Glossary of terms

Academic conditions: If you are made an offer of admission, this offer may be conditional on your satisfaction of certain requirements. These usually relate to qualifications listed as in-progress/incomplete on your application. For example, you may be required to obtain your undergraduate degree with upper second class honours (2:1) or a GPA of 3.5/4. You may also be required to take an LSE Summer School course and/or English language test. Any conditions will be confirmed on your offer letter and on the Graduate Application Tracker.

Application number: See ‘ID number’

Application status: You can check your application status (which will update you on what documentation we have received, whether your application has been sent to the department for consideration, if a decision has been made etc.) by tracking your application online using the Graduate Applicant Portal (GAP).

Conditions of offer: Any requirements set by the academic selector or the School. These must be satisfied before you can start your chosen programme. These can be academic conditions and/or official documentation requirements. 

Country of permanent residence: This should be your normal country of residence outside of term time.

Date of birth: The day, month, and year you were born. We use the British format of DAY/MONTH/YEAR. 

Decision: You should receive a decision within eight weeks of your application being sent to the selectors for consideration. (Note that this applies only to taught master's applicants - applicants for research study may have to wait longer.) The decision will be communicated to you by email by the Graduate Admissions Office, but the quickest way to find out what decision has been made is to check the Graduate Applicant Portal. Please do not contact the academic department directly to find out if a decision has been made; all decisions must be ratified by Graduate Admissions before they are released and the department will not be able to help you. You can find out more about the admissions process here.

Email address: This is your current contact email, and our preferred method of communication. If you change it please let us know by updating your contact details in your Graduate Applicant Portal. If we do not have an up to date, functioning email address for you, you are likely to miss out on vital information relating to your application.

Knowledge Base: The Graduate Admissions Office does not have a direct email address. Instead, we operate an online knowledge base which should give you an instant answer to most questions regarding the operation of the office and the application process. This operates in conjunction with the Graduate Applicant Portal which allows you to track the status of your application and the supporting documents we have processed, and our website, which carries all the latest news which may affect your application (such as office closure periods). If you need to contact the office to report a problem or if you cannot find an answer to your query using the above-named resources, you will have the opportunity to submit a written enquiry via the knowledge base.

Fee status: This states whether or not you are eligible to pay UK tuition fees. It is not as straightforward as you might think – you can read more about fee status classification here.

Financial support: When you apply to a master's programme you can also apply for financial support, including the Graduate Support Scheme. There is more information about the sources of financial support available on the Fees and Funding pages.

ID Number: This is your unique applicant number. You will be given your ID number in the acknowledgment email you receive after your application has been submitted, we have received both of your references, and your application has been processed. You should quote it whenever you contact us.  If you have previously applied to or been a student at the LSE, your applicant number will be the same as your previous applicant/student ID number. Unsure? Ask for a number reminder here.

Mode of study: This is either full-time or part-time. If you wish to change your intended mode of study, you can request this via your Graduate Applicant Portal.

Official documents: Essentially, an original or certified copy of a document such as a degree transcript or test score. You will be required to submit official copies of all the documents you have sent in your application if you are made an offer of admission. We will inform you at the offer stage if any further documentation is required.  

Supporting documents: Any documents that are required before your application can be sent to the selectors for consideration. We will confirm which supporting documents we have received, and which (if any) are still required in the acknowledgment email you receive after your application has been submitted, we have received both of your references, and your application has been processed. You can keep track of any documentation that you are waiting for the Graduate Admissions Office to process on the Graduate Application Tracker.

Transcript: You may also know this as a mark sheet. This is a list supplied by your institution of the courses/modules you took there and the marks/grades you obtained. You should be able to get the Registry department of your current or previous institution to send this to us.

This is a point-by-point guide to the main page of the Graduate Applicant Portal. If you find your details on this page to be incorrect, you should contact the Graduate Admissions office as soon as possible.

Applicant / Student ID

Applicant ID Number: This is your unique applicant number which you should quote whenever you contact the Graduate Admissions Office with regard to your application.

Date of Birth: Please ensure the date displayed is correct. The date format is Day/Month/Year. If it is shown incorrectly please submit changes on your Graduate Applicant Portal.

Applicant's Details

Title: A formal designation such as Mr, Ms, Miss, Mrs, Dr, Prof, Lord, Lady, HRH, and so forth.

Forenames / Given Name: These should be the names given to you at birth. 名

Surname / Family Name:  This should be your family name. 姓

Country of Permanent Residence: This should be your normal country of residence outside of term time.  If this is shown incorrectly please submit changes via Graduate Applicant Portal.

Permanent Home Address

Permanent Address: This should be the address where you normally live. If you are a student and do not live at home, this should be the address where you reside outside of term time. Use the 'addresses' menu in the Graduate Applicant Portal to update your address if you move house.

Postcode: This will only appear on UK addresses.

Home Phone: Your telephone contact number when residing at your permanent residence.

Other Phone: Additional telephone contact numbers when residing at your permanent residence.

Current Contact Details

Current Correspondence Address: Please note that if you provided only a Home address in your online application, this address will appear in both the Permanent Home address and the Current Correspondence address fields. If, in your application, you gave address(es) in addition to your home address, then your current correspondence address should be displayed here. All correspondence/email will be sent here.  Use the 'Addresses' option in the Graduate Applicant Portal to update your address if you move house.

Postcode/Zip Code: This will only appear on UK addresses.

Home Phone: Your telephone contact number when residing at your correspondence address.

Other Phone: Additional telephone numbers when residing at your correspondence address.

Mobile: Your mobile (cellular) telephone number when residing at your correspondence address.

Email: Your contact email address when residing at your correspondence address.

Current Application Status

Preference: Your ‘1^st’ or ‘2^nd’ (if applicable) programme choices.

Course: The written name of the programme to which you have applied.

Academic Year of Entry: The academic year in which you will commence your programme of study.

Month of Entry: All master's programmes commence in the Autumn term (late September/early October). MPhil/PhD programmes may also commence in January or April.

Mode of Study: This should read either ‘full-time’ or ‘part-time’. If you wish to change your mode of study, you can apply to do so via the Graduate Applicant Portal.

Fee Status: This states whether or not you eligible to pay UK tuition fees – see further information on fee status classification

CAS: Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies. See our Student Advice and Engagement Team (SAET) for further details.

Status of Application: This indicates the general status of your application in the application process: ‘held pending further preliminary documentation’ (i.e. incomplete, or, in the case of a second choice, not yet sent to the department for consideration because your first choice is still under consideration); ‘under consideration by the department’ (i.e. complete); and any confirmed decision along with the appropriate next steps. This will also indicate whether your application has been temporarily placed on the waiting list or reserve list; your response to any offer of admission; and any other relevant statuses.

Passed check: We have received an original or certified copy of this document or we have otherwise verified the relevant information as official and do not require any further evidence.

Copy received: We have received a copy of this document/information which is not considered official for offer-confirmation purposes, but which is sufficient for a decision to be made on your application. If an offer of admission is made, we will require an original or certified copy to be sent in order to verify this information.

Second Choice: Why is my second choice status showing as ‘held pending further preliminary documentation’ (incomplete) even though I have submitted all of the required documents?

Your second choice will not be sent to the department for consideration until and unless you are unsuccessful for your first choice. If your first choice is still under consideration, the status for your second choice will continue to display the default message that your second choice is incomplete, even if all documents have been received – this is not an error and you do not need to contact us about it.

If you are unsuccessful for your first choice and you have submitted all of the required supporting documents, your second choice application will be automatically sent to the department for consideration and the tracker status will be updated accordingly. The ‘My tasks’ section gives you an up to date list of the documents we have received and processed, and of any outstanding requirements.

Financial Undertaking Form: This shows whether you have returned your Financial Undertaking Form to indicate how you intend to pay your tuition fees.

Offer Letter: If you have been made an offer of admission, this will tell you when the letter was sent out to you and how soon you should expect to receive it. 

Graduate Support Scheme: When you apply to a master's programme you can also apply for the Graduate Support Scheme. The outcome of the assessment of this form will appear on your offer letter.

Proposed fees: If you hold an unconditional offer, you will be able to pay all or part of your tuition fees online using a credit or debit card.

LSE Login/Password: If you are made an offer of admission, your new LSE network login details will be created in late August/early September in preparation for your arrival as a student. When these details are ready to collect, a link will appear under this heading.

Conditions of Offer: If you have been made a conditional offer of admission, details of the conditions appear in this section of the page. This section also lists documents of which we require an original or certified copy.