UCAS Visiting Students Program for International Students

Benefits & funding

• A placement at a UCAS college or a CAS institute, with access to its courses, laboratories and supervision. Applicants who have not found a supervisor can ask to be assigned to a suitable college, institute or supervisor.
• A certificate of achievement on completion. No degree is awarded.
• The program itself carries no stipend, and participants pay their own costs.
• Tuition is RMB 2,600 per person per month for a Regular Visiting Student and RMB 3,000 per person per month for a Senior Visiting Student.
• Other costs are a non-refundable application processing fee of RMB 450, medical insurance of RMB 800 per year or RMB 400 per half-year, and a shared double room on campus at RMB 900 per person per month. Payment is accepted in RMB, US dollars or euros.
• Chinese Government Scholarship route: covers tuition and the application fee and provides a living allowance, basic on-campus accommodation and medical insurance. The window usually opens in November and closes the following April, with each country setting its own closing date.
• UCAS Partial Scholarship for international students: waives tuition, the application fee and health insurance, with no living allowance.

Eligibility

• Applicants must be citizens of a country other than China and hold a valid ordinary passport with at least one year of remaining validity. The structured nationality field is left empty because it can record only required nationalities, not an excluded one.
• Regular Visiting Student track: at least one year of undergraduate study completed at the home university.
• Senior Visiting Student track: a master’s degree or higher, applying for joint doctoral work or research.
• English proficiency is required. Programs taught in Chinese require HSK level 5 with at least 180 points.
• Applicants must be of good character and in good health, without infectious disease or any condition that would prevent normal study, and must observe Chinese law and UCAS regulations.
• No age limit and no work-experience requirement are stated.

Application process

1. 1
   Choose the track, the field of study or research, and a preferred UCAS college or CAS institute.
2. 2
   Contact a potential supervisor where possible and ask for a Provisional Acceptance Form; applicants without one can agree to be assigned.
3. 3
   Register on the UCAS online admission system for international students at https://is.ucas.ac.cn/ at least three months before the intended registration date.
4. 4
   Upload the required documents: passport identity page, a two-inch full-face photograph, a CV covering the educational record, the highest degree certificate and transcripts, a study plan for the regular track or a research proposal for the senior track, two reference letters from professors or associate professors on official letterhead with contact details, the Provisional Acceptance Form if one has been issued, and the bank receipt for the application fee.
5. 5
   Pay the RMB 450 application processing fee and upload the receipt; the fee is not refunded.
6. 6
   Apply separately for the Chinese Government Scholarship through the dispatching authority in the applicant’s own country, or for the UCAS partial scholarship, if funding is needed.
7. 7
   Track the application in the online system, then register at the host college or institute on the assigned date.

Program timeline

1. Year-round

   applications are accepted throughout the year during working hours.

2. At least three months before the intended registration date

   the online application and all documents must be submitted.

3. UCAS published the Chinese-language 2026 visiting students notice.

   Nov 13, 2025

4. usual Chinese Government Scholarship window, with each country setting its own closing date.

   November to the following April

5. Assigned registration date

   admitted visiting students register at the host college or institute and start the program.