To apply for entry on to one of our Holistic Science programmes please complete and return to us the application form (see Application, below). We are currently accepting applications for entry in September 2013 and will continue to do so until all places are filled.
If you have any questions about the holistic science programmes please contact us by emailing holisticscience@schumachercollege.org.uk
Click here to download the 2013/14 application form >>
We normally expect our MSc or PG Certificate students to hold a first degree in a natural or a social science, but we will accept applications from non-graduates in exceptional circumstances when relevant life and work experience can be demonstrated.
Students must be able to converse and write fluently in English. All applicants who do not hold a GCSE (Grade C or above) in English Language, must provide evidence of their English language ability in the form of a professional English qualification, or a TOEFL or IELTS Certificate to the correct level (taken in the last two years). Your local British Council office offers the English Language Testing Service (IELTS) plus, in some instances, English language tuition.
The University entry standards for English language are as follows:
IELTS
6.5 overall with minimum 5.5 for each component: reading, writing, listening and speaking.
TOEFL iBT
90 overall with minimum for each component: listnening 21; reading 22; speaking 23; and writing 22.
Pearson Test of English (PTE)
61 overall with minimum score of 51 across all four components.
Other equivalent English language qualifications may be accepted. Please contact the College for further information.
If you require a Tier 4 General Student Visa, you must be able to verify your English competence through a secure English language test (SELT), unless you meet any of the UK Border Agency’s exemptions. Accepted SELTs are published on the UK Border Agency’s website along with further guidance for students about Tier 4. The level required is B2 as set by the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). We require original or certified copies of certificates, or we can download results if you supply with your application your username and password to your test score report, if applicable.
To be exempt from this SELT requirement, you would need to have obtained a qualification equivalent to a UK degree in a majority English-speaking country, or have studied in the UK recently as a child student. For further information you are advised to contact UKCISA or Plymouth University’s own International Student Advisory Service, ISAS. If you contact ISAS please ensure you explain that you are applying to a programme of Schumacher College.
Plymouth University offers an English language support service for all students for whom English is a second language. This service is provided by the English Language Centre, based in the Cookworthy building on the University of Plymouth’s city centre campus. Language support is delivered through one-to-one tutorials, free English classes, workshops tailored for particular groups of students and e-mail. It is also possible for English Language Centre staff to visit the College to tutor students, individually or in groups, by prior arrangement.
This course is such an amazing experience, and so much better than I thought, that I have to keep pinching myself.
MA student, Economics for Transition
Schumacher College is simply one of the finest teaching and learning environments to be found anywhere in the World.
David Abram, author of The Spell of the Sensuous
Schumacher is a very special place – as we try and figure out what on earth we’re going to do with this unraveling planet, it’s become a thinktank for hope, a battery for positive vision.
Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org
Unfortunately this week has made me realise how mediocre the University experience is compared to Schumacher College.
Visiting University student
Click here to download the 2013/14 application form >>
Please note: This form must be completed, signed and hard copies sent as directed on the form. We do not accept electronic or faxed applications.
Important: On 1 April 2009 changes to the UK’s Immigration Law came into effect. Please ensure that you have a legitimate right of entry into the UK.
For further information about Immigration Law, please visit the UK Border Agency website
The application form details the documentation you need to send with your application. This includes:
Before submitting the application form, please make sure you have familiarised yourself with how the College works. You can get more information from other pages of the website including About the College.
Click here to see term dates for the academic year 2013/2014
The College will shortlist applicants for interview. You may be asked to come to the College for an interview, or to conduct a telephone or Skype interview if you are not geographically well placed to come to the College. Subject to interview, we will select our MSc and PG Certificate students and offer places.
We will promptly acknowledge receipt of all applications by email. We will contact applicants to either arrange an interview or advise that their application will not be progressed further. We aim to do this within two to three weeks of receipt of an application.
Click here for a full breakdown of fees for the MSc programme and the PG Certificate programme.
The College has two tuition fee tariffs which distinguish between students who need a student visa, and are sponsored by us under Tier 4; and students who do not need a visa. Students requiring Tier 4 visas are generally from outside of the EEA area. The higher fees reflect the additional costs to the College arising from the statutory terms of Tier 4 sponsorship, put in place by the UK Borders Agency.
The fees reflect the extremely high level of contact time with teachers and facilitators that is unprecedented in other academic institutions.
As a student you can expect to be immersed in taught, facilitated and group learning processes for several hours five days a week, with opportunities for regular evening and weekend activities.
It also includes the cost of bringing the leading experts from around the world to engage and contribute in your learning process. Many of our experts are not teachers and academics. They are the practitioners and activists that are out there changing the world. They do not teach anywhere else. They come to Schumacher College because of the high calibre of our students and the unique learning models we use.
This is what makes our postgraduate programmes totally unique in the world.
Click here for more information on how we set our course fees
Bursaries are available Click here >>
We do not offer any discounts on our fees for Plymouth University alumni.
If you are interested in this course but cannot cover the fees above, please do contact us holisticscience@schumachercollege.org.uk to discuss your situation further.
Students may opt to live either in the College, on a fully residential basis, or they may choose to rent somewhere locally. In the latter case, the College charges a fee to cover meals and beverages.
If you choose to be fully residential, you will have a private room in the Schumacher College complex, the main building of which is an historic and atmospheric old building – The Old Postern – on the beautiful Dartington Hall Estate.
All our food, which is vegetarian, largely organic and locally-sourced, is prepared freshly by our in-house chefs and members of the College community for every meal.
Click here for a full breakdown of food and accommodation fees
All fees for MSc and PG Certificate students are due in full in September. A deposit of £1,500 is requested from MSc and PG Certificate students who accept an offer of a place, in order to secure their place on to their chosen programme. This is normally payable in June, and will be deducted from the balance due in September. Details of how to pay these fees are sent to students when they are formally accepted on to their chosen programme.
Students will need to budget for travel, books not held in the library, specialist research or University materials, clothing, stationery and other additional items and services (e.g. photocopying) that fall outside of course fees.
The University of Plymouth produces a signposting document for students looking to secure funding for postgraduate study. Click here to access this document
Another good information source on all matters pertaining to international students is UKCISA
We are proud to have established a scholarship fund in support of our MSc in Holistic Science by the Italian company ABOCA, one of Europe’s leading producers of organic herbal remedies. The scholarship provides a contribution of £2,000 towards fees and is intended for practitioners of herbal medicine and for ethnobotanists who are interested in applying insights from holistic science to their work with medicinal plants. Extensive information about ABOCA is available on their website
To apply for this scholarship please send a supporting statement with your MSc application clearly marked “ABOCA scholarship supporting statement” (this is in addition to the supporting statement you must include as part of your overall MSc application).
Schumacher College does not have Federal Aid Accreditation. This would be a requirement of the Federal Student Aid (FSA) programme for any US student applying for a loan in order to help fund their studies for this MSc in Holistic Science. Therefore, any US student needing a loan in order to take up a place on our MSc should not apply to the FSA programme.
