIF (.gif) files.

Each document must be less than 1MB in size.

Multiple page documents

If a document such as a transcript is more than one page long, it should be scanned as one file, eg a single PDF. It should not fill more than one of the document slots within your application, as there are only limited slots available.

Additional documents

You can provide us with further documents after submitting your application via your You@York account. Please do not email documents to us because this will cause delays in assessing your application.

Contact us

Got a question about applying to York? Email our friendly Admissions Team for advice and support.

If you've already applied to study at York please use You@York to upload any documents. Please do not email documents to us.

Postgraduate Admissions

pg-admissions@york.ac.uk
+44 (0)1904 322142