Visiting students

Imperial will consider applications for the following:

Undergraduate level

1. Independent projects; or 
2. A study plan composed from Imperial undergraduate Bachelor or Master's courses (with or without a project)

Postgraduate taught (Master's) level

1. Independent projects; or
2. The Imperial College Business School have a student exchange programme

Postgraduate Doctoral level

We welcome applications for placements at Doctoral level.

Please note that any applicant at any level of study who is seeking to undertake only an independent research period or a project should have the provisional agreement of a supervisor at Imperial to host them before applying.

• Study period with access to Year 1 of an undergraduate course
• Study period based on the undergraduate medicine curriculum
• Study period based on the undergraduate medical biosciences curriculum
• Study period at undergraduate level in Imperial College Business School
• Study period at postgraduate doctoral (PhD) level in Imperial College Business School, except within the framework of an official international exchange agreement
• Study period at undergraduate level in the Department of Mathematics and Department of Computing, except within the framework of an official student exchange agreement
• Non-exchange visiting students are not normally able to undertake study periods at postgraduate taught (Master's) level. Enquiries can be made to an academic department, but they are usually not available. However, Imperial does host students for Master's level projects for which a supervisor must be provisionally secured before the student applies as a Visiting Student.

Penultimate or final year undergraduate medical students seeking clinical internships/electives study periods at one of the NHS teaching hospitals partnered with Imperial should read the guidance on the Faculty of Medicine website.

Summer school

If you wish to apply for a Summer School (for university level students) please do not apply as a visiting student.

Instead, you should follow the application and admissions information for the Summer School of interest. Explore Summer at Imperial.

Imperial is also unable to offer study opportunities involving teaching from more than one department or from both the undergraduate curriculum (BEng/MEng/BSc/MSci) and postgraduate curriculum (MSc/MRes), unless:

• that teaching is normally available to degree students of the admitting academic department
• you are an exchange student and you have been advised by the exchange programme co-ordinator at your home university or the exchange programme co-ordinator at Imperial that such access can be arranged

Admission for less than a full academic year is not possible unless:

• you are an exchange student and you have been advised by the exchange programme co-ordinator at your home university or the exchange programme co-ordinator at Imperial that such access can be arranged

Please ensure you have read the guidance for applicants. 

View a complete list of Imperial's global (curriculum-based) student exchange agreements, including links with Swiss universities and postgraduate partners for Imperial College Business School.

Student exchange partners

Staff working in partner universities should read: Guidance for universities who are student exchange partners.

You should always apply as a visiting (non-degree) student if you have been awarded an Erasmus+ Traineeship grant by your home (non-UK) university and:

• you are currently a PhD student and would continue to be registered as such at your home university for the duration of the planned research period at Imperial; or
• you are currently a Bachelor or Master's-level student and would continue to be registered as such at your home university for the duration of the planned research period at Imperial.

Please note that Imperial will classify any Erasmus+ Traineeship student it admits as a non-exchange (visiting) student.

Imperial will no longer automatically waive the tuition fee for a student it hosts who has Erasmus+ (Traineeship) status. The student must discuss tuition fees with any proposed supervisor, and it is the decision of the host department whether the tuition fee can be reduced or waived.

For queries about Erasmus+ Traineeships, please email Adrian Hawksworth, Assistant Registrar (Placements) at a.hawksworth@imperial.ac.uk

For study periods starting during the 2024-25 academic year, please review this guidance:

• Guidance for prospective exchange students applying for admission in 2024-25
• Guidance for prospective non-exchange students applying for admission in 2024-25

For study periods starting during the 2025-26 academic year, please review this guidance:

• Guidance for prospective exchange students applying for admission in 2025-26
• Guidance for prospective non-exchange students applying for admission in 2025-26

If you are applying within the framework of a student exchange programme you should speak to the subject co-ordinator at your home university before applying to Imperial.

Visiting students are liable to pay a tuition fee if they are offered admission to Imperial except if they fall into one of the two categories below.

Official exchange programme students

Official exchange programme students do not have to pay tuition fees to Imperial.

Such students would normally be expected to continue to pay normal tuition fees to their home university for the relevant period.

Erasmus Traineeship students 

Imperial will no longer automatically waive the tuition fee for a student it hosts who has Erasmus+ (Traineeship) status. The student must discuss tuition fees with any proposed supervisor, and it is the decision of the host department whether the tuition fee can be reduced or waived.

Apply through My Imperial

Review our academic term dates to determine your study period and academic year.

Guidance for 2024–25 entry will be available in early 2024.

Enquiries

Please email the appropriate Admissions Team if you have any queries. 

Imperial's Student Exchange Co-ordinator is: Mr Adrian Hawksworth. 

Imperial's Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (UROP) is an alternative mechanism for hosting undergraduate students from other universities for research experiences (often a project).

Applications for UROP are made informally to potential supervisors.

UROP research experiences, which are agreed to by the host department, are then subject to a UROP registration. It is the decision of the host department to use the UROP option for registration.

Who is eligible?

Students currently at universities outside the UK will normally be ineligible, unless they have UK or Ireland nationality.

Details on eligibility are available on the UROP website.

Tuition fees

There are currently no tuition fees applicable to a UROP registration.

More information

Further details are available on the UROP website.

The below orientation guides are for visiting (non-degree) students who start their studies either at the start of the 2024-25 academic year (28 Sept 2024) or during the academic year:

Orientation Information for Visiting (non-degree) Students (start date during the 2024-25 academic year)

Orientation for Visiting (non-degree) Students (start date - beginning of the 2024-25 academic year)

Orientation information for visiting (non-degree) students due to commence their study period at Imperial College in 2025-26 will be available on this webpage from 1 September 2025.