Am I eligible to apply?
What is the selection criteria?
How does the selection process work?
What is the reserve list?
What if I’m not successful?
How we announce the successful applicants
How to apply
Obtaining your reference
Advice for referees

Am I eligible to apply?
To be eligible to apply you must be: -
- A full time student
- Studying undergraduate level
- At an English, Scottish, Welsh or Northern Ireland University or HE or FE College
- At least 18 years old at start of the programme
- In your first or second year of study or graduating in the same year as the programme.

You are NOT eligible to apply if you are:
- A postgraduates, foundation, nursing diploma, or PGCE student.
- Not yet registered at your University/College, i.e. you can't apply if you're starting University/College next September.
- If you are an EU/EEA student on an Erasmus semester/year in the UK. You must be registered on a full degree at a UK university or HE or FE college.

Study China participants
We aim to offer these programmes to as wide a number of students as possible and for this reason students previous attendance on Study China is taken into consideration. Similarly your conduct on a Study China programme may affect your application.

What is the selection criteria?
Successful applicants must demonstrate that they have strengths and personal qualities in the following areas:-
- Interest and awareness of different cultures and languages
- Academic courses and career aspirations that will benefit from this
- General interest in Indian culture and contemporary India
- Ability to act as an ambassador for this programme
- Aptitude and ability to disseminate and share personal experience with others
- Be a good team player
- Have responsible and mature attitudes

Successful applicants will be required to read, sign and adhere to the Study India Code of Conduct which you are recommended to read before applying.

How does the selection process work?
A scoring system has been devised around the selection criteria. After close examination by our team of judges each application is awarded a numerical score. The highest scoring applicants are offered places.

The scoring system was devised specifically for this programme and is reviewed and revised for each programme by a team of experts consisting of last year’s participants, the project team, the Government offices concerned and representatives of other UK universities.

What is the reserve list?
In addition to the places offered, participants are offered a place on the reserve list. In the case that successful candidates do not accept their place it is offered to someone on the reserve list. Places are offered as and when they become available.

From our experience there is a one in five chance you will be offered a place from the reserve list.

What if I’m not successful?
Last year we had over 1300 applicants. This meant we had to turn down over 1100 people. Many of these applicants may have scored very well - just not quite as highly as the others. Do not take it personally if you are turned down!

If you are initially told you are unsuccessful, please do not contact us to ask to be put on the reserve list as we will have already selected the reserve list candidates. We realise and appreciate how much time and effort you put into your application so please apply again next time.

Due to the high number of applicants we cannot give feedback on individual applications. The decision of the selection panel is final and there is no right of appeal.

How we announce the successful applicants
We will inform you if you have been successful by email. Please ensure you check your junk email if you receive nothing from us. If two days after the announcement you have heard nothing from us please contact us to make sure your email has not gone astray!

How to apply
Complete the APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED and ask someone from your University/HE/FE College to fill in an APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED - Read the eligibility criteria, selection criteria and Code of Conduct before making your application. 
 - Make sure you look at the key dates
 - Check your contact details are correct - Be consistent in the names you use, make sure it is the same as your passport

You will receive an automatic acknowledgement from the website when you submit your form.

To fill in the forms you must have Javascript and cookies enabled in your browser. Supported browsers are Microsoft IE versions 7.0 - 8.0, Firefox version 2 and Netscape. Other browsers may work but have not been tested.

Obtaining your reference
The reference can be provided by any member of academic staff. The main requirement of the reference is to confirm that you are currently registered as a full time student at that institution. If it is someone who knows you and can write good things about you then your application will get extra points but it is not essential.

The application and reference can arrive in any order. Don't wait till your application is finished before asking someone to give you a reference.

Email your referee this link: APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED. They will need to include your email address on the form – make sure they know it!

Make sure you get it in on time and that the information in the reference form matches your application form. One of the main reasons for applications not being successful is references not being submitted on time or that the information does not match.

View the reference form: APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED

Advice for referees
The extended deadline for return of references is Wednesday 25 May 5pm If you miss the deadline it means your student's application will automatically be rejected. We are unable to accept references after this deadline.

The online form is designed to make the process of submitting a reference take no more than about two minutes, once you have checked your own University/College's database to confirm the student's attendance status.

Please read the questions carefully as your answers could cause the student's application to be rejected. The things we ask for in the reference form are:
- Name and sex of the student
- Name and contact details of referee
- Detail of the students course

- Student's email address
- Level (BSc/BA...)
- Start and end dates, fulltime/part time, enrollment status (enrolled, intercalated, interrupted, graduated etc)
- Details of any placements abroad that the student may have
- The referee's personal comments on the character of the student.

To fill in the forms you must have Javascript and cookies enabled in your browser. Supported browsers are Microsoft IE versions 7.0 - 8.0, Firefox version 2 and Netscape. Other browsers may work but have not been tested.