International applicants

Undergraduate level entry requirements

Preliminary year (year one)

For admission to our foundation courses, students from Thailand are required to complete Mathayom 6 (M6) at 75 units minimum (12 years).

Qualifying year (year two)

Students from Thailand are usually required to successfully complete a recognised foundation course or year at university.

Students taking A levels or the IB should refer to our international qualifications section.

Students taking APs or SATIIs should refer to entry requirements for the USA.

Postgraduate level entry requirements

A bachelor's degree from a recognised university. A typical GPA requirement is 3.0 out of 4.0.

"Employers asked less about my grades and more about my time at UNNC: what I had studied, how many places I had travelled, how well I understood the market. I could answer all of it with real confidence."

Onjira Sriphaiboon

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, MSc 2019
International Customer Communication Senior Manager, Central Department Store, Bangkok, Thailand

I went to see it for myself

When I decided to do a master's, I already knew I wanted it to be in China. A friend of mine had chosen UNNC, and for months she was posting constantly and so I lived it through her feed. So when I was in Shanghai studying Mandarin, I went to see the Ningbo campus for myself. That visit decided it.

My flight got cancelled two days before

I had completed all the registration online and it was straightforward, so I felt confident going in. I didn't speak to any Thai students beforehand because the university's instructions were clear enough on the website, though I did join the group chat before travelling. The plan was to fly directly to Ningbo. Then, two days before I flew out, my flight was cancelled without warning and I only found out by chance the night before. I booked the university's shuttle bus in a panic, and the school had it so well organised that I still made it to my dorm without any trouble.

Everything is bilingual

My Chinese was not that good, and it didn't matter. There were staff waiting at the airport pickup point, and every international student there looked as lost as I did. Once you're at the university everything is bilingual, English and Chinese, and all the staff speak English, so no problem at all. Even if you speak no Chinese, as long as you follow the instructions there is always someone to ask. They have student group leads too, and I found them very responsive.

Time was ticking

In my second semester I made the most of it, because I realised time was ticking and I only had four months left. The whole semester was so fun for me and I was lucky to be surrounded by such amazing people in my class. For the Chinese cultural course I enrolled in, we visited a farm in Hangzhou to pick tea leaves, took some great photos together and had a joyful afternoon that I still think about.

Innovation as part of the course

I chose the master's because I wanted to understand business in China properly. We ran project after project with local companies and what stayed with me was the frameworks rather than the theory. I still use them. In the second semester everyone had to develop an idea, and our group designed a wearable air filter called Snif It. We won first place, and the project later became a case study for the undergraduates.

I got a job offer even before graduating

I was applying for jobs while I was still finishing my dissertation, and I had a job offer and started before I graduated. This was before China tourism had taken off, so employers asked less about my grades and more about my time at UNNC: what I had studied, how many places I had travelled, how well I understood the market. I could answer all of it with real confidence. I joined AirAsia covering the China, China's Hong Kong and Macao market, and I am now International Customer Communication Senior Manager at Central Department Store in Bangkok, working on inbound tourism.

I also went back to China quite often after graduating, partly because I was running my own clothing store and frequently sourcing products in Guangzhou. That was exactly what I had wanted out of studying at UNNC.

Great people, lots of memorable experiences

If you're deciding between offers, ask yourself what you actually want out of the experience, because in my case the culture and the business side turned out to be the same thing. Ningbo is two hours from Shanghai by bullet train, so nothing felt far away. Living costs were comparable to Bangkok and a fraction of what Europe or the US would have cost me. I came away with a real understanding of how business works in China, built great relationships, and gained so many memorable experiences. It's a choice I would make all over again.