UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS GUIDE
Imperial teaches engineering, medicine, the natural sciences, and business, and you apply for a specific course. Start here to understand how its degrees work and to prepare each part of your application.
October 2027 entry
GET TO KNOW THE DEGREES
Imperial’s courses sit in four faculties: Engineering, Medicine, Natural Sciences, and the Business School. You apply for a specific course, such as Physics or Computing, and study that subject from your first year.
YOUR COURSE
Your course page sets the grades, required subjects, admissions test, and interview policy.
USUALLY THREE YEARS
A Bachelor of Science (BSc) or a Bachelor of Engineering (BEng).
USUALLY FOUR YEARS
A Master of Science (MSci) or Master of Engineering (MEng) adds a master’s-level final year to the bachelor’s degree, in one continuous course.
Through I-Explore, nearly all undergraduates take one credit-bearing module outside their core subject, in the second or third year, from the humanities and languages to business and other sciences.
A levels: Standard offers range from AAA to A*A*A, with required subjects set by each course. Physics asks for A*A*A, with A* in Mathematics and Physics.
The IB: Usually 38 to 42 points, with 6 or 7 in relevant Higher Level subjects. Physics asks for at least 40, typically 42, with 7 in Mathematics and Physics and 6 in a third subject, all at Higher Level.
U.S. qualifications: Imperial looks for AP exams, usually with scores of 5, alongside your high school diploma, in subjects your course names. Physics asks for five 5s, including Calculus BC and both Physics C exams, or three 5s plus an SAT or ACT score. Imperial’s pages differ on whether SAT or ACT scores count, so ask its admissions team before you rely on one.
English: Each course sets a Standard or Higher English requirement, which you must meet even if English is your first language. Physics asks for the Higher level.
UNDERSTAND WHAT IMPERIAL CONSIDERS
An admissions officer first checks that you meet your course’s minimum entry requirements. Then tutors in the department look beyond your grades, at your reference, personal statement, admissions test score, and any interview.
YOUR GRADES
Most students apply with predicted grades. Each course page gives a minimum entry standard, a typical offer that can be higher, and the subjects you need.
Letrado’s adviceCompare your predictions with the typical offer, not only the minimum. If your school can’t offer a required subject, ask the department before you apply.
YOUR TEST
Tutors read test scores with your personal statement when deciding whom to interview or make an offer to. A high score doesn’t necessarily mean an offer, and a low one doesn’t mean a rejection.
Letrado’s adviceStart with UAT-UK’s free official preparation materials, then practice under real time limits: 40 minutes per ESAT module, 75 minutes per TMUA paper.
YOUR REASONS
Imperial wants to see real enthusiasm for your subject, an understanding of the course, and evidence for the skills you describe.
Letrado’s adviceChoose one question or project you kept coming back to, and explain what you did next. Specific detail says more than a list of achievements.
WHAT IMPERIAL DESCRIBES
One or two people from the department, online or in person.
An interview, and possibly other activities such as a group task, a discussion, or a written test.
Departments invite applicants whose UCAS application and test show potential. Medicine uses Multiple Mini Interviews, a set of short interview stations. Physics generally doesn’t interview, and Computing interviews only some applicants.
2027 ENTRY · MINIMUM GRADES AND TESTS
Physics (BSc, three years; MSci, four): A*A*A with A* in Mathematics and Physics, or 40 IB points. The ESAT’s Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, and Physics modules. Generally no interview. 7 applications per place in 2025.
Computing (MEng, four years, including a placement in industry): A*A*A (or A*AAA with four A levels), including A* in Mathematics, or 41 IB points. The TMUA, in October or January. Interviews for some applicants only. 13 applications per place in 2025.
Medicine (MBBS/BSc, six years): A*AA in Biology, Chemistry, and a third subject, with the A* in Biology or Chemistry, or 38 IB points. The UCAT, taken in the year you apply. Interviews, normally for the top third of applicants. 6 applications per place in 2025.
PLAN THE APPLICATION
You apply through UCAS, where Imperial’s institution code is I50. Most courses share a January 13, 2027 deadline, but Medicine closes on October 15, 2026. Booking for the October ESAT and TMUA closed on September 28, and booking for the January tests closes on December 21.
ESAT and TMUA booking, for the October tests Deadline passed
Sep 28, 2026UCAS deadline for Medicine Next deadline
Oct 15, 2026ESAT and TMUA booking, for the January tests
Dec 21, 2026UCAS deadline for all other courses
Jan 13, 2027Every deadline here is at 6:00 p.m. UK time. Imperial accepts either test sitting and counts only your first score, but Oxford and Cambridge applicants must take the October tests.
Up to five courses, in no order of preference; each Imperial course counts as one. The 2027 fee is £34.50, which may be waived if you had free school meals in secondary school or are a care leaver.
Three answers that every course on your application reads, so it has to work for all of them.
Usually from a teacher who knows you, with your predicted grades. You can’t submit until it’s added.
The ESAT, TMUA, or UCAT, depending on your department, which you book separately from UCAS. The ESAT and TMUA cost £78 in the UK and Ireland, or £133 elsewhere.
By invitation, usually between November and February. Your course page says whether it interviews.
Contextual admissions: If you’re a UK student who has, for example, had free school meals in the last six years or been in care, Imperial flags your application from your UCAS form. With AAA predicted, or equivalent, you’re invited to interview in departments that interview, and offered a place at the department’s minimum entry level, if you meet its test and interview thresholds and show clear motivation for the subject.
Help with test costs: UK candidates in financial need can ask UAT-UK for a bursary covering the ESAT or TMUA fee, and must wait for approval before booking. For the January tests, bursary requests close on December 14, 2026, and requests for access arrangements, such as extra time, on December 7.
Medicine: You can apply for at most four medicine courses among your five UCAS choices.
WRITE IN YOUR OWN VOICE
4,000 characters across three answersEach answer needs at least 350 characters, and spaces count.
Every UCAS applicant answers the same three questions. Imperial’s tutors read yours with your reference and any test score, so show how you think about your subject.
Letrado’s advicePick two or three things you actually did, read, or built, and explain what happened next. If you use AI, keep it to brainstorming, understanding a topic, or checking spelling and grammar, and write every sentence yourself.
Imperial asks you to explain what you find interesting about your subject, not just call it interesting. Name the problem or idea that drew you in, and what you did next.
Imperial would rather read about a few skills with evidence than a long list. A project, or an experiment that went wrong, can show what you can now do.
Work experience isn’t essential for most Imperial courses, unless yours requires it. Imperial also asks about something you do simply for the fun of it.
UCAS says copying all or much of your statement from an AI tool and presenting it as your own could be considered cheating. You declare it wasn’t copied or provided by another source, including AI, and UCAS checks statements for similarity.
MAKE ROOM FOR THE FINANCIAL QUESTION
Tuition depends on your course and your fee status, which Imperial assesses after you apply. Home status usually means you’re settled in the UK and have lived there for the three years before your course starts; nationality alone doesn’t decide it.
HOME STUDENTS · 2027–28
The maximum the UK government allows for standard full-time courses. Eligible students can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan.
OVERSEAS STUDENTS · 2026 ENTRANTS
A year: £42,700 in Mathematics and the Business School, and £45,500 in engineering and the other sciences.
OVERSEAS MEDICINE · 2026 ENTRANTS
For Medicine (MBBS/BSc), in both its non-clinical and clinical years.
Imperial hasn’t set Overseas fees for 2027 entry yet. After you start, they rise each year by up to the rate of inflation (CPI); the 2026–27 rise was 3.5%.
Imperial’s tuition fees (opens in a new tab)IMPERIAL’S 2026 LIVING-COST GUIDE · NINE MONTHS
£16,392–£17,042Imperial’s average for nine months, depending on whether you live in College-run or private accommodation. Its lower and upper estimates are £11,375 and £19,055.
Imperial labels these figures 2026. Tuition, flights, and visa costs are extra.
Imperial’s living-cost guide (opens in a new tab)Letrado’s adviceWork out the cost of every year, not just the first, and allow for Overseas fees rising. If your plan depends on a competitive scholarship, keep a second option that works without it.
If you need a Student visa, you’ll usually have to show £1,529 a month for London, for up to nine months, plus your first year’s fees. The visa costs £558 from outside the UK, plus a health surcharge of £776 a year.
GOV.UK: Student visa (opens in a new tab)ADMITTED TO IMPERIAL · G.S.
He attended a state sixth-form college in northern England and had excellent physics results. We helped him explain what the failures taught him, plan UK and U.S. applications, and weigh three strong offers.
His first description implied the detector worked reliably. The real sequence showed how he isolated noise, asked for help, and concluded that part of his design was unsuitable.
For Cambridge’s interviews, he practiced explaining his thinking, even when he didn’t know the next step. His U.S. essays included collaboration, practical making, and life beyond physics.
Their cost model used official aid information, travel, health coverage, exchange rates, and each degree’s likely length. He also visited Imperial and talked with students there.
Imperial’s personal statement guidance (opens in a new tab) asks for a few skills with evidence rather than a long list. One project described honestly, failures included, can give you that.
HIS IMPERIAL OFFER
Offered a place to study Physics at Imperial
HIS CHOICE: IMPERIALImperial College London · Photo: Shadowssettle / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped.
MIT had been a serious ambition, and Cambridge offered breadth before specializing. Imperial offered physics from the start, laboratory access, and London, at a substantially lower cost to his family. Turning down an offer abroad didn’t make his choice less ambitious.
ALSO ADMITTED TO
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