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 30,000 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:
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Imperial College London Acceptance Rate - 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 undergraduate 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 entry, not the year the application cycle begins.
Imperial College London Acceptance Rates (2020 - 2024)
2024
Applicants: 32,887
Offers: 8,264
Acceptances: 3,474
Offer Rate: 25.1%
Acceptance Rate: 10.6%
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%
As we can see, success rates have been getting consistently lower since 2020, in line with the continual increase of applicants (although they dropped slightly in 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 2024, applications were at their highest point, but the offer rate was ultimately at its lowest rate in the past five years. Despite this, the acceptance rate increased by 0.4% after 2023.
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 2024
Applicants: 23,061
Offers: 3,793
Acceptances: 3,245
Offer Rate: 16.4%
Acceptance Rate: 14.1%
Cambridge Acceptance Rates 2024
Applicants: 22,153
Offers: 4,760
Acceptances: 3,632
Offer Rate: 21.5%
Acceptance Rate: 16.4%
As you can see, each university receives fewer applications than Imperial each year, but they admit a comparable number 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 2024. While the offer rate was higher than either university, the final acceptance rate of 10.6% is 3.5% lower than Oxford and nearly 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:
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Imperial Acceptances Rates 2024
Each year, Imperial publishes an extensive admissions statistics document that showcases the offers and acceptances for each individual course. There’s a lot to go through here, so the data will be split based on the faculty that teaches them, of which there are four. Let’s get started:
Imperial Business School Acceptance Rates
Imperial Economics, Finance and Data Science Acceptance Rate (BSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 3,036
Offers: 226
Acceptances: 117
Offer Rate: 7.4%
Acceptance Rate: 3.9%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 2,882
Offers: 188
Acceptances: 78
Offer Rate: 6.5%
Acceptance Rate: 2.7%
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 alongside typical STEM teaching.
For its first year running, student numbers were kept very low, leading to the lowest offer and acceptance rates of any degree at Imperial. It also happened to be the second most popular degree with applicants at Imperial in 2023, indicating that there is a heavy appetite for Economics among prospective students.
More places were made available in 2024, leading to a slightly higher offer and acceptance rate, but the course’s popularity ultimately still made it one of the most competitive at the university, especially for international applicants.
Imperial Faculty of Engineering Acceptance Rates
Imperial Aeronautical Engineering Acceptance Rate (MEng)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 1,574
Offers: 316
Acceptances: 147
Offer Rate: 20.1%
Acceptance Rate: 9.3%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 1,304
Offers: 299
Acceptances: 133
Offer Rate: 22.9%
Acceptance Rate: 10.2%
Imperial Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Acceptance Rate (MEng)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 58
Offers: 6
Acceptances: <5
Offer Rate: 10.3%
Acceptance Rate: NA
2023 Entry
Applicants: 46
Offers: 17
Acceptances: 7
Offer Rate: 37.0%
Acceptance Rate: 15.2%
This is one of the less popular degrees at Imperial, but we can see that offers were greatly reduced in 2024, leading to a far lower offer rate. As well as this, five or less applicants were admitted, but we do not have an exact amount as Imperial’s report does not record figures below five.
Imperial Biomedical Engineering Acceptance Rate (MEng)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 709
Offers: 341
Acceptances: 135
Offer Rate: 48.1%
Acceptance Rate: 19.0%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 651
Offers: 311
Acceptances: 188
Offer Rate: 47.8%
Acceptance Rate: 28.9%
Imperial Biomedical Tech Ventures Acceptance Rate (MEng)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 115
Offers: 67
Acceptances: 27
Offer Rate: 58.3%
Acceptance Rate: 23.5%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 81
Offers: 47
Acceptances: 16
Offer Rate: 58.0%
Acceptance Rate: 19.8%
This was another brand new course in 2024, 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)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 979
Offers: 428
Acceptances: 168
Offer Rate: 43.7%
Acceptance Rate: 17.2%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 852
Offers: 396
Acceptances: 155
Offer Rate: 46.5%
Acceptance Rate: 18.2%
Imperial Civil Engineering Acceptance Rate (MEng)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 412
Offers: 246
Acceptances: 109
Offer Rate: 59.7%
Acceptance Rate: 26.5%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 414
Offers: 218
Acceptances: 94
Offer Rate: 52.7%
Acceptance Rate: 22.7%
Imperial Computing Acceptance Rate (BEng)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 1,531
Offers: 236
Acceptances: 83
Offer Rate: 15.4%
Acceptance Rate: 5.4%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 1,443
Offers: 230
Acceptances: 74
Offer Rate: 15.9%
Acceptance Rate: 5.1%
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?
While the offer rate for this course is fairly standard, the acceptance rate is very low, sitting at just below 5.5%. However, this isn’t the most competitive variant of Computing, as some of the more specialised courses have even lower acceptance rates.
Imperial Computing Acceptance Rate (MEng)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 670
Offers: 182
Acceptances: 63
Offer Rate: 27.2%
Acceptance Rate: 9.4%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 634
Offers: 151
Acceptances: 48
Offer Rate: 23.8%
Acceptance Rate: 7.6%
Imperial Computing Acceptance Rate (Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning MEng)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 808
Offers: 116
Acceptances: 42
Offer Rate: 14.4%
Acceptance Rate: 5.2%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 618
Offers: 110
Acceptances: 37
Offer Rate: 16.2%
Acceptance Rate: 5.5%
Imperial Computing Acceptance Rate (Management and Finance MEng)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 87
Offers: <5
Acceptances: <5
Offer Rate: NA
Acceptance Rate: NA
2023 Entry
Applicants: 119
Offers: 8
Acceptances: 8
Offer Rate: 6.7%
Acceptance Rate: 6.7%
Imperial Computing Acceptance Rate (Security and Reliability MEng)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 80
Offers: 10
Acceptances: <5
Offer Rate: 12.5%
Acceptance Rate: NA
2023 Entry
Applicants: 76
Offers: 6
Acceptances: 6
Offer Rate: 7.9%
Acceptance Rate: 7.9%
Imperial Computing Acceptance Rate (Software Engineering MEng)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 434
Offers: 27
Acceptances: <5
Offer Rate: 6.2%
Acceptance Rate: NA
2023 Entry
Applicants: 438
Offers: 37
Acceptances: 12
Offer Rate: 8.4%
Acceptance Rate: 2.7%
Imperial Computing Acceptance Rate (Visual Computing and Robotics MEng)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 129
Offers: 13
Acceptances: <5
Offer Rate: 10.1%
Acceptance Rate: NA
2023 Entry
Applicants: 106
Offers: 17
Acceptances: 7
Offer Rate: 8.4%
Acceptance Rate: 2.7%
Imperial Design Engineering Acceptance Rate (MEng)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 731
Offers: 179
Acceptances: 106
Offer Rate: 24.5%
Acceptance Rate: 14.5%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 715
Offers: 177
Acceptances: 102
Offer Rate: 24.8%
Acceptance Rate: 14.3%
Imperial Earth and Planetary Science Acceptance Rate (BSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 134
Offers: 77
Acceptances: 24
Offer Rate: 57.5%
Acceptance Rate: 17.9%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 123
Offers: 71
Acceptances: 18
Offer Rate: 57.7%
Acceptance Rate: 14.6%
Imperial Earth and Planetary Science Acceptance Rate (MSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 66
Offers: 39
Acceptances: 15
Offer Rate: 59.1%
Acceptance Rate: 22.7%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 51
Offers: 30
Acceptances: 10
Offer Rate: 58.8%
Acceptance Rate: 19.6%
Imperial Electrical and Electronic Engineering Acceptance Rate (BEng)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 694
Offers: 121
Acceptances: 46
Offer Rate: 17.4%
Acceptance Rate: 6.6%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 567
Offers: 100
Acceptances: 28
Offer Rate: 17.6%
Acceptance Rate: 4.9%
Imperial Electrical and Electronic Engineering Acceptance Rate (MEng)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 528
Offers: 209
Acceptances: 95
Offer Rate: 39.6%
Acceptance Rate: 18.0%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 551
Offers: 219
Acceptances: 102
Offer Rate: 39.7%
Acceptance Rate: 18.5%
Imperial Electrical and Electronic Engineering with Management Acceptance Rate (MEng)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 86
Offers: 24
Acceptances: 10
Offer Rate: 27.9%
Acceptance Rate: 11.6%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 81
Offers: 33
Acceptances: 14
Offer Rate: 40.7%
Acceptance Rate: 17.3%
Imperial Electronic and Information Engineering Acceptance Rate (BEng)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 149
Offers: 31
Acceptances: 12
Offer Rate: 20.8%
Acceptance Rate: 8.1%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 122
Offers: 39
Acceptances: 17
Offer Rate: 32.0%
Acceptance Rate: 13.9%
Imperial Electronic and Information Engineering Acceptance Rate (MEng)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 223
Offers: 97
Acceptances: 51
Offer Rate: 43.5%
Acceptance Rate: 22.9%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 169
Offers: 82
Acceptances: 30
Offer Rate: 48.5%
Acceptance Rate: 17.8%
Imperial Geology Acceptance Rate (BSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 87
Offers: 50
Acceptances: 17
Offer Rate: 57.5%
Acceptance Rate: 19.5%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 87
Offers:54
Acceptances: 16
Offer Rate: 62.1%
Acceptance Rate: 18.4%
Imperial Geology Acceptance Rate (MSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 24
Offers: 18
Acceptances: 6
Offer Rate: 75.0%
Acceptance Rate: 25.0%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 38
Offers: 32
Acceptances: 6
Offer Rate: 84.2%
Acceptance Rate: 15.8%
Both Geology degrees feature some of the largest disparities between offers and acceptances in 2024, with large drops from offer rates to acceptance rates. 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 (BSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 48
Offers: 28
Acceptances: 11
Offer Rate: 58.3%
Acceptance Rate: 22.9%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 60
Offers: 33
Acceptances: 12
Offer Rate: 55.0%
Acceptance Rate: 20.0%
Imperial Geophysics Acceptance Rate (MSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 29
Offers: 19
Acceptances: 7
Offer Rate: 65.5%
Acceptance Rate: 24.1%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 32
Offers: 16
Acceptances: <5
Offer Rate: 50.0%
Acceptance Rate: NA
Imperial Material Science and Engineering Acceptance Rate (BEng)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 391
Offers: 114
Acceptances: 55
Offer Rate: 29.2%
Acceptance Rate: 14.1%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 254
Offers: 109
Acceptances: 56
Offer Rate: 42.9%
Acceptance Rate: 22.0%
Imperial Material Science and Engineering Acceptance Rate (MEng)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 295
Offers: 154
Acceptances: 78
Offer Rate: 52.2%
Acceptance Rate: 26.4%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 244
Offers: 153
Acceptances: 63
Offer Rate: 62.7%
Acceptance Rate: 25.8%
Imperial Materials with Nuclear Engineering Acceptance Rate (MEng)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 77
Offers: 24
Acceptances: 8
Offer Rate: 31.2%
Acceptance Rate: 10.4%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 47
Offers: 21
Acceptances: <5
Offer Rate: 44.7%
Acceptance Rate: NA
Imperial Mathematics and Computer Science Acceptance Rate (BEng)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 722
Offers: 109
Acceptances: 30
Offer Rate: 15.1%
Acceptance Rate: 4.2%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 638
Offers: 99
Acceptances: 20
Offer Rate: 15.5%
Acceptance Rate: 3.1%
Imperial Mathematics and Computer Science Acceptance Rate (MEng)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 396
Offers: 77
Acceptances: 24
Offer Rate: 19.4%
Acceptance Rate: 6.1%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 416
Offers: 102
Acceptances: 35
Offer Rate: 24.5%
Acceptance Rate: 8.4%
Imperial Mechanical Engineering Acceptance Rate (MEng)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 2,328
Offers: 430
Acceptances: 205
Offer Rate: 18.5%
Acceptance Rate: 8.8%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 2,004
Offers: 429
Acceptances: 184
Offer Rate: 21.4%
Acceptance Rate: 9.2%
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.
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.
Imperial Molecular Bioengineering Acceptance Rate (MEng)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 240
Offers: 133
Acceptances: 64
Offer Rate: 55.4%
Acceptance Rate: 26.7%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 175
Offers: 117
Acceptances: 56
Offer Rate: 66.9%
Acceptance Rate: 32.0%
Faculty of Engineering Overall Acceptance Rate 2024
Applicants: 15,068
Offers: 4,054
Acceptances: 1,698
Offer Rate: 26.9%
Acceptance Rate: 11.2%
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Imperial Faculty of Medicine Acceptance Rates
Imperial Medical Biosciences Acceptance Rate (BSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 1,436
Offers: 342
Acceptances: 155
Offer Rate: 23.8%
Acceptance Rate: 10.8%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 1,196
Offers: 335
Acceptances: 128
Offer Rate: 28.0%
Acceptance Rate: 10.7%
Imperial Medical Biosciences with Management Acceptance Rate (BSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 157
Offers: 37
Acceptances: 14
Offer Rate: 23.6%
Acceptance Rate: 8.9%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 156
Offers: 60
Acceptances: 28
Offer Rate: 38.5%
Acceptance Rate: 17.9%
Imperial Medicine Acceptance Rate (BSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 3,444
Offers: 668
Acceptances: 356
Offer Rate: 19.4%
Acceptance Rate: 10.3%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 3,459
Offers: 648
Acceptances: 344
Offer Rate: 18.7%
Acceptance Rate: 9.9%
As well as having the most applicants, Medicine also has the most offers and acceptances of any degree at Imperial. Despite this, the success rates are still fairly low, with just over 10% of applicants ultimately being admitted.
Faculty of Medicine Overall Acceptance Rate 2024
Applicants: 5,037
Offers: 1,047
Acceptances: 525
Offer Rate: 20.8%
Acceptance Rate: 10.4%
Imperial Faculty of Natural Sciences Acceptance Rates
Imperial Biochemistry Acceptance Rate (BSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 1,297
Offers: 334
Acceptances: 142
Offer Rate: 25.8%
Acceptance Rate: 10.9%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 1,327
Offers: 315
Acceptances: 132
Offer Rate: 23.7%
Acceptance Rate: 9.9%
Biochemistry was the most popular degree in the Faculty of Natural Sciences in 2024. 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 10.9%.
Imperial Biotechnology Acceptance Rate (BSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 344
Offers: 63
Acceptances: 28
Offer Rate: 18.3%
Acceptance Rate: 8.1%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 374
Offers: 66
Acceptances: 22
Offer Rate: 17.7%
Acceptance Rate: 5.9%
Imperial Biological Sciences Acceptance Rate (BSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 1,098
Offers: 413
Acceptances: 159
Offer Rate: 37.6%
Acceptance Rate: 14.5%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 1,200
Offers: 400
Acceptances: 130
Offer Rate: 33.3%
Acceptance Rate: 10.8%
Imperial Chemistry Acceptance Rate (BSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 704
Offers: 202
Acceptances: 100
Offer Rate: 28.7%
Acceptance Rate: 14.2%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 640
Offers: 152
Acceptances: 70
Offer Rate: 23.8%
Acceptance Rate: 10.9%
Imperial Chemistry Acceptance Rate (MSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 365
Offers: 171
Acceptances: 71
Offer Rate: 46.9%
Acceptance Rate: 19.5%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 382
Offers: 194
Acceptances: 87
Offer Rate: 50.8%
Acceptance Rate: 22.8%
Imperial Chemistry With Management Acceptance Rate (BSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 56
Offers: 6
Acceptances: <5
Offer Rate: 10.7%
Acceptance Rate: NA
2023 Entry
Applicants: 48
Offers: 9
Acceptances: <5
Offer Rate: 18.8%
Acceptance Rate: NA
Imperial Chemistry With Medicinal Chemistry Acceptance Rate (MSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 159
Offers: 47
Acceptances: 17
Offer Rate: 29.6%
Acceptance Rate: 10.7%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 127
Offers: 34
Acceptances: 13
Offer Rate: 26.8%
Acceptance Rate: 10.2%
Imperial Chemistry With Molecular Physics Acceptance Rate (BSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 76
Offers: 25
Acceptances: 8
Offer Rate: 32.9%
Acceptance Rate: 10.5%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 59
Offers: 21
Acceptances: 7
Offer Rate: 35.6%
Acceptance Rate: 11.9%
Imperial Ecology and Environmental Biology Acceptance Rate (BSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 143
Offers: 41
Acceptances: 13
Offer Rate: 28.7%
Acceptance Rate: 9.1%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 124
Offers: 40
Acceptances: 12
Offer Rate: 32.3%
Acceptance Rate: 9.7%
Imperial Mathematics Acceptance Rate (BSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 1,388
Offers: 387
Acceptances: 134
Offer Rate: 27.9%
Acceptance Rate: 9.7%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 1,270
Offers: 352
Acceptances: 138
Offer Rate: 27.7%
Acceptance Rate: 10.9%
Imperial Mathematics Acceptance Rate (MSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 502
Offers: 168
Acceptances: 64
Offer Rate: 33.5%
Acceptance Rate: 12.8%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 553
Offers: 187
Acceptances: 57
Offer Rate: 33.8%
Acceptance Rate: 10.3%
Imperial Mathematics Acceptance Rate (Pure Mathematics BSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 189
Offers: 43
Acceptances: 10
Offer Rate: 22.8%
Acceptance Rate: 5.3%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 150
Offers: 38
Acceptances: 10
Offer Rate: 25.3%
Acceptance Rate: 6.7%
Imperial Mathematics with Applied Mathematics/Mathematical Physics Acceptance Rate (BSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 213
Offers: 25
Acceptances: <5
Offer Rate: 11.7%
Acceptance Rate: NA
2023 Entry
Applicants: 215
Offers: 26
Acceptances: 8
Offer Rate: 12.1%
Acceptance Rate: 3.7%
Imperial Mathematics with Mathematical Computation Acceptance Rate (BSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 79
Offers: 30
Acceptances: 14
Offer Rate: 38.0%
Acceptance Rate: 17.7%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 84
Offers: 20
Acceptances: 20
Offer Rate: 23.8%
Acceptance Rate: 23.8%
Imperial Mathematics with Statistics Acceptance Rate (BSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 278
Offers: 23
Acceptances: 10
Offer Rate: 8.3%
Acceptance Rate: 3.6%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 252
Offers: 34
Acceptances: 13
Offer Rate: 13.5%
Acceptance Rate: 5.2%
Imperial Mathematics with Statistics for Finance Acceptance Rate (BSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 251
Offers: 28
Acceptances: 11
Offer Rate: 11.2%
Acceptance Rate: 4.4%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 256
Offers: 28
Acceptances: 10
Offer Rate: 10.9%
Acceptance Rate: 3.9%
Imperial Microbiology Acceptance Rate (BSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 99
Offers: 35
Acceptances: 10
Offer Rate: 35.4%
Acceptance Rate: 10.1%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 113
Offers: 34
Acceptances: 10
Offer Rate: 30.1%
Acceptance Rate: 8.8%
Imperial Physics Acceptance Rate (BSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 762
Offers: 189
Acceptances: 65
Offer Rate: 24.8%
Acceptance Rate: 8.5%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 748
Offers: 195
Acceptances: 72
Offer Rate: 26.1%
Acceptance Rate: 9.6%
Imperial Physics Acceptance Rate (MSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 577
Offers: 263
Acceptances: 101
Offer Rate: 45.6%
Acceptance Rate: 17.5%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 610
Offers: 268
Acceptances: 96
Offer Rate: 43.9%
Acceptance Rate: 15.7%
Imperial Physics with Theoretical Physics Acceptance Rate (BSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 243
Offers: 74
Acceptances: 31
Offer Rate: 30.5%
Acceptance Rate: 12.8%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 189
Offers: 56
Acceptances: 19
Offer Rate: 29.6%
Acceptance Rate: 10.1%
Imperial Physics with Theoretical Physics Acceptance Rate (MSci)
2024 Entry
Applicants: 294
Offers: 140
Acceptances: 58
Offer Rate: 47.6%
Acceptance Rate: 19.7%
2023 Entry
Applicants: 266
Offers: 128
Acceptances: 43
Offer Rate: 48.1%
Acceptance Rate: 16.2%
Faculty of Natural Sciences Overall Acceptance Rate 2024
Applicants: 9,746
Offers: 2,937
Acceptances: 1,143
Offer Rate: 30.1%
Acceptance Rate: 11.7%
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 Admissions Statistics - 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 2024 admissions cycle, be sure to check it out. Bear in mind that this data does not cover the 2024 admissions cycle, as the data currently available is less comprehensive.
However, let’s now take a look at some key data points within Imperial’s Application Statistics 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 2024
| Course | Applicants | Offers | Offer Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Computing (Software Engineering) | 434 | 27 | 6.2% |
| Economics, Finance and Data Science | 3,036 | 226 | 7.4% |
| Mathematics with Statistics | 278 | 23 | 8.3% |
| Computing (Visual Computing and Robotics) | 129 | 12 | 10.1% |
| Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering | 58 | 6 | 10.3% |
Lowest Acceptance Rates At Imperial 2024
| Course | Applicants | Acceptances | Acceptance Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mathematics with Statistics | 278 | 10 | 3.6% |
| Economics, Finance and Data Science | 3,036 | 117 | 3.9% |
| Mathematics and Computer Science (BEng) | 722 | 30 | 4.2% |
| Mathematics with Statistics for Finance | 251 | 11 | 4.4% |
| Computing (Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning) | 808 | 42 | 5.2% |
Economics, Finance and Data Science was, overall, the most competitive Imperial degree of 2024, although it only ranked 2nd on each list. Since this was a new course at the university, the applicant numbers were likely kept down to ease the teaching process.
Beyond this, almost all of 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. Neither Oxford nor Cambridge had a single course below a 5% acceptance rate, though the offer rates can often be lower than Imperial.
Bear in mind, these entries are only the courses that have full data available. Computing (Management and Finance) only has an offer rate as high as 5.7%, but we cannot determine exactly what the rate is, as we do not have the exact number of offers given. There are even more examples of this when looking at acceptance rates, as courses like Computing (Software Engineering) and Mathematics with Applied Mathematics/Mathematical Physics may have acceptance rates even lower than those listed.
However, 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 2024
| Course | Applicants | Offers | Offer Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geology (MSci) | 24 | 18 | 75.0% |
| Geophysics (MSci) | 29 | 19 | 65.5% |
| Civil Engineering | 412 | 246 | 59.7% |
| Earth and Planetary Science (MSci) | 66 | 39 | 59.1% |
| Geophysics (BSci) | 48 | 28 | 58.3% |
Highest Acceptance Rates At Imperial 2024
| Course | Applicants | Acceptances | Acceptance Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Molecular Bioengineering | 240 | 64 | 26.7% |
| Civil Engineering | 412 | 246 | 26.5% |
| Materials Science and Engineering (MEng) | 295 | 78 | 26.4% |
| Geology (MSci) | 24 | 6 | 25.0% |
| Geophysics (MSci) | 29 | 7 | 24.1% |
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 30% 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 Admissions Statistics: 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:
(Scroll left or right to see more data)
| School | Applicants | % Applicants | Offers | % Offers | Offer Rate | Acceptances | % Acceptances | Acceptance Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business School | 3036 | 100% | 226 | 100% | 7.4% | 117 | 100% | 3.9% |
| Female | 1092 | 36.0% | 80 | 35.4% | 7.3% | 36 | 30.8% | 3.3% |
| Male | 1921 | 63.3% | 143 | 63.3% | 7.4% | 80 | 68.4% | 4.2% |
| Aeronautics | 1574 | 100% | 316 | 100% | 20.1% | 147 | 100%/ | 9.3% |
| Female | 303 | 19.3% | 45 | 14.2% | 14.9% | 21 | 14.3% | 6.9% |
| Male | 1259 | 80.0% | 269 | 85.1% | 21.4% | 125 | 85.0% | 9.9% |
| Bioengineering | 1063 | 100% | 540 | 100% | 50.8% | 225 | 100% | 21.2% |
| Female | 578 | 54.4% | 291 | 53.9% | 50.3% | 120 | 53.3% | 20.8% |
| Male | 476 | 44.8% | 245 | 45.4% | 51.5% | 102 | 45.3% | 21.4% |
| Chemical Engineering | 980 | 100% | 428 | 100% | 43.7% | 168 | 100% | 17.1% |
| Female | 379 | 38.7% | 184 | 43.0% | 48.5% | 75 | 44.6% | 19.8% |
| Male | 592 | 60.4% | 238 | 55.6% | 40.2% | 92 | 54.8% | 15.5% |
| Civil and Environmental Engineering | 482 | 100% | 288 | 100% | 59.8% | 122 | 100% | 25.3% |
| Female | 146 | 30.3% | 92 | 31.9% | 63.0% | 37 | 30.3% | 25.3% |
| Male | 331 | 68.7% | 193 | 67.0% | 58.3% | 85 | 69.7% | 25.7% |
| Computing | 3816 | 100% | 608 | 100.0% | 15.9% | 202 | 100% | 5.3% |
| Female | 824 | 21.6% | 117 | 19.2% | 14.2% | 26 | 12.9% | 3.2% |
| Male | 2958 | 77.5% | 482 | 79.3% | 16.3% | 173 | 85.6% | 5.8% |
| Design Engineering | 731 | 100% | 179 | 100% | 24.5% | 106 | 100% | 14.5% |
| Female | 302 | 41.3% | 73 | 40.8% | 24.2% | 47 | 44.3% | 15.6% |
| Male | 424 | 58.0% | 104 | 58.1% | 24.5% | 57 | 53.8% | 13.4% |
| Earth Science and Engineering | 474 | 100% | 298 | 100% | 62.9% | 103 | 100% | 21.7% |
| Female | 204 | 43.0% | 137 | 46.0% | 67.2% | 47 | 45.6% | 23.0% |
| Male | 264 | 55.7% | 156 | 52.3% | 59.1% | 56 | 54.4% | 21.2% |
| Electrical and Electronic Engineering | 1680 | 100% | 482 | 100% | 28.7% | 214 | 100% | 12.7% |
| Female | 367 | 21.8% | 100 | 20.7% | 27.2% | 42 | 19.6% | 11.4% |
| Male | 1293 | 77.0% | 374 | 77.6% | 28.9% | 169 | 79.0% | 13.1% |
| Joint Maths and Computing | 1118 | 100% | 186 | 100% | 16.6% | 54 | 100% | 4.8% |
| Female | 216 | 19.3% | 44 | 23.7% | 20.4% | 7 | 13.0% | 3.2% |
| Male | 888 | 79.4% | 138 | 74.2% | 15.5% | 46 | 85.2% | 5.2% |
| Materials | 821 | 100% | 298 | 100% | 36.3% | 142 | 100% | 17.3% |
| Female | 281 | 34.2% | 137 | 46.0% | 48.8% | 63 | 44.4% | 22.4% |
| Male | 532 | 64.8% | 157 | 52.7% | 29.5% | 78 | 54.9% | 14.7% |
| Mechanical Engineering | 2328 | 100% | 430 | 100% | 18.5% | 205 | 100% | 8.8% |
| Female | 421 | 18.1% | 86 | 20.0% | 20.4% | 35 | 17.1% | 8.3% |
| Male | 1891 | 81.2% | 340 | 79.1% | 18.0% | 169 | 82.4% | 8.9% |
| Medical Biosciences | 1593 | 100% | 379 | 100% | 23.8% | 169 | 100% | 10.6% |
| Female | 1112 | 69.8% | 272 | 71.8% | 24.5% | 125 | 74.0% | 11.2% |
| Male | 467 | 29.3% | 106 | 28.0% | 22.7% | 44 | 26.0% | 9.4% |
| School of Medicine | 3443 | 100% | 668 | 100% | 19.4% | 356 | 100% | 10.3% |
| Female | 2076 | 60.3% | 343 | 51.3% | 16.5% | 181 | 50.8% | 8.7% |
| Male | 1347 | 39.1% | 320 | 47.9% | 23.8% | 173 | 48.6% | 12.8% |
| Biochemistry | 1702 | 100% | 408 | 100% | 24.0% | 174 | 100% | 10.2% |
| Female | 1028 | 60.4% | 253 | 62.0% | 24.6% | 113 | 64.9% | 11.0% |
| Male | 651 | 38.2% | 148 | 36.3% | 22.7% | 57 | 32.8% | 8.8% |
| Biological Sciences | 1385 | 100% | 505 | 100% | 36.5% | 186 | 100% | 13.4% |
| Female | 842 | 60.8% | 314 | 62.2% | 37.3% | 111 | 59.7% | 13.2% |
| Male | 515 | 37.2% | 176 | 34.9% | 34.2% | 72 | 38.7% | 14.0% |
| Chemistry | 1665 | 100% | 584 | 100% | 35.1% | 250 | 100% | 15.0% |
| Female | 798 | 47.9% | 264 | 45.2% | 33.1% | 110 | 44.0% | 13.8% |
| Male | 849 | 51.0% | 312 | 53.4% | 36.7% | 136 | 54.4% | 16.0% |
| Mathematics | 2984 | 100% | 728 | 100% | 24.4% | 259 | 100% | 8.7% |
| Female | 797 | 26.7% | 141 | 19.4% | 17.7% | 39 | 15.1% | 4.9% |
| Male | 2156 | 72.3% | 580 | 79.7% | 26.9% | 218 | 84.2% | 10.1% |
| Physics | 2009 | 100% | 712 | 100% | 35.4% | 274 | 100% | 13.6% |
| Female | 527 | 26.2% | 197 | 27.7% | 37.4% | 71 | 25.9% | 13.5% |
| Male | 1451 | 72.2% | 502 | 70.5% | 34.6% | 201 | 73.4% | 13.9% |
| Grand Total | 32884 | 100% | 8263 | 100% | 25.1% | 3473 | 100% | 10.6% |
| Female | 12293 | 37.4% | 3170 | 38.4% | 25.8% | 1306 | 37.6% | 10.6% |
| Male | 20265 | 61.6% | 4983 | 60.3% | 24.6% | 2133 | 61.4% | 10.5% |
This is a lot of data to go through, but the most important fact is that the 2024 intake consisted of 61% male students and 38% female students (this data excludes applicants with registered as “Unknown Gender”). This is a fairly noticeable imbalance, though it is to be expected considering there were nearly 8,000 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. Within various schools at Imperial, including Mathematics and Computing, over 85% of the admitted students were males. This isn’t proportional to the number of applicants, 27% of whom were female for Mathematics. There could be many reasons as to why this was the case, but it may be important for you to consider.
Imperial Application Statistics: 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 2024
| Course | UK Applications | UK Applicant % | International Applications | International Applicant % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medicine | 2,246 | 65.2% | 1,198 | 34.8% |
| Economics, Finance and Data Science | 687 | 22.6% | 2,349 | 77.4% |
| Mechanical Engineering | 912 | 39.2% | 1416 | 60.8% |
| Aeronautical Engineering | 845 | 54.3% | 720 | 45.7% |
| Computing (BEng) | 640 | 41.8% | 891 | 58.2% |
International Acceptances for Top Imperial Courses 2024
| Course | UK Acceptances | UK Student % | International Acceptances | International Student % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medicine | 326 | 91.6% | 30 | 8.4% |
| Economics, Finance and Data Science | 60 | 51.3% | 57 | 48.7% |
| Mechanical Engineering | 102 | 49.8% | 103 | 50.2% |
| Aeronautical Engineering | 68 | 46.3% | 79 | 53.7% |
| Computing (BEng) | 44 | 53.0% | 39 | 47.0% |
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, as we can see from this data. Both Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering admitted more international applicants, while Mathematics offers a more extreme example. From 134 accepted students, 96 were international, with most coming from China.
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. Imperial is one of the most competitive Russell Group universities, so be sure to check out the other acceptance rates for universities in the group, including our dedicated guides to UCL and LSE.
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.
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