Important information about your postgraduate offer 2024/25 (January 2025 entry)

If you decide to accept your offer, a contract will be formed between you and the RAU. Your rights and obligations to the RAU and the RAU’s obligations to you under that contract are set out in the documents listed below which form the terms and conditions of your student contract.

​These documents namely are: Induction week timetable, Student Handbook, RAUSU Guide and programme timetable. These documents are made available as part of the registration process. Timetabling information in general is made available closer to registration and once you have chosen your modules as part of the registration process. The Student Handbook is released in late August for the new academic year (you can view the current version of the Student handbook here).

You will have received an offer letter outlining the conditions of your offer.

  • If you accept a conditional offer it will remain at this stage until all of the respective conditions have been met
  • Applicants with an unconditional offer will have met all conditions required for the course
  • Applicants wishing to defer their offer must have satisfied all conditions by 5 January 2024 in order for a place to be reserved for you in September 2024

Please note that deferral requests must be submitted in writing to Admissions and they will be considered on merit.

myRAU

Once you receive an offer from the RAU you'll be able to log into myRAU. Your username will be your eight digit student number which is printed at the top of your offer letter and your password will be your date of birth in the formal ddmmyyyy. You'll be invited to change your password on your first visit.

English language requirements

If your Bachelor's degree is not from a UK HEI or a majority English speaking country.

HEI (excluding Canada) and you are not a national of a majority English speaking country then you'll need to provide evidence of your English proficiency.

International postgraduate taught students must provide evidence of English language competence as follows:

  • IELTS 6.5 overall (with no less than 5.5 in any of the elements) or equivalent

If there is an English proficiency condition in your offer, it will be stated in your offer conditions on the offer letter you have received from RAU.

Booking an IELTS test

If you are planning to take an IELTS Academic test we recommend you arrange to take it early - test dates in the summer are often full so plan and book your test early.

Providing verification of your qualifications

Photocopies will need to be verified by your University. Photocopies of your certificates and transcripts must meet the following conditions:

  1. The document must be signed and stamped by your institution
  2. The signatory must also print their name and job title
  3. If the qualifications/results are in a language other than English then a certified official translation of the original document must also be submitted at the same time
  4. References must be provided on the official headed paper of your institution or employer and signed. Alternatively, we can accept a reference sent directly from your referee's academic or official email address

You should submit any certified official documents as soon as they become available. For applicants requiring a study visa these should not be received later than 15 December (January entry). Documents can be emailed to admissions@rau.ac.uk or uploaded on the myRAU portal (only pdf files in colour and good definition will be accepted). The originals must be submitted on the day on your registration.

If the University finds that the examinations/qualifications/results you have declared on your application are inaccurate or you are unable to verify them, the University reserves the right to withdraw the offer or cancel your application.

Supporting you during your studies

The RAU provides a range of support for its students and can provide support if non-academic matters are affecting your academic progress as set out in our Assessment Regulations and Fitness to Study Policy.

Disabilities

If you have a disability the University will seek to support you whenever possible and reasonable to do so. If you have not yet disclosed that disability, we encourage you to do so at the earliest opportunity.

As individual students’ needs (even those with the same condition) can vary, it is important that you contact the Disability Support before you accept any offer of a place to find out what type of support is likely to be available to you and what information we need to arrange it.

If you choose not to tell us about your disability, provide this information with short notice before your course or examination/assessment start dates or do not provide full information about it before or during your course, we will do our best to help you, but we may not be able to provide the full range of support which might otherwise be available to you, or there may be a delay in providing that support.

Changes to your course

Your offer of a place to study at the University is based on the latest key information which can be found on relevant page of the course pages of our website. This includes the core modules for the course and may include an indication of likely optional modules.

Information set out in the Prospectus and on the University website is accurate at the date of publication. However, changes to courses, modules, University services and the content of the prospectus may be necessary, for example, to meet the requirements of an accrediting body or to keep courses contemporary by updating practices or areas of study.

Changes to courses or modules may also be needed because of circumstances outside the reasonable control of the University, such as a key member of staff leaving the University or being unable to teach (where the course or module is reliant on that person’s expertise) or where the minimum or maximum number of students needed to ensure a good educational or student experience has not been met or has been exceeded.

Other circumstances outside the reasonable control of the University include unexpected lack of funding, industrial action, severe weather, fire, civil disorder, political unrest, government restrictions or serious concern about the transmission of serious illness making a course unsafe to deliver.

If changes to your course are made after you have accepted your offer, the University will try to give you early notification of those changes and minimise their impact by offering suitable alternative arrangements, helping you find an alternative course or University or providing compensation where it believes there is a fair case to do so.

Fees and payment

Please click here for the postgraduate fees and fee payment details.

Deferring your start date

The tuition fees stated on your offer letter are based on the start date shown in the offer letter. However, if you defer your entry, your tuition fees may be more than is stated in your offer letter, and you should contact  Admissions for more information.

If your entry is deferred, please note that the course and/or its modules, course requirements and University services and facilities as currently described in the prospectus or on our website may change for your chosen year of entry. Please keep referring to the course pages and Applicant Information sections of the University’s website where up to date information will be published as soon as it is available.

Cancelling your acceptance

After you have accepted your offer of a place, you can cancel your acceptance within the cancellation period without giving us any reason. The cancellation period runs for 14 days from the date we receive your acceptance. Further information on cancelling your acceptance, and the 'right to cancel' form can be found here and in the Terms & Conditions document.  

You can cancel your acceptance by informing the University’s Admissions Office by emailing admissions@rau.ac.uk.

Data protection

The University will collect a range of information about you as part of the application and registration procedures and in relation to your academic progress. The University and organisations we work with to deliver our courses will use this to support you on your course and for the administration and management of the University. For more information, please read our Privacy Notice.

Visas and immigration permissions

Students from outside the UK (Overseas and EU/EEA/Swiss) who require a visa to study in the UK, will have to attend a Right to Study check when you first arrive at the University. If you fail to attend the Right to Study check or cannot provide conclusive evidence that you have the correct visa or immigration permission, you will not be allowed to begin your course and you may be asked to withdraw from your course in accordance with the University's policy.

Students from the EU, non-EU EEA Nationals and Swiss citizens (who do not have settled or pre-settled status and do not reside the UK) that arrive in the UK to start their course after 1 January 2021 will need to apply for a Student visa under the Immigration system that is now in place.

It is essential that you regularly read our emails and that you follow the instructions for arrival, collection of Biometric Residence Permits and Right to Study checks. You are required to meet the attendance and attendance monitoring requirements; if you do not, the University may withdraw its sponsorship of your visa and withdraw you from your course.

Intellectual property

Any invention, device, discovery, material, product, process, computer software or any other potentially valuable results or innovation with material input by the University’s staff or as part of a collective project will be subject to the University’s Intellectual Property Policy.

Conduct and attendance

You must be aware of the University’s regulations relating to conduct, plagiarism, academic integrity, attendance and reasonable diligence. The University can impose penalties if you do not follow these requirements, and in serious cases the University can suspend or expel you from the University.

Complaints

The University is committed to providing a high quality educational experience, supported by a range of academic and administrative services and facilities. From time to time, however, things do go wrong, and if the matter cannot be resolved informally, the University provides students with a system for raising concerns and complaints about both academic and non-academic matters. The Complaints Procedure sets out a procedure for dealing with students’ complaints fairly, consistently and as quickly as possible. Students who are dissatisfied with a decision relating to a complaint they have raised may be able to complain to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) an independent body which reviews student complaints. The Admissions Policy sets out the procedure for asking for a review of decisions made in the application and admissions process.

General matters

The University will not be liable to you and you will not be liable to the University for any failure or delay when the failure is caused by a significant event beyond the University’s or your reasonable control, for example fire, flood or industrial dispute.

The contract between you and the University is only enforceable by these two parties, the Contracts (Right of Third Parties Act (1999)) does not apply.

The Contract between you and the University is governed by English Law and is subject to any changes in law which affect this contract. 

You can find the Postgraduate Offer Guide Archive here.