Can an English-taught master's earn an IELTS waiver for PhD?

Direct answer: The answer changes by school, even inside one city. In the pages we read on 2026-10-31, Delft University of Technology and Leiden's social and behavioural sciences school exempt English-taught master's holders, Leiden's humanities school restricts exemption to listed countries, and Frankfurt School wants written proof of the language of instruction.

Delft University of Technology (n.d.) says non-native applicants "who have obtained an English-taught Master's degree" are in principle exempt, yet it may ask for a placement test when selectors doubt your English: "This test can only be taken at TU Delft and not online." Leiden's humanities school takes a different route. Its page lists the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Canada (not French-taught), Singapore, South Africa and Malta, and states: "Please note that only these documents are accepted as proof of the language proficiency" (Leiden University, n.d.-a). The social and behavioural sciences school at the same university lists "an English-speaking master's degree from a foreign university" among the qualifications that lift the obligation (Leiden University, n.d.-b).

Source: school admission pages read on 2026-10-31 (Delft University of Technology, n.d.; Leiden University, n.d.-a, n.d.-b; Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, n.d.).

Direct answer: Most schools want a document, not your word. Frankfurt School asks for proof from your university that English was the medium of instruction when the degree came from a non-English-speaking country, and a test score is the fallback when no document satisfies the school.

Frankfurt School of Finance & Management (n.d.) writes: "Applicants who are native English speakers or who have earned a degree from a university where the programme was taught exclusively in English may qualify for a waiver." The same checklist adds that, for a degree earned in a non-English-speaking country, you "have to submit proof from your university that the medium of instruction was English." The word "exclusively" matters. A master's with some English-language lectures and a thesis in Vietnamese is a harder case than a programme taught in English from the first lecture to the defence.

Think of the proof file as three layers, in the order a clerk would check them. The first layer is the country rule, which is the Leiden humanities model: is your degree from a country on the school's list? The second is the programme rule, which is the Delft and Leiden social sciences model: was your programme taught in English? The third is the document rule, which Frankfurt School states: can your university certify it in writing? A diploma that fails the first layer can still pass the second and third, and the reverse also happens.

The medium of instruction line on a diploma or transcript is the cleanest evidence. When it is missing, ask your registrar for a signed letter before you apply, and keep the school's reply that accepts it. A written reply that confirms your IELTS waiver for PhD is worth more than any rumour from a forum.

Direct answer: Not by itself. In one Australian study of 5,675 students, 19.45% of those whose previous award was taught in English still scored below 50%, close to the 18.42% of students who had passed the university's own English test. An IELTS waiver for PhD is about paperwork, and this research is about readiness.

Oliver, Vanderford and Grote (2012) analysed 5,675 undergraduate and postgraduate students from non-English-speaking backgrounds at one Australian university over three years. Of 694 students with an average mark whose previous award was in English, 19.45% scored below 50%. Of 1,270 students with a prior English-medium academic programme, 18.58% did so. Among 353 students admitted on IELTS the figure was 10.27%, while among students with no English evidence on file it was 17.51%. Those who had passed the university's own English test came in at 18.42%. The authors write: "Nearly one-fifth of students who had previously studied in English-medium courses (i.e., in two categories: English was medium of instruction for previous award and Post secondary academic program using English as the medium) also received a WAM below 50%." (Oliver et al., 2012). They conclude that standardised tests such as IELTS give the best evidence of later success.

Two cautions apply. The sample is coursework students at a single university, and it dates from 2006 to 2008. A PhD is judged on a thesis, so an average mark is a loose proxy for doctoral performance.

Macaro, Curle, Pun, An and Dearden (2018) reviewed 83 studies of English-medium instruction and conclude that "the research evidence to date is insufficient to assert that EMI benefits language learning" (Macaro et al., 2018, p. 36). Studying in English does not guarantee that your English improves.

Direct answer: Newer work points the same way. In a 2026 study of 743 international students on taught postgraduate courses at one New Zealand university, English proficiency was the strongest predictor of results, while grades in the previous qualification did not predict them. It covers coursework, not PhDs.

Ruegg, Petersen and Jin (2026) studied every international student with English as an additional language who took postgraduate taught courses at one New Zealand university between 2019 and 2025. The 743 students came from 57 countries, and 70 of them (9%) were from Vietnam. In the analysis that included an IELTS-equivalent score, covering 99 students, the model explained 18% of the variance in grade point average, and the English score was a significant predictor (β = 0.313, p < 0.001). Achievement in the previous qualification was not (p = 0.135). A separate analysis of 86 students found that reading scores predicted results (β = 0.345).

The authors list their own limits. Only 99 and 86 students had the English evidence on file, the data came from one university, and the models explained a modest share of variance. Treat the result as a signal from taught courses, not as a rule for doctoral supervision.

One more number helps Vietnamese readers judge how far a local English-taught programme sits from a doctoral threshold. Sahan, Galloway and McKinley (2025) surveyed 1,377 students at 17 universities in Thailand and Vietnam. They report that entry requirements for English-medium programmes there were generally an overall IELTS of 5.5 to 6.5. That is below the 7.0 asked by Delft and both Leiden schools, which is our own comparison and not a finding of the study.

Direct answer: Take the test when your proof is weak, the deadline is close, or the school's page leaves your case open. A signed letter can take weeks, while a score is a single document that stays valid for 2 years at Delft and Leiden.

Source: decision rule written by MAAS from the school pages above, 2026-10-31. It is an editorial tool, not a finding of any study.

Delft states that online IELTS and the Indicator version are not accepted (Delft University of Technology), and its page also sets a limit of 2 years on score age. If you do sit the test, choose a format the school lists, book it early enough for the result to arrive before the deadline, and keep a copy of the score report in the same folder as your diploma and transcript. Our comparison of PTE Academic and IELTS shows which tests a few doctoral programmes accept, and the guide to the TOEFL iBT for university admission covers the other major score.

An adviser can read the school's page beside your diploma and tell you which layer your case rests on, which letter to request and which deadline decides the question. That is easy to miss when you are the one holding the diploma, and it is where an IELTS waiver for PhD request most often stalls: the applicant sends the wrong document to the right office, or the right document to the wrong school.

The PhD Application Strategy and Execution service reviews your shortlist and supporting documents with you, step by step. You approve every message before it is sent, and the service works as advisory support with no grade target and no promise about the outcome. Whether a school grants a waiver stays with its admissions office. The adviser checks that your question to the office is specific, for example which wording on the diploma satisfies the rule, so that the answer you receive can be filed and reused for the next school on your list. For the whole timeline, the PhD application guide shows where language evidence sits between the proposal and the decision.