English Language Proficiency

International students and Permanent Residents of Canada

International students and Permanent Residents of Canada whose first language is not English are required to achieve the following level on a test of the English language.

Some countries and institutions are exempt from English language proficiency testing. You can determine if you need to take an English language test here.

The Department of Biological Sciences graduate program requirements are as follows (please note that these are higher than GPS requirements):


English Language Acceptable Test Scores
Exam Type Score

Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)

institution code: 0963

department code: 30

Total score of 100 with a score of at least 22 on each of the individual skill areas

International English Language Testing System (IELTS) 

Minimum overall band score of 7, with at least 6.5 on each band

Duolingo English Test

Duolingo English Test score of 140 for Spoken English Proficiency, with no subscore below 120.

Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic)

Overall minimum score of 68

Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB)

Overall minimum score of 85