Recognised Student application guide

The first step is to contact the academic department where you intend to apply and obtain provisional agreement from them. In some cases, the department will also require you to obtain provisional acceptance from a member of academic staff who is prepared to act as your Academic Advisor or to apply by a deadline earlier than those recommended below.

To find the contact details for the department, you will need to select a course that is similar to your area of intended research and refer to the 'Information about the department offering this course' section of the course page. For enquiries to the Saïd Business School (SBS) please contact them via [email protected]. 
 

Provided the department has agreed for you to apply, please email the Graduate Admissions Team with the following information:

1. The name and department of the course-related administrator who provided the agreement;
2. The year of entry you are applying for, eg 2026/27 or 2027/28;
3. The start term you are applying for: Michaelmas (October), Hilary (January) or Trinity (April); and how many terms you would like undertake as a recognised student. You can only apply for a maximum of 3 terms; and
4. The name of the academic advisor.
    

Graduate Admissions will provide you with a link to the application form. Follow our instructions to complete the application form.

As part of your application, you will need to submit the required documentation

• evidence of university degrees previously obtained
• a statement outlining the proposed subject of your research

You will also need to provide the details of at least two academic members of staff at your current university, as your application will require at least two references.

The recommended submission date for the form varies by the term of admission. Please also note that some departments may impose earlier deadlines for departmental reasons. 

Please avoid submitting your recognised student application from late December to the third week in January, because the main application deadlines for graduate study occur during this period and we will not be able to process your application until February at the earliest.

If your recognised student placement would also require an ATAS certificate, please build in extra time for ATAS processing. We recommend that if ATAS is required, that you apply at least 3 months before the visa deadline above.

Please note that it is your responsibility to check how long it will take to obtain a Visa in your country and to plan the submission of your application accordingly. You should ensure that the start of your stay corresponds with the start date of an academic term (see the dates of term page for further details).

Select a 'standard application' type. 

The fee for a recognised student application is £50, which is paid at the point of submission (and not £20 or £75 as indicated on the application form).

A recognised student is allocated an academic advisor rather than a supervisor. Please enter the proposed academic advisor, if known. To the question of whether you would like to be considered for an alternative course, please answer ‘no’, as this is not possible for this type of application. 

Please complete this tab in full. 

Please complete this tab in full.

Please enter the details of academic staff members at your current institution. You may enter the details for three referees, but only two are mandatory. If you do not have a third academic option, please use the email address [email protected] and N/A (for not applicable etc.) for remaining fields for the third referee. 

How to register your referees for recognised student applications

1. You will need to select a date for your referees to submit their references. Please agree this date with your referees in advance but note that it must be no later than the submission deadline for your term of entry. At least 2 references must be submitted for your application to be considered ready for assessment. 
2. Enter the title, given name and surname of each referee. We will also use this information to address your referee in their notification email, so make sure it is correct.
3. Specify the reference type for each referee, either 'Academic' or 'Professional'. For recognised courses, at least two academic referees are required.
4. You must provide the referee's institutional email address wherever possible. If this is not possible, you will need to provide additional details when registering your referee so that we can, where necessary, seek confirmation of their authenticity. Your referee will also need to explain the reason for this in their letter.
5. Type in the email address of each referee manually. Avoid using your browser’s ‘auto-fill’ function to complete the fields, as this may cause an error. The email address field will not permit you to copy and paste from other sources.
6. The email address must not have been entered elsewhere in your application. 
7. Provide the referee’s ‘Role’ during the period covered by their reference. This may be their job title (eg Director or Head of Department) or their position relative to you (eg Line Manager or Tutor).
8. When you accept that 'I am ready for a reference request to be sent to this referee when I leave this page’ by ticking the box and navigate away from the page, your referee will be sent a notification email. This will contain a unique hyperlink to the online reference system and instructions for referees on how to submit a reference for you.

Please complete this tab in full. 

Please complete this tab in full and note that, for recognised student applications, the English language certificate or evidence that may be required should be provided at the point of making the application. 

For applicants whose first language is not English, you will be required to submit evidence of achievement of the Standard or Higher score as required for graduate level students in this department. Further information about the English language requirements and further information about English language test waivers can be found in our Application Guide.

You are not required to complete the funding tab for a recognised students application. Please progress to the next tab.

Upload the supporting documents requested. For recognised student applications a degree certificate is permitted in place of the transcript. 

At the top of your statement of purpose, please include:

• the start term you are applying for: Michaelmas (October), Hilary (January), or Trinity (April); and
• how many terms you would like undertake as a recognised student: 1, 2, or 3 terms (You can apply for recognised student status for a maximum of 3 terms)

Please complete this tab in full, but note that the application fee payment will normally be £50.

Self service is not currently available for recognised student applicants.