The GMAT is not required for Durham University's Management MSc. Entry is the equivalent of a UK first or upper second-class (2:1) honours degree — the programme is designed for graduates without a business background — plus IELTS 7.0, or an accepted equivalent such as TOEFL iBT 102. Read Durham's own rule before assuming your English-taught degree exempts you: the exemption is a country rule, not a fluency one. Durham says you need not prove your English if you have "recently completed a qualification equivalent to a UK degree in one of the following countries/areas, or are from one of the following countries/areas", and the list it then gives is the 18-entry UK Visas and Immigration set — Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the British Overseas Territories, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica, Malta, New Zealand, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, the UK and the USA — plus Canadian nationals. India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Ghana and Kenya are not on it, so an English-medium degree from any of them does not exempt you here. Durham does recognise Indian Standard XII English (80% at first attempt from nine named boards, alongside a degree from a recognised English-medium university) and the NECO/WAEC/WASSCE English of Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and The Gambia — but it says these are "normally only acceptable for undergraduate study", because they must have been taken within two years of your start date. Confirm the current academic and English requirements on the school's own page.
Not required. Entry is a UK 2:1 equivalent for graduates without a business background, plus IELTS 7.0 or an accepted equivalent — and Durham's English exemption is a country rule rather than a fluency one, running on the 18-entry UKVI list plus Canadian nationals, which excludes India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Ghana and Kenya
| Test policy | Not required. Entry is a UK 2:1 equivalent for graduates without a business background, plus IELTS 7.0 or an accepted equivalent — and Durham's English exemption is a country rule rather than a fluency one, running on the 18-entry UKVI list plus Canadian nationals, which excludes India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Ghana and Kenya |
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| MiMs we track admitting without a required GMAT/GRE | 75 of 118 |
A GMAT or GRE is not required to apply to the Durham University Business School MiM — it is one of the 75 of 118 Master's in Management we track (about 64%) that admit without a required test. See every European MiM you can apply to without a GMAT on our MiM without the GMAT shortlist, or read how GMAT waivers work.
Most European MiM programs, including this one, accept the GRE and often the GMAT Focus Edition or a school-specific test as alternatives, and weigh the whole application — academics, internships, essays, and interview — rather than the score alone.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need a GMAT for the Durham Management MSc?
Sources
- Durham University — Management N2P109 course page. FEE CYCLE CHECKED 2026-09-13 (P25b, UK leg). Verbatim: 'Start date September 2026 ... Tuition Fees Home (full-time): GBP 16,000 per year International (full-time): GBP 33,500 per year', repeated in the Fees and funding block as 'Home / Island students GBP 16,000 per year, International / EU students GBP 33,500 per year'. September 2026 is the only cycle Durham prices for this course — no 2027 column exists on the page — so the corpus figure is right and belongs to 2026. Recorded alongside it, because it is on the same page and an applicant reading our fee would want it: 'Applications for this programme have now closed due to high demand.' The course code has moved since this profile was written (N2K309 redirects to N2P109) ↗ — Durham University
- Durham University Business School — MSc Management (programme page) ↗ — Durham University
- Durham University Business School — Accreditations and Rankings ↗ — Durham University
- Durham University — MSc Management (N2P109), September 2026 entry ↗ — Durham University
- Durham University — Recognised English Speaking Countries. ENGLISH EVIDENCE CHECKED 2026-09-06 (P33b, UK leg): the page states 'You do not need to prove your knowledge of English if you've recently completed a qualification equivalent to a UK degree in one of the following countries/areas, or are from one of the following countries/areas', then lists exactly the 18-entry UKVI set — Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the British Overseas Territories, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica, Malta, New Zealand, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, UK, USA — and adds 'You also do not need to prove your knowledge of English if: You're a national of Canada'. India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Ghana and Kenya are absent. The word 'recently' is NOT quantified anywhere on this page, so no recency window is asserted on our side. This profile previously framed the requirement as applying to 'non-native English speakers', which is not the rule Durham applies. Read via browser-UA curl; the page 403s to WebFetch. P33f RE-READ 2026-09-12: read again for one question only — does submitting a test result BELOW the course requirement remove an exemption the applicant would otherwise hold, as Bath states ('you will not be exempt')? Neither this page nor Durham's separate 'Exemptions for Undergraduate and Postgraduate Taught' page (durham.ac.uk/study/international/entry-requirements/english-language-requirements/exemptions-for-undergraduate-and-postgraduate-taught/, read the same day, which states only 'If you have already completed or are currently completing a degree where at least 1 full academic year was studied in the UK or in another majority English speaking country, then you may be exempt from an additional English language test if this has been within 2 years of the start date of the programme you are applying to') publishes any rule either way. Recorded as a dated SILENCE on that question, never as permission. Both pages return HTTP 403 to WebFetch and HTTP 200 to a browser-UA curl — a refusal to one client, not a dead source. ↗ — Durham University
- Durham University — Other English Language Qualifications. Read 2026-09-06 (P33b): 'If for any reason the recognised English Language tests are not available to you, we also recognise a number of other qualifications... However, these are normally only acceptable for undergraduate study as they need to have been taken within 2 years of the start date of the programme you are applying for.' The list includes 'Indian Standard XII English (Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, CBSE, Goa, ISC, Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu boards only)' at '80% or above at first attempt + degree from a recognised English medium university', and 'NECO/WAEC/WASSCE English from Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia'. Recorded because these are the only routes on Durham's estate that reach South Asian and West African applicants at all — and the two-year window normally closes them to master's entry. Browser-UA curl; 403s to WebFetch ↗ — Durham University