English language requirements for UK Medicine: IELTS scores and WAEC English

1. Two layers: the medical school and the visa

Your English is assessed twice. The medical school sets the academic requirement for its course and checks it before an unconditional offer; this is the demanding layer, and it is the one every statement below describes. The Student visa has a separate English rule; for a degree-level course at a university that sponsors visas, the university normally assesses your English itself and confirms it on your Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies. Nigeria is not on the UK's list of majority-English-speaking countries, so you cannot rely on nationality alone for either layer; you need evidence the school accepts.

5. Which test to take, and when

• IELTS Academic is the test every school lists. Most also accept TOEFL iBT, PTE Academic and Cambridge C1 Advanced at scores they map themselves; the mapping is on each school's English-language page, not standardised.
• IELTS for UKVI (Academic) is the same test taken at a UKVI-approved centre. You need it only if a school or the visa route requires a Secure English Language Test; most degree-level applicants to visa-sponsoring universities do not, but a school may ask for it, so check before booking.
• Validity. Results are usually accepted for two years from the test date at the point of enrolment; some schools (Plymouth, in our records) ask for a result within twelve months of entry. Sit the test so it is still valid in September of your entry year.
• Component minimums are the trap. An overall 7.5 with a 6.5 in Writing fails a "7.0 in each component" rule. Plan your preparation around your weakest component, and allow time for a second sitting.
• Timing. The school needs the result before it confirms your offer, and you need it before the CAS. Taking the test before you submit UCAS lets you upload it with the application; taking it after an offer is common but leaves less margin.

6. The visa layer for an applicant from Nigeria

For the Student visa, the Home Office requires English at a set level, and for degree-level study a sponsoring university may assess it and state on the CAS that it has done so. In that case you present no separate test to UKVI. Where a sponsor does not assess, or the course is below degree level (some foundation years), a Secure English Language Test such as IELTS for UKVI is required. We have not yet verified the GOV.UK wording in our research records, so treat this as our understanding and confirm it on GOV.UK and with your university's visa team; the total cost page carries the visa facts we have verified.