Are you an American high schooler considering colleges outside the United States? If so, this post is for you! As the founder and owner of Ivy Lounge Test Prep®, I’m all about helping you get into your dream schools, wherever they may be located.
Today, I’m going to explain the SAT and ACT testing requirements for some of England’s top universities. (BTW, if you’re also interested in Canadian schools, the previous post in this series focused on the standardized testing reqs north of the border!)
Now, let’s hop across the pond for a bit, shall we?
Article Contents
2. Oxford
3. Cambridge
b. SAT scores
c. ACT scores
8. Conclusion
Watch this article as a video:
Oxford Testing Requirements for United States Applicants
First up, let’s pay a visit to the University of Oxford—located, of course, in Oxford, England. This extremely prestigious institution is on the wish lists of high schoolers across the globe. But what kinds of scores does it actually take to get in there as an American?
AP requirements
When I emailed with Oxford’s admissions staff, they listed out the following requirements that American students must meet to have their applications considered at Oxford:
Four AP exams, all with scores of 5, OR
Three AP exams with scores of 5, and an SAT or ACT test score
Pssst…remember that you'll be applying to colleges sometime during your senior year…which probably means that you won’t have completed your senior year AP exams (which happen in May) by the that time. So you’d need to complete your three or four APs by the end of your junior year!
Minimum test scores
When it comes to minimum standardized testing scores, those vary according to what you plan to study at Oxford. The university divides its courses of study into three categories. Check out that link to see which category your major(s) of interest fall(s) into. From most to least difficult, here are those score requirements:
A*A*A entrance requirements:
SAT: 1480+ / ACT 33+
A*AA entrance requirements:
SAT: 1470+ / ACT 32+
AAA entrance requirements:
SAT 1460+ / ACT 31+
Oxford allows no super scoring, no score choice, and no ACT essay. So you would have to actually earn whatever minimum score—say, a 1480 or a 33, for A*A*A—in a single sitting; you also have to send Oxford all of your test scores, no matter how high or low.
Happy testing, aspiring Oxonians!
What Test Scores do U.S. Students Need for Cambridge?
The next UK school we're going to discuss is the University of Cambridge. On a personal note, this is a school I have many fond memories of—I visited its campus many times while studying abroad in Bologna, Italy, and I loved punting down the River Cam.
Anyways! If you are an American high schooler with your sights set on this university, here are the baselines you need to hit to get your foot in the door.
AP requirements
Like most schools in England, Cambridge bases their requirements on what they call A-Levels and International Baccalaureate. However, American high schoolers don't do A-levels, and only a handful of them participate in IB programs.
To accommodate this cultural difference, Cambridge has a separate set of requirements for students who don’t have access to IBs or A-levels. According to their website, what this generally means for American students is:
Five AP exams with scores of 5…PLUS an ACT/SAT score.
Now, those AP tests typically need to have been taken within a two-year period, with your most recent test results achieved two years or less before you enroll at Cambridge.
However, their website also explains that “You don’t have to have completed a minimum of five AP Courses to meet this requirement, as an AP Test can be sat without completing the relevant AP Course.” In other words, if your high school doesn’t even offer five AP classes, don’t sweat—you can still learn the material on your own and just sit for the AP exam.
Cambridge instructs applicants to take APs in subjects that are particularly relevant to the courses of study they’re applying for.
SAT requirements
In addition to AP tests, Cambridge also expects you to have high passing marks on your school qualifications—so, the relevant US high school diploma and a high score on the SAT test or ACT.
When it comes to the SAT, Cambridge’s website divides score requirements along the lines of what course of study you want to pursue.
Applicants to Economics, and to most Science courses (Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Medicine, Natural Sciences, Psychological and Behavioural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine), will need
a minimum combined score of 1500
with a Mathematics section score of at least 750.
For all other courses of study at Cambridge, you will need:
a minimum combined score of 1460
with a score in Evidence-Based Reading and Writing of at least 730.
Much like Oxford, Cambridge does not allow super scoring or score choice. So you’ll have to disclose the scores you got at each and every SAT sitting.
ACT requirements
In addition to your APs, you'll normally be expected to have an ACT composite score of:
at least 33 out of 36 for Economics and most Science courses (Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Medicine, Natural Sciences, Psychological and Behavioural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine)
32 out of 36 for all other courses.
Now, the website ALSO encourages you to contact the specific college at Cambridge you’re targeting in order to verify whether the requirements listed here (five APs + SAT or ACT) are the only boxes you need to check in order to be admitted to that course of study. Depending on your intended “major,” they might tell you that one or more of your APs needs to be in a specific subject(s), etc.
Test Scores to Get into the Imperial College London
Our third English school is the Imperial College London, and it comes with some good news for you: this college does NOT require the SAT or ACT if you are a US high schooler applying for undergraduate!
Yay! Now, let's talk about what they do ask for. According to their website, Imperial asks for:
A minimum of three to four AP tests with scores of 5, alongside a “relevant high school diploma”
See individual course websites to find out exactly which AP tests are required for a given area of study.
OR
International Baccalaureate with overall scores of 38-42, with scores of 6-7 in relevant subjects at higher level.
So if your high school doesn’t offer IBs, then you're looking at those Advanced Placement requirements.
As with Oxford—and, really, with any of the schools discussed in this post—you should always check with the relevant admissions team at your target course of study to confirm that you understand the requirements correctly.
London School of Economics: Minimum Scores for American Applications
Now let's talk about school #4 on our list of colleges in the great country of England, which is the London School of Economics and Political Science, also known as LSE.
LSE is another English school that does not take SAT or ACT scores into account! Woo-hoo for you!
Since American students don’t take GCE A-levels (which are LSE’s default testing requirement), LSE provides equivalent AP testing guidelines. As we’ve seen with other universities, the minimum number of APs, and minimum scores that you need to obtain on your AP exams, will depend on your planned course of study. (You can look up those college-specific requirements here.)
A*AA, AAA courses: At least five APs with scores of 5, taken over a maximum of three years; a minimum High School Diploma GPA of 3.7
AAB courses: At least three APs with scores of 5 and two APs with 4s, taken over a maximum of three years, and a minimum High School Diploma GPA of 3.7
Mathematics A*/A: Calculus BC grade 5
The LSE also includes some caveats that apply to ALL courses of study.
Depending on your specific intended “major,” you might actually have a custom combination of requirements that diverges from the three sets of general guidelines above.
AP seminars, AP capstones, AP research do not count towards the AP requirements.
You can only count Calc AB or Calc BC, not both, towards your APs.
American applicants should have a minimum GPA of 3.5 (on a 4.0 scale) or above 4.0 (on a 5.0 scale) with a minimum average of 80% overall.
And that’s the London School of Economics, folks!
University College London: How to Apply from the U.S.
The next stop on our double-decker bus tour of English higher education is the University College London, or UCL.
If you currently live in the US, these are your testing requirements for UCL:
Three to five AP subjects (see course-specific requirements here) taken in the final three years of high school.
OR
Two to four AP subjects, plus the SAT or ACT (see specific requirements here) taken in the final three years of high school.
OR
The successful completion of one year of study at a recognized US university or community college with an overall CGPA of 3.3 (on a 4.0 scale).
Then, the website breaks down these requirements more specifically into five tiers of varying stringency. Which is fine and dandy, but you might be wondering: how do I know if the subject I want to study falls into A*A*A or ABB or….?
Well, here’s how you’re going to figure out what test(s) YOU specifically need to take, and what scores you need to achieve, based on what you want to study:
Step 1: Go here to find your course of study.
Step 2, option 1: Based on the A-Level grade required, look up the required number of AP’s and minimum SAT/ACT scores here.
Step 2, option 2: Alternatively, you can find AP/SAT/ACT requirements on certain courses’ websites by selecting “other qualifications,” then “international applications” and then selecting “United States of America” from the drop-down list of countries. (Here’s an example.)
Voilà! You’re now ready to get started with your admissions journey to University College London.
Study in England: King's College London
The sixth and final of the English schools we're going to explore today is King’s College London.
Again, as with all of the institutions on this list, an important step is figuring out which application tier your intended course of study falls into. You can do that here.
In general, though, King's College calls for either:
Five APs; score minimums will vary based on course of study that you want to do and what its A-level equivalent is.
OR,Three APs and an SAT or ACT. (Minimum scores on APs/ACT/SAT will be determined by your major’s A-level rank.)
Their website clarifies that King’s does NOT super score for the ACT. (It doesn’t make a statement either way about score choice or super scoring the SAT.)
And that’s that for KCL!
Conclusion
So there you have it: the SAT, ACT, and AP specifications for American high schoolers who might want to apply to six of the most popular universities in England.
If you’re an American interested in studying abroad somewhere besides England (and Canada, which I covered in this post), keep watching this space for articles about applying to school in other countries!
Maybe one of the schools in this article is your top pick. Or maybe you’re still formulating your list. In either case, I offer expert, personalized help with every step of the admissions journey, from writing a standout essay to acing the SATs/ACTs.
