For a mainland Chinese bachelor's degree, the University of Liverpool（利物浦大学）asks for an average of 65% if your university is Tier 1, 70% if it is Tier 2, and 78% if it is Tier 3 — but not every faculty accepts the highest tier. The School of Computer Science and the School of Psychology both set their own bars, and MBA applications from Tier 3 institutions are not accepted at all. Below is how the tiers are defined, where the exceptions sit, and what you can check yourself before you apply.
The three score bands for 2025 entry
The university applies these averages to taught postgraduate (PGT) courses for autumn 2025 entry:
| Academic background | All departments (except special ones) | School of Computer Science | MBA | School of Psychology |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mainland bachelor (full-time and non-full-time) — Tier 1 | 65% | 65% | 70% | 70%–72% |
| Mainland bachelor — Tier 2 | 70% | 70% | 75% | 75%–77% |
| Mainland bachelor — Tier 3 | 78% | Not accepted | 83% | 83%–85% |
Note that the psychology figures are given as a range rather than a single number, and the School of Computer Science and MBA columns pull in the opposite direction at Tier 3: computer science closes the door to Tier 3, while MBA asks for its highest average.
Which tier your university falls into
The tier definitions are:
- Tier 1: national Double First-Class institutions.
- Tier 2: all non-Double First-Class universities (no list), plus independent colleges that have been converted (with a separate attached list, updated from time to time).
- Tier 3: independent colleges that have not been converted (no list).
So the first check is whether your institution has been converted. If it has, its new name appears in the university's conversion list for 2025 entry — for example, 成都信息工程大学银杏酒店管理学院 is now listed as 成都银杏酒店管理学院 (Gingko College of Hospitality Management), and 广州大学松田学院 as 广州应用科技学院 (Guangzhou College of Applied Science and Technology).
If your college appears in the separate group of institutions that have not been converted but are still assessed at Tier 2 standard, it is treated as Tier 2 rather than Tier 3. That group includes 桂林理工大学博文管理学院 (now 南宁理工学院 / Nanning College of Technology), 四川大学锦城学院 (成都锦城学院 / Chengdu Jincheng College), and 哈尔滨工业大学华德应用技术学院 (哈尔滨华德学院 / Harbin Huade University), among others.
Check the list by the Chinese and English names together. Transliterations in the source occasionally drop spaces or mix in Roman numerals, so searching by the original Chinese name is the safer route.
Mainland–overseas joint programmes
If your degree is a TNE (transnational educational programme) joint programme, single- or dual-certificate, the requirement is stated from the foreign partner's side: 2:2 for most departments, 2:2 for the School of Computer Science, 2:1 for MBA, and 2:1 / high 2:1 for the School of Psychology. Your home institution's tier does not apply here. For individual programme detail, the university's programme pages take precedence.
Applicants with non-full-time or self-taught backgrounds
Non-full-time bachelor's backgrounds — 专升本 (top-up degrees), 自考 (self-study examination), 函授 (correspondence) and other part-time routes — may apply to all PGT courses if they hold the dual certificate. The scoring still refers to the undergraduate institution's marks and tier.
Separately, the university has dropped the WeChat mini-programme pre-application and its application fee; all courses can now be applied for directly online.
English requirements and exemptions
You are exempt from the English language condition if your final year of study was in the UK, Australia, the United States, New Zealand or Ireland. Canada is considered for exemption on a case-by-case basis, with the offer being decisive. Specific score requirements per programme are set on the programme pages; the country page is the place to confirm the current position for your own nationality.
How to self-check before you apply
- Write down your university's exact Chinese name and its English name.
- Look that name up in the university's conversion list for 2025 entry.
- If it has been converted, note whether the new name sits in the converted list or in the not-converted-but-Tier-2 group.
- Read off the average for your tier and your faculty.
- Check whether your faculty is one of the special columns — Computer Science, MBA or Psychology — because Tier 3 is handled differently in each.
- If you are a joint programme applicant, use the foreign-partner requirement instead of the tier table.
- Confirm the English requirement for your programme, and check whether your final year of study was in one of the five exempt countries.
- Use the programme page on liverpool.ac.uk as the final word, since individual pages take precedence over summary tables.