Detailed below are instructions and further information regarding the next steps that you will need to complete prior to starting your course. Please note that failure to meet your offer conditions prior to the course starting could lead to you losing your place or the release of financial support being delayed.
Qualifications check
If you did not provide evidence of your qualifications at a face to face interview or they are listed as outstanding on the email which directed you to this page, you will need to upload copies of your GCSE certificates to your Applicant Portal, and also provide your original degree certificate along with a photocopy (photocopy for us to keep).
How to provide your original degree certificate
It is a Department for Education (DfE) requirement that we see your original degree certificate.
Lancaster, Carlisle and Delivery Partner applicants - you will receive an email from us in June asking you to post your original degree certificate to us by recorded delivery during July and August. Please contact us at pgadmissions@cumbria.ac.uk if you would rather bring your original degree certificate to campus in person. Please wait for us to contact you in June before posting your certificate - the email will contain the full postal address for your campus. All certificates will be returned in person during your first week on campus.
London applicants - you will be able to provide your original degree certificate to campus during August - please take your original degree certificate to the campus anytime, Monday - Friday between 9am and 5pm.
Please refer to the FAQ’s below for further information on how to provide certificates.
If you are due to take a GCSE equivalency test in summer 2024
If your course has GCSE entry requirements and you are due to sit a GCSE or equivalency exam, please contact us as soon as you have your result and upload a copy of your certificate to your Applicant Portal.
Delivery Partner students only: if you have provided your qualifications at interview, we have requested that schools forward these to us. However if these remain listed as outstanding then you may wish to provide your qualifications directly to us again to ensure these are received as school offices are likely to be closed after mid July.
Qualifications FAQs
What will you accept as evidence of my GCSEs?
We can accept certificates, candidate statement of results or a signed letter on headed paper from your school or college confirming the qualifications awarded to you. We can also accept an email from your school or college sent directly to pgadmissions@cumbria.ac.uk
You will be asked to provide copies of your GCSE certificates by uploading them to your applicant portal prior to the start of the course.
All students training to teach Primary must have, and evidence, a minimum grade C/4 in GCSE English Language, Mathematics and Science (or recognised equivalents).
All students training to teach Secondary must have, and evidence, a minimum grade C/4 in GCSE English Language and Mathematics (or recognised equivalents).
It is your responsibility to provide these prior to admission to your course and to check that these are acceptable. The University will accept a range of alternative qualifications to GCSE, please enquire with the Admissions Office. Qualifications are an OFSTED requirement and are not negotiable.
NB. The University does not accept Level 2 Adult Literacy or Numeracy or Key Skills as equivalent to GCSE English or Maths entry requirements for ITT courses.
Please be aware that failure to provide your GCSE certificates will prevent your access to student funding and will risk your place on the programme.
What will you accept as evidence of my degree?
It is a DfE requirement that Original degree certificates must be provided.
Where this is not immediately available, you may be permitted to provisionally register to start the course using another form of degree evidence (a signed letter on headed paper from your University or tutor confirming the qualification awarded to you, or an email from your University or tutor sent directly to pgadmissions@cumbria.ac.uk will be acceptable) however, the official certificate must be provided as soon as available.
All degree certificates must be original.
Arrangements for providing original degree certificates
Lancaster, Carlisle and Delivery Partner applicants - we will email you in June asking you to post your original degree certificate to us by recorded delivery during July and August. Please contact us at pgadmissions@cumbria.ac.uk if you would rather bring your original degree certificate to campus in person. Please wait for us to contact you in June before posting your certificate - the email will contain the full postal address for your campus.
All certificates will be returned in person during your first week on campus.
London applicants - we will emailk you in June inviting you to attend on of 3 dates on campus to provide your original degree certificate. All dates will be confirmed by email in June.
Please be aware that failure to provide your original certificate once we ask you to do so will prevent your access to student funding and will risk your place on the programme.
What if I have lost my qualifications?
It is vitally important that you obtain replacements as soon as possible. If you are unable to provide evidence of qualifications which meet the entry requirements by 31 August 2022, you may not be permitted to start the course and you may lose your place. Access to bursaries and loans will be withheld until you have completed all admissions checks for your course.
If you can’t find your official GCSE certificates, we can also accept a candidate statement of results or an original signed letter on headed paper from your school or college confirming the GCSEs or acceptable equivalent awarded to you. We can also accept an email from your school or college sent directly to the Admissions Office; pgadmissions@cumbria.ac.uk
If you have lost your GCSE certificates you must take steps to obtain replacements without delay (as these can take several weeks to arrive). Here are links to the most common examination board websites from whom you can order replacements.
AQA
OCR
Edexcel
Information on obtaining replacement certificates can be found on the GOV.UK website.
What if I am still studying?
Once you have received official notification of your result you will need to provide evidence no later than 31 August 2024.
If you are due to take a GCSE equivalency test in summer 2024
If your course has GCSE entry requirements and you are due to sit a GCSE or equivalency exam this summer, please contact us as soon as you receive your result and upload a copy of your certificate to your Applicant Portal.
If you are graduating in summer 2024
We must see your original degree certificate to comply with Department for Education regulations. If you receive your degree certificate in July or August you will be able to post it to us by recorded delivery - please see information above on this page for further information about how to do this.
In the meantime, until you receive your official certificate, we can accept electronic PDF copies of your degree/ transcript attached to an accompanying email from your university. The email and attachment must either come to us directly from your university, or, you can forward it to us, but the email must display the email details of your awarding institution.
In the short term, we can also accept an email without PDF certificate attachment directly from your university to confirm your degree result; please ask your university to email pgadmissions@cumbria.ac.uk.
These interim options may enable us to provisionally register you on the course until you receive your official certificate, however you must contact pgadmissions@cumbria.ac.uk as soon as you receive your official degree certificate so that we can arrange for you to provide the original to the Admissions office or your Delivery Partner alliance.
Please be aware that failure to provide your degree certificate will risk your continued access to funding and your place on the programme.
I need to do a GCSE Equivalency Test
Acceptable GCSE equivalency test providers are:
Equivalencytesting.com
A Star Teachers
If you are due to take a GCSE equivalency test in summer 2022:
If your course has GCSE entry requirements and you are due to sit a GCSE or equivalency exam this summer, please contact us as soon as you have your result and upload a copy of your certificate to your Applicant Portal.
It is a Department for Education (DfE) requirement that we see your original degree certificate.
Arrangements for providing original degree certificates
Lancaster, Carlisle and Delivery Partner applicants - we will email you in June asking you to post your original degree certificate to us by recorded delivery during July and August. Please contact us at pgadmissions@cumbria.ac.uk if you would rather bring your original degree certificate to campus in person. Please wait for us to contact you in June before posting your certificate - the email will contain the full postal address for your campus.
All certificates will be returned in person during your first week on campus.
London applicants - we will emailk you in June inviting you to attend on of 3 dates on campus to provide your original degree certificate. All dates will be confirmed by email in June.
Please be aware that failure to provide your certificates once we ask you to do so will prevent access to student funding and will risk your place on the programme.
What is the ‘Right to Work’ check?
Please Note: we will contact you about your Right to Work check when we contact you about your DBS check from three months before your course starts.
The University has a responsibility to ensure that every student studying at the institution on a course that requires a DBS check, has the right to work in the UK.
Right to Work: If you are already resident in the UK, we will ask you to provide evidence of your right to work as part of your DBS application.
If you are not already resident in the UK and will be joining us on a student visa, ylou will not be able to complete the right to work check until you arrive in the UK.
Disclosure & barring service (DBS) check (formerly CRB)
Delivery Partner salaried applicants should contact the lead/employing school in order to complete this check.
Delivery Partner non-salaried and PGCE students please see our DBS information page for further information, and you will receive an email with further instructions on starting your DBS check.
Medical clearance
If your course requires medical clearance, guidance on how to complete this admission check can be found on our medical clearance information pages.
Finance information
Money Advisors will be available to help with finance and funding enquiries. Further information about tuition fees for your course and funding support available is available on the Student Finance webpages.
PGCE applicants may be eligible for a Department for Education (DfE) bursary. Once you have provided evidence of your degree qualifications, Admissions will e-mail you if you are eligible for the bursary with confirmation of your bursary award and guidance on what you need to do to ensure that the bursary is paid. Emails will start to be sent from May onwards. You do not need to contact us to apply for the bursary.
Accommodation information
Further information about accommodation options in Lancaster, Carlisle and Ambleside is available on the accommodation webpages. A link to the accommodation application forms is sent automatically to applicants that accept the University of Cumbria as their firm choice.
Course welcome information
Delivery Partners: Early course welcome information for your course including term dates, provisional timetables, reading lists and any pre-course preparation will be provided by your alliance.
University-Based PGCE: Early course welcome information for your course including term dates, provisional timetables, reading lists and any pre-course preparation will be available later in the summer. We will send you an email to let you know when this is available.
International students
We are pleased you have accepted your place at the University of Cumbria. We would like to make your transition as smooth as possible by helping where we can.
If you are required to apply for a Student Route Visa, to progress further by obtaining your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) you will need to ensure that all offer conditions have been met. Once these have been completed, your offer will be upgraded to unconditional. Within the following 24 hours, you will receive an email inviting you to log into CAS Shield. There you will need to answer the questionnaire and complete each section when prompted. Should you have any queries at this stage, please use the CAS Shield messaging service so that our compliance team can respond to you promptly.
Please note, we will only request you pay your deposit once you have passed your credibility interview (if applicable).
Once your CAS has been issued, you will receive this via email.
The original copies of all qualifications you have used to gain entry to the University of Cumbria programme must be seen at international registration. For any CAS or Visa queries, please email UKVICompliance@cumbria.ac.uk.
