Admissions

Key dates

重要日期

Applications, interviews, offers and terms for the September and January intakes. Every date on this page is a placeholder: the college's academic calendar for the coming cycle has not yet been confirmed.

Open days & visits How to apply

Important: these dates are pending confirmation

The college has not yet published its confirmed academic calendar for the next entry cycle, so every date on this page is a placeholder — shown as [DATE] rather than as a date that looks real but has not been agreed. The sequence of events is accurate; the dates are not yet fixed.

Please do not book travel, arrange leave, or make a visa application on the basis of anything on this page. Confirmed dates will be published here, and applicants holding an offer are notified by email. If you need a date urgently, contact admissions and we will tell you what is and is not yet settled.

Next intake: [INTAKE — TO BE CONFIRMED]
Applications open: [DATE]
Application deadline: [DATE]
Teaching begins: [DATE]

Applying

Application and admissions dates

Both intakes recruit through the same process: apply, talk to us, receive an offer, accept it. The dates differ, and applicants who need a DBS check should allow time for it.

Indicative sequence for the next entry cycle. Every date shown is a placeholder pending confirmation of the academic calendar.
Milestone	September intake	January intake
Applications open	[DATE] Applications open for the September intake.	[DATE] Applications open for the January intake.
Application deadline	[DATE] Applications received by this date are considered together.	[DATE] Applications received by this date are considered together.
Late applications	[DATE] Considered while places remain, and only where a DBS check can be completed in time.	[DATE] Considered while places remain, and only where a DBS check can be completed in time.
Interview window	[DATE RANGE] Conversations held on campus or online.	[DATE RANGE] Conversations held on campus or online.
Offers issued	[DATE] Offers are sent by email, with the fee schedule and any conditions.	[DATE] Offers are sent by email, with the fee schedule and any conditions.
Deadline to accept your place	[DATE] Acceptance and deposit must be received by this date.	[DATE] Acceptance and deposit must be received by this date.
Deposit due	[DATE] Amount confirmed in your offer letter — see Fees & funding.	[DATE] Amount confirmed in your offer letter — see Fees & funding.
Registration and enrolment	[DATE] Includes identity checks and your health declaration.	[DATE] Includes identity checks and your health declaration.
Induction and pre-course safety training	[DATE] Attendance required before any practical session.	[DATE] Attendance required before any practical session.
Teaching begins	[DATE] Autumn term begins.	[DATE] Spring term begins.

The full process, stage by stage, is set out on the how to apply page. Please read the entry requirements before applying, and allow extra time if you need a visa or an overseas criminal record certificate.

Term dates

The academic year

Three terms, with clinical teaching timetabled alongside them. Diploma programmes run across the whole year, including a summer clinical block.

Term dates are confirmed annually and published here before the start of the academic year. Students are expected to attend all timetabled sessions in person; the on-campus blocks for blended programmes are confirmed well in advance so that students who work can arrange leave.

Attendance requirements, absence reporting and the procedure for missed sessions are set out in the student policies.

Term dates for the coming academic year. All dates are placeholders pending confirmation.
Period	Dates	Notes
Autumn term	[DATE]	Indicative 12 teaching weeks, with a reading week and a mid-term break. Exact weeks are confirmed in the academic calendar.
Spring term	[DATE]	Indicative 12 teaching weeks, including the January intake's first block of on-campus teaching.
Summer term	[DATE]	Indicative 10 teaching weeks, followed by the assessment period and the clinical block for diploma students.
Reading weeks and public holidays	[DATE RANGE]	Teaching pauses; the teaching clinic may still run. Individual dates are published with the calendar.
Clinical block (diploma programmes)	[DATE RANGE]	Supervised clinical days are timetabled separately from theory teaching, and may fall outside term time.

Assessment

Examination and assessment periods

Assessment is spread across the year rather than concentrated in a single set of finals. Most modules combine written work with a practical or clinical assessment.

Assessment windows for the coming cycle. All dates are placeholders pending confirmation.
Assessment	Window	Notes
Coursework and portfolio submission deadlines	[DATE]	Set per module and published in the module handbook. Late submission is governed by the assessment policy.
Autumn assessment period	[DATE RANGE]	Written papers and practical assessments for autumn-term modules.
Spring assessment period	[DATE RANGE]	Written papers, herb identification and point location examinations.
Practical and clinical assessments	[DATE RANGE]	Assessed in the teaching clinic and timetabled separately; a qualified supervisor must be present.
Referred and deferred assessments	[DATE RANGE]	One resit opportunity per assessment, subject to the academic regulations.
Results published	[DATE]	Released to students through the applicant and student portal.
Graduation	[DATE]	Held annually; graduands register in advance.

How assessment works

Point location and needling technique are assessed practically, against a published checklist, with an external examiner present.
Herb identification is assessed using unlabelled samples, by sight and by smell.
Clinical work is assessed through a case portfolio and direct observation in the supervised teaching clinic.
Written papers cover theory, safety and professional practice.

Assessment methods for each programme are listed on the programme pages.

Examination adjustments

Students with a disability, a long-term health condition or a specific learning difference can request adjustments to assessment — additional time, a separate room, rest breaks or an adapted practical assessment. Requests should be made [XX] weeks before the assessment period. See access and learning support.

Online study

Dates differ for online-only students

If you are studying fully online — on Chinese Health Literacy, Diet & Lifestyle Therapy, or the theory components of a blended programme — the calendar above is not the one that applies to you.

Online-only students work to a different pattern. Start points are more frequent than the two campus intakes, teaching is released in units rather than delivered to a term timetable, and assessment windows are wider so that students can fit study around work and caring responsibilities.

The differences in outline: online cohorts begin at [ONLINE START DATES]; units are released [RELEASE SCHEDULE]; written assessments have a submission window of [XX] days rather than a single date; and live discussion sessions are held at [SESSION TIMES], with recordings available afterwards.

Two things do not differ. The academic standard is identical — the same learning outcomes, the same assessment criteria and the same marking — and any student who needs to attend campus for a practical element, a herb identification day or supervised clinical practice is given those dates well in advance.

Programme pages state which elements require attendance: see Diet & Lifestyle Therapy, Chinese Health Literacy and all programmes.

Dates not published yet? Apply anyway.

Applications are read as they arrive, and we will tell you which intake you are applying for and when each stage will happen. Nothing is decided until you have spoken to us.

How to apply Ask about dates