Universities that accept IELTS and the score they ask for
Most universities ask for IELTS Academic 6.0–6.5 overall for a bachelor's degree and 6.5–7.0 for a master's, usually with 5.5–6.0 or more in each skill. Selective courses such as law and medicine often ask for 7.0 or higher. The figure on your course page is the one that counts.
Figures checked against each university's own admissions page, March 2026 – April 2026. Confirm on the official course page before you apply.
- Bachelor's degree
- 6.0–6.5
- 82% of 751 universities in our list ask for this overall band.
- Master's degree
- 6.5–7.0
- 81% of 763 universities in our list ask for this overall band.
- Minimum in each skill
- 5.5–6.0
- Most common rule among the 136 universities that publish one.
- How long a result counts
- 2 years
- From the test date. Some universities want the result valid when you enrol.
Find a university
Search 787 universities in 99 countries. Each name opens a page with the per-skill rules and a link to the official source.
10 of 787
Bands are overall minimums. “Per skill” is the lowest band allowed in any one skill; two values mean undergraduate / postgraduate.
Typical requirements by country
The band range most universities in each country ask for, calculated from the universities in our list. Open a country for the full list.
| Country | Universities | Undergraduate | Postgraduate |
|---|---|---|---|
| United KingdomUniversities: 51 | 51 | 6.0–6.5 | 6.5–7.0 |
| United StatesUniversities: 90 | 90 | 6.0–7.0 | 6.5–7.0 |
| CanadaUniversities: 35 | 35 | 6.5 | 6.5–7.0 |
| AustraliaUniversities: 33 | 33 | 6.0–6.5 | 6.5 |
| IrelandUniversities: 17 | 17 | 6.0–6.5 | 6.0–6.5 |
| New ZealandUniversities: 16 | 16 | 6.0 | 6.5 |
| GermanyUniversities: 27 | 27 | 6.0–6.5 | 6.5 |
| NetherlandsUniversities: 10 | 10 | 6.0–6.5 | 6.5 |
| FranceUniversities: 17 | 17 | 6.0–6.5 | 6.5–7.0 |
| Europe (all countries)Universities: 232 | 232 | 6.0–6.5 | 6.0–6.5 |
Before you book the test
Book IELTS Academic
Degree admission uses IELTS Academic. General Training is designed for work and migration, and universities generally do not accept it for degree entry.
Studying in the UK: IELTS or IELTS for UKVI?
For a degree course, the university can assess your English itself and usually accepts the standard IELTS Academic test. For courses below degree level, such as a foundation year, you normally need a Secure English Language Test, which means IELTS for UKVI (Academic) at an approved centre. Your offer letter says which one you need.
Check the date on your result
IELTS results are normally accepted for two years from the test date, and each university sets its own limit. Book close enough to your application that the result is still valid when you enrol.
If you are just below the requirement
Many UK and Australian universities run pre-sessional English courses for applicants slightly under the requirement. Passing the course usually meets the English condition at that university, so you do not need to resit IELTS.
Common questions
Do American universities accept IELTS?
Yes. All 90 US universities in our list accept IELTS Academic. Where they publish a minimum, it is usually 6.0–7.0 for undergraduate study and 6.5–7.0 for graduate school.
What IELTS score do Ivy League universities ask for?
6 of the eight Ivy League universities publish an undergraduate IELTS figure, most often 7.0. Harvard University and Princeton University publish no undergraduate figure. For graduate programmes the figure is usually 7.0. Use the Ivy League filter above to see each one.
Which universities accept IELTS 5.5?
94 universities in our list publish a bachelor's minimum of 5.5 or lower, most of them in Kazakhstan, Vietnam, and Peru. Set “Your overall band” to 5.5 in the list above to see them.
Which IELTS do I need for a master's degree?
IELTS Academic. Most master's programmes in our list ask for 6.5–7.0 overall, but a course page can set a higher figure than the university's general minimum.
Is IELTS accepted everywhere?
No test is accepted everywhere. IELTS is accepted by most universities in English-speaking countries and many elsewhere, but each university lists the tests it takes. IELTS publishes a searchable list of organisations that accept it.
Where these numbers come from
Each university's figures come from its own English language requirements page, linked from that university's page on this site. The ranges above are calculated from those figures. Requirements change every admissions cycle, so treat them as a starting point.
Open data
Cite this dataset
The data on this page is available as a download under CC BY 4.0. Use it freely; credit IELTS.international with a link to this page.
IELTS.international. (2026). University IELTS requirements (Version 2026-04) [Data set]. https://www.ielts.international/universities-requiring-ielts#cite-dataset
- Version
- 2026-04
- Last checked
- April 2026
- Rows
- 580
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
- 580 of 1133 university records qualify (51%): each has a source URL on the university's own site or an IELTS partner directory, a check month, and at least one numeric overall minimum.
- Left out: 284 with no source URL, 29 whose source link is a third-party site (rankings, blogs, our own pages) or malformed, 0 with no check month, 240 with no numeric overall minimum.
- Records were last checked from March 2026 to April 2026. Requirements change every admissions cycle; confirm with the university before applying.
- Check months are stored per record to the month only and are published exactly as stored.