How to apply

Yes. The college welcomes applications from outside the UK, and students from overseas study with us both on campus and online. What differs is the practical route, not the academic standard: whether you need a visa, and which one, depends on your nationality, the programme and how you intend to study it.

Some of our programmes include on-campus teaching blocks and supervised clinical practice in the UK, which cannot be completed remotely. Our student sponsor licence position is [SPONSOR LICENCE STATUS], and the visa routes available to applicants are [VISA ROUTES — TO BE CONFIRMED]. Please contact admissions at admissions@scmat.org.uk before you apply if you would need a visa to study here, so that we can tell you honestly what is possible.

Applicants educated outside the UK are also asked to provide certified translations of certificates and transcripts, and evidence of English proficiency where English is not their first language. See entry requirements.

No, not for entry to Year 1 of any of our programmes. The Acupuncture & Meridians diploma and the Tui Na certificate both begin from first principles, and Chinese Health Literacy and Diet & Lifestyle Therapy assume no prior knowledge at all.

What we do ask for is evidence that you can study at the level of the programme — usually Level 3 study or equivalent, or relevant prior professional experience. Applicants for Chinese Herbal Medicine who are not already qualified in acupuncture take our diagnostic foundations module alongside Year 1, so that everyone reaches the prescribing modules with the same vocabulary.

Talk to us before you decide against applying. Entry requirements are not a single gate, and we assess prior experience as well as formal certificates. Where you can evidence learning from work — clinical, caring, technical, scientific or manual — we will consider it through our recognition of prior learning process.

Where there is a genuine gap, we would rather suggest a route than refuse an application. That might mean starting with Chinese Health Literacy or a short course, taking an English language course first, or applying in a later cycle. If we are not able to offer you a place, we will tell you why, in writing.

Deferral is considered case by case, and normally for one intake only. Requests must be made in writing to admissions@scmat.org.uk before teaching begins; a deferral cannot be granted retrospectively.

A deferred place is subject to the programme running in the later intake, to any conditions of your offer still being met, and to the fees in force at the point you actually start. How a deposit is treated if you defer is confirmed in your offer letter — the amount is [AMOUNT]. The deadline for deferral requests is [DATE].

We do not publish fee figures on this website. The registration fee, the deposit and the tuition fee are confirmed on enquiry and set out in writing in your offer letter, so that we can explain what each amount covers and which parts are refundable. No figures are shown anywhere on this site, deliberately.

Nothing here is a quotation. For a written fee schedule for your programme, see Fees & funding or ask the college office.

The conversation is not an examination in Chinese medicine. It is a structured discussion, usually [XX] minutes long, held on campus or online. We ask about your reasons for applying, your prior study or work, and your understanding of what practising involves — including its limits. You will also have time to ask about fees, timetables, clinical placement and support.

Applicants to clinical programmes are asked about safe practice and their willingness to work within the college’s professional conduct and safety policies, because students in the teaching clinic treat members of the public under supervision.

We aim to acknowledge a complete application within [XX] working days and to reach a decision within [XX] working days of the conversation. Timescales are longer in the weeks before an intake deadline.