Imperial College London Acceptance Rates 2023 – The Definitive Guide

Imperial College London is one of the most prestigious universities in the world, so acceptance rates are very low for many of its degrees. In this guide, we'll unpack the acceptance rates of all the major degrees that Imperial offers to see how likely you are to earn your place.

Last Updated: 17th October 2024

You are here:

Table of Contents

Imperial College London is one of the most popular universities in the UK, rivaling Oxford and Cambridge in terms of fame and rankings. And, just like the, it’s hard to get a place at Imperial.  

Imperial receives over 25,000 applications each year, more than either Oxbridge university. And yet, there are only around 3,000 places available. That means that you will need to be within the top 10% of applicants to have a chance of getting your place, which isn’t easy to do. 

The first step to getting your place is to understand your chances of success, which is exactly what this guide will help you do. We’ve broken down the success rates of each major course taught at Imperial and analysed some key data points to show you what your odds are. If you’re ready, let’s begin: 

Want to skip to a specific faculty? Select one of the buttons below: 

Imperial College London Acceptances Rates - overall

Firstly, what is a success rate? Simply put, it’s an umbrella term for two pieces of data that are crucial for us to understand. Firstly, we have the acceptance rate of a degree. This is used to determine what percentage of applicants were admitted onto a course, which we calculate like so:

Number of admitted applicants/Total number of applicants

We also need to consider offer rates, which are calculated in the same way as the acceptance rates, except looking at the number of students who were given offers. The offer and acceptance rates are usually different for a course because not every applicant with an offer ends up studying on a course. This may be because a student didn’t meet the grade requirements or because they chose to study at a different university. 

Both statistics are important to consider, but offer rates are generally the more important one if you’re an applicant, as getting an offer is the most difficult part of the process and the part you will have to work the most towards. When applying, there are many factors that could impact your chances of success, but once you’ve received your offer, the main barrier left is achieving your required grades in your exams. 

Firstly, let’s look at the admissions statistics for Imperial overall. We’ll take a look at the last five years to understand how admissions have changed, so be aware that the year shown is the year of the UCAS cycle, not the year of entry. 

Imperial College London Acceptance Rates (2019 - 2023)

2023

Applicants: 30,739

Offers: 7,948

Acceptances: 3,137

Offer Rate: 25.9%

Acceptance Rate: 10.2%

2022

Applicants: 28,877

Offers: 7,616

Acceptances: 3,092 

Offer Rate: 26.4%

Acceptance Rate: 10.7%

2021

Applicants: 28,905

Offers: 7,821

Acceptances: 3,308

Offer Rate: 27.1%

Acceptance Rate: 11.4%

2020

Applicants: 25,780

Offers: 8,758

Acceptances: 3,454

Offer Rate: 34.0%

Acceptance Rate: 13.4%

2019

Applicants: 23,532

Offers: 8,271

Success Rate: 2,857

Offer Rate: 35.1%

Acceptance Rate: 12.1%

As we can see, success rates have been getting consistently lower since 2020, in line with the continual increase of applicants (excluding 2022). Admissions seemed to have been impacted heavily by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, where the offer and acceptance rates were much higher than following years.   

It’s worth noting that, starting from 2021, applications for Medicine at Imperial rose sharply (3,365 in 2020 vs 4,045 in 2021) despite having no additional places available, which could be attributed to the nearly 7% drop in offer rate this year. 

In 2023, applications were at their highest point, but with fewer offers and acceptances than in previous years, success rates are currently at their lowest point in over five years. 

Imperial vs Oxbridge - Acceptance Rates

As one of the UK’s top universities and a member of the G5 Universities, Imperial is often compared to the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge, together known as Oxbridge. These are two of the oldest and most famous universities in the world, meaning they are also popular choices amongst applicants. 

They’re also extremely competitive, with a rigorous admissions process, but how competitive are they compared to Imperial? 

Oxford Acceptance Rates 2023

Applicants: 23,211

Offers: 3,721

Acceptances: 3,219

Offer Rate: 16.0%

Acceptance Rate: 13.9%

Cambridge Acceptance Rates 2023

Applicants: 21,445

Offers: 4,553

Acceptances: 3,557 

Offer Rate: 21.2%

Acceptance Rate: 16.6%

As you can see, each university receives fewer applications than Imperial each year (over 9,000 less at Cambridge), but they admit a comparable amount of students. The Oxbridge universities give out far fewer offers than Imperial, meaning there is less of a gap between the offer and acceptance rates.

Speaking of success rates, we can see that Imperial was actually much more difficult to get into in 2023. While the offer rate was higher than either university, the final acceptance rate of 10.2% is nearly 4% lower than Oxford and over 6% lower than Cambridge.

However, this doesn’t mean Oxford or Cambridge are easy to get into. Plus, as we’ll soon see, the addition of a new degree with an extremely low acceptance rate will have negatively impacted the overall success rate. The main takeaway is that all of these universities are incredibly competitive. 

You can learn more about the acceptance rates at Oxford and Cambridge in our dedicated guides: 

Only a quarter of Imperial applicants were offered their place, but UniAdmissions will drastically increase your chances of success

To have the best chance of getting into Imperial College London, enrol in our Imperial Programme to receive world-class application support from start to finish. Our students have access to expert resources, one-to-one tuition sessions, intensive courses and much more, all designed to give them the best possible chance of success. 

Discover our Imperial Programme by clicking the button below to learn how you can enrol and boost your chances of success.

Imperial Acceptances Rates - Top Five Subjects

To start, let’s look at the five most popular degrees offered by Imperial based on the number of applicants in 2023. Are these degrees the most competitive? Let’s find out:

Imperial Medicine Acceptance Rate

Imperial is one of the most revered medical schools in the UK, so it’s no surprise that its standard Medicine degree sees so many applicants each year – over 500 more than both Oxford and Cambridge. 

2023

Applicants: 3,459

Offers: 648

Acceptances: 344

Offer Rate: 18.7%

Acceptance Rate: 9.9%

As well as having the most applicants, this degree also has the most offers and acceptances of any degree at Imperial. Despite this, the success rates are still fairly low, with less than 10% of applicants ultimately being admitted. 

Imperial Economics Acceptance Rate

The second most popular degree at Imperial was one that was only introduced in 2023: Economics, Finance and Data Science.

Being the only course currently taught by the Imperial Business School, it is fairly different from the other degrees taught at the university due to the elements of humanities along side typical STEM teaching. It has become one of the most popular Economics degrees in the UK, but how many students are actually accepted? 

2023

Applicants: 2,882

Offers: 188

Acceptances: 78

Offer Rate: 6.5%

Acceptance Rate: 2.7%

For its first year running, student numbers were kept very low, leading to the lowest offer and acceptance rates of any degree at Imperial. While this may be an abnormal result due to the circumstances, it’s likely that these success rates won’t rise drastically in the 2024 cycle. 

Imperial Mechanical Engineering Acceptance Rate

Here, we have Imperial’s most popular Engineering degree by quite a wide margin. Imperial offers many different Engineering degrees, but this is the one that many will imagine when thinking about the subject. 

2023

Applicants: 2,004

Offers: 429

Acceptances: 184

Offer Rate: 21.4%

Acceptance Rate: 9.2%

The success rates here are very standard, with the acceptance rate staying below 10%. However, it’s worth knowing that this is an MEng course rather than BEng course (we’ll learn more about this later). 

Imperial Computing Acceptance Rate

As Imperial’s equivalent to Computer Science, which has been one of the most popular degrees for students in recent years, it’s no surprise to see Computing in the top five most popular Imperial degrees (specifically the undergraduate variant). Computer Science degrees are notoriously difficult to get into, so how does Imperial’s compare?

2023

Applicants: 1,443

Offers: 230

Acceptances: 74

Offer Rate: 15.9%

Acceptance Rate: 5.1%

While the offer rate for this course is fairly standard, the acceptance rate is very low, sitting at just above 5%. However, this isn’t the most competitive variant of Computing, as some of the more specialised courses have even lower acceptance rates (we’ll see these later in this guide). 

Imperial Biochemistry Acceptance Rate

A fairly niche subject, Imperial’s Biochemistry degree is the most popular in the UK and is an easy choice for anyone looking to enter that field. Is it easy to get a place though?

2023

Applicants: 1,327

Offers: 315

Acceptances: 132

Offer Rate: 23.7%

Acceptance Rate: 9.9%

Despite being more specialised, the acceptance rate for Biochemistry is still on the same level as other subjects like Medicine. The offer rate is average for an Imperial degree, but the chances of actually being admitted drop by nearly 15% to just 9.9%. 

Were you surprised to see any of these subjects at the top? While these subjects have a lot of applicants to compete with, they clearly aren’t impossible to get a place on (although some are harder than others). However, these aren’t necessarily the hardest Imperial degrees to get onto, so let’s look at the rest of what they have to offer and see how applicants fared in 2023.

Imperial Acceptances Rates 2023

There’s are still plenty of courses left, so let’s break down the success rates of each. These will be split based on the faculty that teachers them, of which there are four (although Imperial Business School was already featured above). Let’s get started:

Imperial Faculty of Engineering Acceptance Rates

This is the biggest faculty at Imperial and covers a wide variety of subjects. Bare in mind, we’ve already seen Mechanical Engineering and Computing, so our first course is Aeronautical Engineering:

Imperial Aeronautical Engineering Acceptance Rate (MEng)

Applicants: 1,304

Offers: 299

Acceptances: 133

Offer Rate: 22.9%

Acceptance Rate: 10.2%

Another very popular Engineering degree, this course has similar success rates to Mechanical Engineering.

Imperial Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Acceptance Rate (MEng)

Applicants: 46

Offers: 17

Acceptances: 7

Offer Rate: 37.0%

Acceptance Rate: 15.2%

Imperial Biomedical Engineering Acceptance Rate (MEng)

Applicants: 651

Offers: 311

Acceptances: 188

Offer Rate: 47.8%

Acceptance Rate: 28.9%

Straight away, we can see a much highest acceptance rate for this degree. However, it’s important to note that this degree features an integrated Masters degree (MEng) rather than a Bachelor’s degree. Success rates for these degrees tend to be higher than standard undergraduate degrees, although the entry requirements aren’t usually different. 

Imperial Biomedical Tech Ventures Acceptance Rate (MEng)

Applicants: 81

Offers: 47

Acceptances: 7

Offer Rate: 58.0%

Acceptance Rate: 15.2%

This is another brand new course for 2023, though this one had far fewer applicants than Economics and had an average acceptance rate compared to similar degrees. 

Imperial Chemical Engineering Acceptance Rate (MEng)

Applicants: 852

Offers: 396

Acceptances: 155

Offer Rate: 46.5%

Acceptance Rate: 18.2%

Imperial Civil Engineering Acceptance Rate (MEng)

Applicants: 414

Offers: 218

Acceptances: 94

Offer Rate: 52.7%

Acceptance Rate: 22.7%

Imperial Computing Acceptance Rate (Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning MEng)

Applicants: 618

Offers: 110

Acceptances: 37

Offer Rate: 16.2%

Acceptance Rate: 5.5%

Imperial Computing Acceptance Rate (Management and Finance MEng)

Applicants: 119

Offers: 8

Acceptances: 8

Offer Rate: 6.7%

Acceptance Rate: 6.7%

Here’s the first of various degrees that saw no change between offers and acceptances. While most courses ultimately end up rejecting a fair amount of offer holders, this one didn’t reject any, likely due to how few offers were given to begin with. 

Imperial Computing Acceptance Rate (Security and Reliability MEng)

Applicants: 75

Offers: 6

Acceptances: 6

Offer Rate: 7.9%

Acceptance Rate: 7.9%

Imperial Computing Acceptance Rate (Software Engineering MEng)

Applicants: 438

Offers: 37

Acceptances: 12

Offer Rate: 8.4%

Acceptance Rate: 2.7%

Imperial Computing Acceptance Rate (Visual Computing and Robotics MEng)

Applicants: 106

Offers: 17

Acceptances: 7

Offer Rate: 8.4%

Acceptance Rate: 2.7%

Imperial Design Engineering Acceptance Rate (MEng)

Applicants: 715

Offers: 177

Acceptances: 102

Offer Rate: 24.8%

Acceptance Rate: 14.3%

Imperial Earth and Planetary Science Acceptance Rate (BEng)

Applicants: 123

Offers: 71

Acceptances: 18

Offer Rate: 57.7%

Acceptance Rate: 14.6%

Imperial Earth and Planetary Science Acceptance Rate (MEng)

Applicants: 51

Offers: 30

Acceptances: 10

Offer Rate: 58.8%

Acceptance Rate: 19.6%

Imperial Electrical and Electronic Engineering Acceptance Rate (BEng)

Applicants: 567

Offers: 100

Acceptances: 28

Offer Rate: 17.6%

Acceptance Rate: 4.9%

Imperial Electrical and Electronic Engineering Acceptance Rate (MEng)

Applicants: 551

Offers: 219

Acceptances: 102

Offer Rate: 39.7%

Acceptance Rate: 18.5%

Imperial Electrical and Electronic Engineering with Management Acceptance Rate (MEng)

Applicants: 81

Offers: 33

Acceptances: 14

Offer Rate: 40.7%

Acceptance Rate: 17.3%

Imperial Electronic and Information Engineering Acceptance Rate (BEng)

Applicants: 122

Offers: 39

Acceptances: 17

Offer Rate: 32.0%

Acceptance Rate: 13.9%

Imperial Electronic and Information Engineering Acceptance Rate (MEng)

Applicants: 169

Offers: 82

Acceptances: 30

Offer Rate: 48.5%

Acceptance Rate: 17.8%

Imperial Geology Acceptance Rate (BEng)

Applicants: 87

Offers: 54

Acceptances: 16

Offer Rate: 62.1%

Acceptance Rate: 18.4%

Imperial Geology Acceptance Rate (MEng)

Applicants: 38

Offers: 32

Acceptances: 6

Offer Rate: 84.2%

Acceptance Rate: 15.8%

This is the largest disparity between offers and acceptances in 2023, with a huge 63% drop from offer rate to acceptance rate. This is likely isn’t down to high offer requirements, as Imperial’s data states that the Department of Earth Science and Engineering (which teaches Geology) primarily sent out offers of AAA and A*AA. 

Imperial Geophysics Acceptance Rate (BEng)

Applicants: 60

Offers: 33

Acceptances: 12

Offer Rate: 55.0%

Acceptance Rate: 20.0%

Imperial Geophysics Acceptance Rate (BEng)

Applicants: 32

Offers: 16

Acceptances: 16

Offer Rate: 50.0%

Acceptance Rate: 50.0%

Imperial Material Science and Engineering Acceptance Rate (BEng)

Applicants: 254

Offers: 109

Acceptances: 56

Offer Rate: 42.9%

Acceptance Rate: 22.0%

Imperial Material Science and Engineering Acceptance Rate (MEng)

Applicants: 244

Offers: 153

Acceptances: 63

Offer Rate: 62.7%

Acceptance Rate: 25.8%

Imperial Materials with Nuclear Engineering Acceptance Rate (MEng)

Applicants: 47

Offers: 21

Acceptances: 21

Offer Rate: 44.7%

Acceptance Rate: 44.7%

Imperial Mathematics and Computer Science Acceptance Rate (BEng)

Applicants: 638

Offers: 99

Acceptances: 20

Offer Rate: 15.5%

Acceptance Rate: 3.1%

Imperial Mathematics and Computer Science Acceptance Rate (MEng)

Applicants: 416

Offers: 102

Acceptances: 35

Offer Rate: 24.5%

Acceptance Rate: 8.4%

Imperial Molecular Bioengineering Acceptance Rate (MEng)

Applicants: 175

Offers: 117

Acceptances: 56

Offer Rate: 66.9%

Acceptance Rate: 32.0%

Triple your chances of Imperial application success with UniAdmissions

in 2023, we got 57% of our students into Oxford or Cambridge, more than three times higher than the national average. We’ve taken everything we know to and developed a programme to support applicants into Imperial College London, the Imperial Programme.

Discover our Imperial Programme by clicking the button below to learn how you can enrol and boost your chances of success.

Imperial Faculty of Medicine Acceptance Rates

This faculty is very small as it’s primarily focussed on Medicine, which is the most popular degree at Imperial. However, two other courses are also taught here, so let’s take a look at their success rates:

Imperial Medical Biosciences Acceptance Rate (BSci)

Applicants: 1,196

Offers: 335

Acceptances: 128

Offer Rate: 28.0%

Acceptance Rate: 10.7%

Imperial Medical Biosciences with Management Acceptance Rate (BSci)

Applicants: 156

Offers: 60

Acceptances: 28

Offer Rate: 38.5%

Acceptance Rate: 17.9%

Imperial Faculty of Natural Sciences Acceptance Rates

Lastly, we have the Faculty of Natural Sciences, which teaches a wide variety of science and mathematics degrees. Biochemistry featured in the top five subjects, so let’s see how competitive the others are: 

Imperial Biotechnology Acceptance Rate (BSci)

Applicants: 1,196

Offers: 335

Acceptances: 128

Offer Rate: 28.0%

Acceptance Rate: 10.7%

Imperial Biological Sciences Acceptance Rate (BSci)

Applicants: 1,200

Offers: 400

Acceptances: 130

Offer Rate: 33.3%

Acceptance Rate: 10.8%

Imperial Chemistry Acceptance Rate (BSci)

Applicants: 640

Offers: 152

Acceptances: 70

Offer Rate: 46.5%

Acceptance Rate: 18.2%

Imperial Chemistry Acceptance Rate (MSci)

Applicants: 382

Offers: 194

Acceptances: 87

Offer Rate: 50.8%

Acceptance Rate: 22.8%

Imperial Chemistry With Management Acceptance Rate (BSci)

Applicants: 48

Offers: 9

Acceptances: 9

Offer Rate: 18.8%

Acceptance Rate: 18.8%

Imperial Chemistry With Molecular Physics Acceptance Rate (BSci)

Applicants: 59

Offers: 21

Acceptances: 7

Offer Rate: 35.6%

Acceptance Rate: 11.9%

Imperial Ecology and Environmental Biology Acceptance Rate (BSci)

Applicants: 124

Offers: 40

Acceptances: 12

Offer Rate: 32.3%

Acceptance Rate: 9.7%

Imperial Mathematics Acceptance Rate (BSci)

Applicants: 1,270

Offers: 352

Acceptances: 138

Offer Rate: 27.7%

Acceptance Rate: 10.9%

Imperial Mathematics Acceptance Rate (MSci)

Applicants: 553

Offers: 187

Acceptances: 57

Offer Rate: 33.8%

Acceptance Rate: 10.3%

Imperial Mathematics Acceptance Rate (Pure Mathematics BSci)

Applicants: 150

Offers: 38

Acceptances: 10

Offer Rate: 25.3%

Acceptance Rate: 6.7%

Imperial Mathematics with Applied Mathematics/Mathematical Physics Acceptance Rate (BSci)

Applicants: 215

Offers: 26

Acceptances: 8

Offer Rate: 12.1%

Acceptance Rate: 3.7%

Imperial Mathematics with Mathematical Computation Acceptance Rate (BSci)

Applicants: 84

Offers: 20

Acceptances: 20

Offer Rate: 23.8%

Acceptance Rate: 23.8%

Imperial Mathematics with Statistics Acceptance Rate (BSci)

Applicants: 252

Offers: 34

Acceptances: 13

Offer Rate: 13.5%

Acceptance Rate: 5.2%

Imperial Mathematics with Statistics for Finance Acceptance Rate (BSci)

Applicants: 256

Offers: 28

Acceptances: 10

Offer Rate: 10.9%

Acceptance Rate: 3.9%

Imperial Microbiology Acceptance Rate (BSci)

Applicants: 113

Offers: 34

Acceptances: 10

Offer Rate: 30.1%

Acceptance Rate: 8.8%

Imperial Physics Acceptance Rate (BSci)

Applicants: 748

Offers: 195

Acceptances: 72

Offer Rate: 26.1%

Acceptance Rate: 9.6%

Imperial Physics Acceptance Rate (MSci)

Applicants: 610

Offers: 268

Acceptances: 96

Offer Rate: 43.9%

Acceptance Rate: 15.7%

Imperial Physics with Theoretical Physics Acceptance Rate (BSci)

Applicants: 189

Offers: 56

Acceptances: 19

Offer Rate: 29.6%

Acceptance Rate: 10.1%

Imperial Physics with Theoretical Physics Acceptance Rate (MSci)

Applicants: 266

Offers: 128

Acceptances: 43

Offer Rate: 48.1%

Acceptance Rate: 16.2%

That’s all the major degrees at Imperial covered! Be aware that this there are some variants of courses available that include years abroad/in industry which we haven’t covered here. These typically don’t have many applicants and only make up a small amount of admitted students. 

However, now we’ve seen the data, it’s time to see what we can learn from it!

Imperial Acceptances Rates - What Can We Learn?

We’ve covered a lot of information here, and there’s much more to be found on the official downloadable Imperial Admissions Report which can be found online. If you want to take an even deeper dive into the 2023 admissions cycle, be sure to check it out.

However, let’s now take a look at some key data points to get a better understand of Imperial admissions.

Imperial's Most Competitive & Least Competitive Courses

When applying to university, you may be interested to know which degrees are the easiest to get into, as well as which ones are the hardest. While you shouldn’t make your decision solely based on these stats, it can be reassuring to know that more people get into your course, or it can help you understand how competitive your application needs to be. Let’s take a look at the Imperial courses with the highest and lowest success rates:

Hardest Imperial Courses To Get Into

Firstly, let’s look at the courses with lowest offer and acceptance rates:

Lowest Offer Rates At Imperial 2023

CourseApplicantsOffersOffer Rate
Economics, Finance and Data Science28821886.5%
Computing (Management and Finance)11986.7%
Computing (Security and Reliability)7667.9%
Computing (Software Engineering)438378.4%
Mathematics with Statistics for Finance2562810.9%

Lowest Acceptance Rates At Imperial 2023

CourseApplicantsAcceptancesAcceptance Rate
Computing (Software Engineering)438122.7%
Economics, Finance and Data Science2882782.7%
Mathematics and Computer Science (BEng)638203.1%
Mathematics with Applied Mathematics/Mathematical Physics21583.7%
Mathematics with Statistics for Finance256103.9%

As stated before, Economics, Finance and Data Science was the most competitive Imperial degree of 2023, although its acceptance rate was tied with Computing (Software Engineering). Since this was a new course at the university, the applicant numbers were likely kept down to ease the teaching process. 

Beyond this, all the other courses on these lists are computing and maths related, which are generally two of the more competitive subjects. While the offer rates are comparable to Oxbridge success rates, the acceptance rates are far lower. Cambridge didn’t have a single course below a 5% acceptance rate, while Oxford only had one course that was more competitive; Mathematics and Statistics with a 2.1% acceptance rate. 

From this data, we can see that Imperial is one of the hardest universities to get into for Mathematics and Computer Science courses, so ensure your application and grades are of the highest standard if you’re thinking about applying. 

Easiest Imperial Courses To Get Into

Now let’s look at the inverse and see which degrees are the easiest to get offers and admission into. 

Highest Offer Rates At Imperial 2023

CourseApplicantsOffersOffer Rate
Geology (MSci)383284.2%
Molecular Bioengineering17511766.9%
Materials Science and Engineering (MEng)24415362.7%
Geology (BSci)875462.1%
Earth and Planetary Science (MSci513058.8%

Highest Acceptance Rates At Imperial 2023

CourseApplicantsAcceptancesAcceptance Rate
Geophysics (MSci)321650.0%
Materials with Nuclear Engineering472144.7%
Molecular Bioengineering1755632.0%
Biomedical Engineering65118828.9%
Materials Science and Engineering (MEng)2446325.8%

As we can see, there is a mixture of courses with different popularities included here. As well as this, we can see how big the difference is between offer rates and acceptance rates at Imperial. In universities like Oxford and Cambridge, only a small number of offer holders will not be accepted, but that isn’t the case for Imperial applicants.

Some of the offer rates we can see are abnormally high, such is the case for Geology (MSci), but no course admitted more than 50% of its applicants. This goes to show that an offer is far from a guarantee and that it’s important to achieve top grades in your exams. 

Imperial Acceptance Rates: Gender Ratios

While this is generally not a relevant metric anymore, it’s important to consider that some degrees have some major differences in gender ratio for admissions. Here we have a table containing the data of admission for each department: 

DepartmentMale ApplicationsFemale ApplicationsMale OffersMale Offer %Female OffersFemale Offer %Male AcceptancesMale Acceptance %Female AcceptancesFemale Acceptance %Total Acceptances% Male% Female
Buisness School179310891015.6%878.0%331.8%454.1%7842.3%57.7%
Department of Aeronautics107123325223.5%4720.2%11610.8%177.3%13387.2%12.8%
Department of Biochemistry713104114520.3%24923.9%628.7%959.1%15739.5%60.5%
Department of Bioengineering44146622450.8%25153.9%9822.2%9219.7%19051.6%48.4%
Department of Biological Sciences54293016129.7%32635.1%509.2%10611.4%15632.1%67.9%
Department of Chemical Engineering54231024044.3%15650.3%10118.6%5417.4%15565.2%34.8%
Department of Chemistry76972327135.2%24233.5%11615.1%10915.1%22551.6%48.4%
Department of Civil Engineering35913219454.0%6750.8%8222.8%2720.5%10975.2%24.8%
Department of Computing281276445716.3%11615.2%1545.5%293.8%18384.2%15.8%
Department of Earth Science and Engineering25722815861.5%15568.0%4015.6%5423.7%9442.6%57.4%
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering122326737931.0%9435.2%16613.6%259.4%19186.9%13.1%
Department of Materials40521517042.0%13060.5%7217.8%5927.4%13155.0%45.0%
Department of Mathematics203684755127.1%17120.2%1939.5%546.4%24778.1%21.9%
Department of Mechanical Engineering166633832919.7%10029.6%1428.5%4212.4%18477.2%22.8%
Department of Medical Biosciences40195110425.9%29130.6%5112.7%10511.0%15632.7%67.3%
Department of Physics143051751536.0%18936.6%18012.6%6713.0%24772.9%27.1%
Dyson School of Design Engineering43627910524.1%7225.8%5913.5%4315.4%10257.8%42.2%
Joint Maths and Computing82323117020.7%3113.4%506.1%52.2%5590.9%9.1%
School of Medicine1439202032722.7%32115.9%17612.2%1688.3%34451.2%48.8%
TOTAL1915811581485325.3%309526.7%194110.1%119610.3%313761.9%38.1%

This is a lot of data to go through, but the most important fact is that the 2023 intake consisted of 62% male students and 38% female students. This is a fairly noticeable imbalance, though it is to be expected considering there were 7,500 more male applicants. Male applicants made up 62.3% of the overall pool, so the acceptances here are proportional overall. 

However, that’s not to say that admissions in all departments are proportional. The Joint Maths and Computing department saw the biggest difference in ratio with a staggering 91% male students admitted. This isn’t proportional to the number of applicants, 22% of which were female. There could be many reasons as to why this was the case, but it may be important for you to consider.  

Imperial Acceptance Rates: International Applications

Lastly, let’s touch on the statistics for international applicants. Those applying from outside the UK generally have a much harder time getting admitted due to the limited places available for overseas students. As well as this, people from certain countries are generally more likely to get in than others, so it’s important to be aware of these stats. 

Imperial doesn’t provide a summary of it’s international admissions statistics, so we will have to look at a few key examples to get a better understanding of this. Let’s take a look at the international intake for the top five most popular degrees: 

International Applications for Top Imperial Courses 2023

CourseUK ApplicationsUK Applicant %International ApplicationsInternational Applicant %
Medicine2,09460.5%1,36539.5%
Economics, Finance and Data Science229379.6%58920.4%
Mechanical Engineering80440.1%1,20059.9%
Computing58540.5%85859.5
Biochemistry58444.0%74356.0%

International Acceptances for Top Imperial Courses 2023

CourseUK AcceptancesUK Student %International AcceptancesInternational Student %
Medicine31992.7%257.3%
Economics, Finance and Data Science3950.0%3950.0%
Mechanical Engineering9752.7%8747.2%
Computing4155.4%3344.6%
Biochemistry8060.6%5239.4%

These statistics don’t reflect too badly on international intake, as Imperial is one of the most welcoming universities for overseas students. However, despite the fact that international applicants often outnumber home applicants, those from the UK are more frequently admitted. Again, this is due to the limited spaces available for those outside the UK. 

This isn’t always the case though. In 2023, Mathematics (Bsci) saw 98 students admitted from overseas, compared to 42 from the UK. Of these, most came from China, which is generally one of the best performing countries for international intake at Imperial. Other countries that Imperial students come from include Hong Kong, Singapore and the USA.

You should now have a clearer understanding of the success rates for Imperial applicants. This insight will help guide your decision on what to apply for and give you a better sense of the competition you’ll be facing.

Regardless of the success rates for your course, it’s essential to put in the effort for your application, as no one is guaranteed a place at Imperial, especially without a top-quality submission. This data should be used to contextualise your application and remind you that you need to rank among the top 10% of applicants globally to secure your spot.

You can learn more about the Imperial application process (as well as Oxford and Cambridge) in our selection of application guides. For more support with your Imperial application, our Imperial Programme is available to help you get through the Personal Statement, admissions test and interviews like a pro. We’ve spent over ten years getting students into Oxbridge and Imperial, so you can be assured that our techniques work! Book a free consultation to learn more about the enrolment process today

Only a quarter of Imperial applicants were offered their place, but UniAdmissions will drastically increase your chances of success

To have the best chance of getting into Imperial College London, enrol in our Imperial Programme to receive world-class application support from start to finish. Our students have access to expert resources, one-to-one tuition sessions, intensive courses and much more, all designed to give them the best possible chance of success. 

Discover our Imperial Programme by clicking the button below to learn how you can enrol and boost your chances of success.

0 +

UniAdmissions students placed at Oxford And Cambridge

0 +
UniAdmissions students placed
at Oxford And Cambridge
uniadmissions-successful-students-collage