Apply for postgraduate study

After you apply

We will acknowledge receipt of your application via email within 2 working days. It is therefore not necessary to contact us to check if we have received your application.

If you have not sent all your supporting documents with your application please do so as soon as possible so that your application can be considered complete and we can make a decision on whether to offer you a place. Please see our Supporting Documents section for information on the minimum documentation we need to make an initial decision. You should ensure you quote your Exeter reference number in all correspondence with us.

If you have not yet completed your academic or English language qualifications, if your academic profile meets our requirements, we will normally be able to make you an offer which is conditional on completing these qualifications and supplying any required references. You will need to provide evidence that you have met these conditions before your offer can be considered unconditional (thus enabling you to apply for a visa if you are an international student). For further information see ‘Once you have an offer’.

Our decision

For postgraduate taught applications, once we have received all the necessary supporting documentation, we aim to notify you of our decision within 20 working days from the date when we acknowledge receipt of your application. However, this can take longer at peak periods or if you have not supplied an email address.

For postgraduate research applications, we aim to make a decision within 8 to 10 weeks, depending on the additional information we require (for example, further details of your research proposal).

You will receive either a conditional or unconditional offer from us, or we will inform you that we are unable to offer you a place. We will notify you of our decision by email (or by letter if you have not provided an email address).

If we are able to make you an offer, your offer letter will be sent via email and a formal offer letter will also be sent to you (via airmail if overseas). Airmail postage times from the UK vary depending on the country of destination. Below are the average postage times as quoted by the Royal Mail; please bear these in mind before contacting us regarding receipt of your offer.

Postage times

Interviews

The majority of programmes do not require an interview as part of the selection process. If an interview is required, the purpose and format will be communicated to you clearly in advance so you know what to expect and what role this plays in the overall selection process.

Where programmes include interviews or tests as part of their selection criteria we will make this explicit to candidates, provide details on how the interviews will be conducted as well as the criteria used to select successful candidates. We have a PDF which provides further information on our Interview Policy (pdf). 

We do not normally require candidates to provide additional written work to supplement an application, although in individual cases we may request this and will explain the reasons for such a request.