Applying to UK universities from Canada
What they ask of each province, what they will pay you, and how Canadian student loans work abroad.
On the cover: the Canadian Rockies. Canadian student loans can be used at UK universities designated for your province. Photo: Igor Kyryliuk and Tetiana Kravchenko / Unsplash.
The Bottom Line
Canadian families have more support for a UK degree than most. Canadian student loans can be used at UK universities your province recognises, 110 of the 145 universities we researched publish what they ask of Canadian applicants, and ten universities offer scholarships open to Canadian students — most of them automatic.
The complication is that Canada isn't one qualification but a dozen. UK universities often set a separate requirement for each province, and the marks asked range from 65% to 96%.
What you absolutely need to know:
- Canadian student loans can be used at UK universities your province designates
- Requirements are set province by province — from 65% to 96%
- For the most selective universities, the diploma alone may not be enough
- Most Canadian students won't need an English test — but a few universities still ask
- Ten universities offer scholarships open to Canadian students, most of them automatic — and four are for law
- If your child is taking the IB, each course sets its own points score
1. Canadian student loans can be used at UK universities your province designates
The Canada Student Financial Assistance Program reaches UK universities through its designated-institutions list. Imperial College London, the University of Edinburgh and Robert Gordon University each state that they are recognised for Canadian student loan applications.
The important detail is that designation is confirmed by your own province or territory, not once for the whole of the UK. A university designated for students from one province may not be designated for another.
Every province we checked runs its own student aid as well, and so does Yukon. Ontario's OSAP, Quebec's Aide financière aux études, and the schemes in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador can all fund study at a school outside Canada that is designated for that province's residents. One recent change: from 1 August 2026, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island and Yukon no longer fund students at private, for-profit institutions abroad.
Private lending is thinner. Of the 14 Canadian banks we checked, 3 publish terms confirming they can fund a UK degree. Beyond the banks, Desjardins — a credit union — offers a student line of credit for study abroad at a government-recognised institution, up to $60,000 for a four-year undergraduate degree, for residents of Quebec and Ontario.
| Country | Lenders |
|---|---|
| India | 16 |
| Nepal | 9 |
| Sri Lanka | 9 |
| China | 6 |
| Malaysia | 5 |
| Canada | 3 |
| Nigeria | 3 |
| United States | 2 |
| Japan | 1 |
Banks and lenders from our first research pass. Source: Telariq data.
What this means for you: ask your provincial student aid office whether each university on your list is designated for your province, before you apply.
2. Requirements are set province by province — from 65% to 96%
110 of the 145 universities we researched publish a requirement for Canadian applicants, and many publish a separate one for each province. The marks asked vary as much by university as by province.
| University | Published requirement |
|---|---|
| Anglia Ruskin University | Alberta: 65% in five grade 12 subjects. Ontario: 70% |
| University of Oxford | Set by province and offer level; 90% where an A is required, 93% where an A* is required |
| UCL | Ontario Secondary School Diploma with 96%; the same 96% in five academic grade 12 subjects for Alberta and British Columbia |
Each university's published requirement for Canadian applicants. Individual courses may ask for more. Source: Telariq data.
Quebec is handled differently again: several universities ask for the Diplôme d'études collégiales from a CEGEP rather than the secondary diploma.
What this means for you: look for your own province on each university's Canadian page. A mark comfortably above one university's requirement can fall well short at another.
3. For the most selective universities, the diploma alone may not be enough
The University of Cambridge is explicit: applicants with the Canadian high school diploma alone "will not be competitive", and it recommends further study before applying.
What this means for you: if your child is aiming for the most selective UK universities, look at AP courses, the IB or a year of university study alongside the diploma.
4. Most Canadian students won't need an English test — but a few universities still ask
The Home Office treats Canada as a majority English-speaking country, so a Canadian national doesn't need to prove their English for the student visa.
Universities set their own rule, though. Regent's University London, for example, asks every applicant for proof of English regardless of nationality.
What this means for you: check each university's English requirement for Canadian nationals rather than assuming it's waived.
5. Ten universities offer scholarships open to Canadian students
We found 10 scholarships at 10 universities open to Canadian students — most only to Canadians, a few to a group of countries that includes Canada. Where a value is published, the typical award is £3,000, ranging from £1,000 to £8,500. Seven are automatic — awarded with the offer, with nothing extra to apply for.
Four of the ten are for law. UK law degrees are popular with Canadians, and the University of Exeter, the University of Leeds, the University of Southampton and Queen's University Belfast all offer awards aimed at Canadian law students.
| University | Value | How you get it |
|---|---|---|
| University of Exeter | £7,500 across the LLB | Automatic |
| London Metropolitan University | £5,500 a year | Automatic |
| University of Stirling | £5,000 a year | Automatic |
Three of the 10. The full list — every award, its value, whether it renews each year and how to get it — is in the Telariq app. Source: Telariq data.
What this means for you: an automatic Canadian scholarship is money you receive simply by accepting the offer. It is worth knowing which universities on your list have one.
6. If your child is taking the IB, each course sets its own points score
UK universities treat the IB the same wherever it is taken, so an IB student's requirement isn't on the university's Canadian page. It is a points score out of 45, often with a minimum in three Higher Level subjects, set course by course. King's College London publishes a ladder from 40 points down to 29; the University of Birmingham asks for 32 points for most courses.
What this means for you: look for the IB points each course asks for, usually on the course page.
Our advice
Confirm designation with your province first. Canadian student loans depend on it, university by university.
Find your province on each university's Canadian page. The requirement is often set province by province.
Aim higher than the diploma for the most selective universities. AP, the IB or a year of university strengthens an application.
List the Canadian scholarships on your shortlist, and note which are automatic. The full list is in the Telariq app.
Confirm entry requirements, scholarships and loan terms with each university before you apply.
The not so fine print: what was excluded in this report
- Course-level entry requirements — these are each university's general requirement for Canadian applicants, and a course may ask for more
- Which UK universities are designated for which province — confirm this with your provincial student aid office
- The names of individual private lenders, which sit in Telariq's records
- Interest rates and the cost of borrowing
- Medicine, dentistry and veterinary sciences, which are outside Telariq's coverage
A note on this guide. This is what we found when we read each provider's own pages. Its purpose is to show you that options exist and where to start looking. There will be routes we haven't found yet, and some here may have changed since we checked — so treat it as a starting point, not a complete list, and confirm everything with the provider before you rely on it.
Have a question? We'd love to hear from you — admin@telariq.com