Although we are known as the UK's European University our appeal is world-wide. Over 20% of our full-time students are from overseas with over 130 different nationalities represented. Our popularity is due to many factors, including our academic reputation, safe and friendly campus, great location and outstanding computing and study facilities. International students also benefit from our English language support, international students' welcome programme, excellent job opportunities, good student accommodation and a beautiful, multicultural environment.

Equivalence of qualifications and entry requirements

For admissions we consider all qualifications equivalent to the listed British qualifications. If English is not your first language, then we also typically require IELTS 6.5 overall or equivalent. If you are in any doubt you should contact us so that we can discuss your individual case.

Extensive English language tuition

All international students at Kent have the opportunity to take up to two hours of free English lessons each week at our Centre for English and World Languages. The Centre also provides pre-sessional English courses and foundation courses that are specially designed to prepare international students for academic study.

International Foundation Programme (Computing G408)

This pre-degree year is designed for international students whose school qualifications are slightly below British A-level. The programme prepares international students for academic study. Upon successful completion it guarantees a place on a computer science programme at Kent. On entry students must typically have IELTS 5 or equivalent. This programme is run by the Centre for English and World Languages, which also provides continued support throughout your subsequent studies. Further information is available at the Centre for English and World Languages and in the prospectus.

Real work experience

Computing programmes which are combined with a Year in Industry are open to all international students and, because it is an integral part of the degree course, a normal student visa will be sufficient to enable you to take up a placement.

All computing students, including international students, can choose to work for the Kent IT Clinic, which provides a project-based consultancy service to businesses in the region.

Dk. Syaza Nabilah Binti Pg. Haris (BSc Information Technology) from Brunei says: " I chose the Kent IT Clinic as I thought it would give me experience of working in a real IT consultancy environment and provide a useful stepping stone to give me a better chance of getting a job after graduation. Some of the areas in which I gained experience were client interaction, project leading, teamwork and problem solving. I would certainly recommend the Kent IT Clinic option. "

International links and visiting international students

We have been very successful in building up international partnerships worldwide. One of the benefits of these partnerships has been to develop student exchange programmes enabling international students to experience studying and working in the UK.

Our Hong Kong placement exchange programme, set up with our partner, City University (CU) of Hong Kong, enables two CU students every year to come to the UK to spend a term on campus studying alongside our own computing undergraduates. This is followed by a six month industrial placement with global technology company, IBM, at one of its leading software development centres based at Hursley, UK. In return Kent computing students get the opportunity to do a 12 month placement in Hong Kong.

We are delighted that students from EPITECH, Paris, have chosen to spend their study year abroad with us and take one of our taught Master's courses. EPITECH is our French partner university and is a leading higher educational institution specialising in Computing and IT. Staff from both institutions have enjoyed exchange visits under the Erasmus programme.

The School of Computing has a tradition of welcoming students through international exchange programmes such as Erasmus and IAESTE or as short-term international students. We host an Erasmus student from RWTH University in Aachen, Germany every year to study topics from the final year of our computer science degree course. In addition, we receive students from Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary who come for six months to work on a project related to the Erlang programming language. We also welcome short-term IAESTE students who come for a period of up to ten weeks during the summer to work on various research projects.

Our exchange students have come from countries all over the world including Bosnia, Brazil, Brunei, Finland, Kazakhstan, Switzerland, Uruguay and USA.