Guide · Without IELTS · 3 min read
Study abroad without IELTS from Nepal: what's accepted, country by country.
You can study abroad without IELTS, but almost never without proving your English. PTE Academic and TOEFL iBT are accepted by most universities we work with, and by Australia's student visa at the listed scores. Some UK and European programmes accept a medium-of-instruction (MOI) letter or their own test. Australia's visa never accepts an MOI letter, and Nepali passport holders aren't exempt anywhere.
The short version
- PTE Academic and TOEFL iBT are accepted by most universities we work with, and by Australia's visa at the scores Home Affairs lists.
- An MOI letter works at some UK and European programmes. Australia's visa: never.
- UK universities can confirm English themselves for degree-level courses; your CAS says how.
- Many European programmes decide programme by programme. Check each one before you apply.
- Without IELTS isn't without English: a score you can reach in weeks often opens more doors than an MOI letter.
What works where
| Option | Universities | Student visa |
|---|---|---|
| PTE Academic | Accepted by most universities we work with | Australia: yes, at the listed score. UK: as confirmed on the CAS |
| TOEFL iBT | Accepted by most universities | Australia: yes, at the listed score (new 1 to 6 scale from January 2026) |
| University’s own English test | Some UK universities; some in Cyprus and Europe | UK: possible for degree level, via the CAS |
| MOI letter | Some UK and European programmes | Australia: no |
| Nothing | No country we cover |
Country by country
| Country | Without IELTS? |
|---|---|
| Australia | Only with another listed test (PTE, TOEFL and others). Never an MOI letter |
| United Kingdom | Often, at degree level: PTE, TOEFL, the university’s assessment or an MOI letter, as the university decides |
| Germany | English master’s: IELTS, TOEFL, sometimes an MOI letter; German-taught: a German test instead |
| Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway | Accepted tests listed per programme; some accept other proof for some countries’ degrees, rarely Nepal’s |
| Netherlands, Belgium | Mostly IELTS or TOEFL; some accept other proof |
| Cyprus | Often the university’s own English test |
PTE: the most common “without IELTS”
Most of our students who skip IELTS take PTE Academic: fully computer-scored, results usually in about 2 days, and accepted by Australia’s visa. Our PTE students gained +14 points on average in 5 weeks. IELTS, PTE or TOEFL compares the three.
The MOI letter: when it helps, when it hurts
| It helps | It hurts |
|---|---|
| A UK or European programme that lists it as accepted | Australia’s visa, which never accepts it |
| Your degree was genuinely taught in English | A credibility interview where your spoken English doesn’t match it |
| You have strong English already | A scholarship that needs a test score |
Don’t get this confused
“Without IELTS” doesn’t mean “without English”. You’ll study, write and work in English, and the credibility interview tests it. Our IELTS and PTE students gained +1.0 band and +14 points on average in 6 weeks and 5 weeks. A score you can reach in weeks often opens more doors than an MOI letter.
From our files. Anita Chaudhary from Nepalgunj was sure her IELTS 6.0 wasn’t enough for Finland and was looking for a way around the test. We read each university’s admission page instead of a Facebook post: her programme asked for 6.0. She’s studying International Business in Turku with a 50% waiver.
