Admission requirements for international students

High school students

High school students applying to undergraduate programs at the University of New Brunswick must meet the following three sets of requirements in order to be considered for admission.

1. English language proficiency requirements

Undergraduate applicants whose native language is not English require the following English language proficiency minimum scores for direct entry into most academic programs: 

  • TOEFL IBT with a minimum overall score of 85
  • IELTS or IELTS Indicator with a minimum overall score of 6.5
  • CAEL CE or CAEL Online with a minimum overall score of 60
  • Pearson Vue Test with a minimum score of 59
  • Cambridge English Assessment C1 advanced or C2 proficiency with a minimum score of 176 
  • Duolingo with a minimum overall score of 115

The following undergraduate programs require a minimum IELTS score of 7.0 (or equivalent) for direct entry 

  • Fredericton campus: Nursing, Education, and Arts 
  • Saint John campus: Nursing, Health Sciences

Please contact the UNB International Recruitment Centre to determine if you meet the minimum requirements for programs requiring a higher proficiency score (international@unb.ca).

2. Country-specific admission requirements

We accept qualified applicants from all countries who have completed their national high school curriculum or equivalent. Please refer to the country-specific admission requirements.

We welcome and encourage applications from International Baccalaureate (IB) students, Advanced Placement (AP) students and GCSE students.

IB: Students who complete higher level IB courses and achieve a score of 5, 6 or 7 may be eligible for advanced standing and/or transfer credit in the following subject areas (except where otherwise indicated): Biology, Chemistry, Economics, English, French, Geography (Fredericton campus only), German (Fredericton campus only), History, Math and Physics (minimum score of 6 is required in Physics on the Fredericton campus).

AP: Students who complete AP courses and achieve a score of 3, 4 or 5 may be eligible for advanced standing and/or transfer credit in the following subject areas (except where otherwise indicated): Art History (Saint John campus only), Biology, Calculus (minimum score of 4 is required in Calculus), Chemistry, Computer Science, Economics, English, French, German (Saint John campus only), History, Human Geography (Fredericton campus only), Physics (minimum score of 4 is required in Physics), Psychology (Fredericton campus only), Spanish and Statistics (Saint John campus only).

Other subject areas: Students who have successfully completed IB or AP courses in subject areas other than those listed above may apply to have those courses assessed for advanced standing and/or transfer credit on a case by case basis. Copies of official curriculum will be required.

3. Program-specific admission requirements

Students must also satisfy the course requirements for their program of choice. Contact a recruiter for more details.

Transfer students

We welcome and encourage applications from students wishing to transfer from another post-secondary institution.

In addition to meeting our regular admission requirements, transfer students seeking credit for earlier post-secondary work must submit a detailed overview of their program of study and official course outlines for each course they have completed. Transfer credits will be determined on a case by case basis in accordance with UNB faculty standards. Transfer applicants should apply early to ensure time for faculty to review course outlines.

All applicants must disclose any prior attendance at other post-secondary institutions in Canada or abroad, regardless of whether they are seeking transfer credit. Failure to disclose this information may result in a rejection of the student’s application or subsequent suspension from UNB. Contact a recruiter for more details.

Graduate students

Visit the School of Graduate Studies for admission requirements for graduate programs. 

Contact us 

If you have any questions, please email us: international@unb.ca. We are here to help!

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