How to Apply to Psychology at UBC: Requirements and Timeline for High School Students in China and Canada, and Transfer Students

UBC’s Department of Psychology says it ranks 10th in the world and first in Canada in the Times Higher Education subject rankings, with more than 45 research labs. Applying to UBC works differently from the US or UK: you apply to a degree (such as the Bachelor of Arts), not to psychology itself. Here is what you need to know for September 2027 entry, based on UBC’s official information, for three groups of applicants: students at high schools in China, students at Canadian high schools (including BC students and international students attending high school in Vancouver and elsewhere), and students transferring from a Canadian college or university.

1. Choose your campus and degree

• Vancouver campus: Psychology is in the Faculty of Arts and leads to a Bachelor of Arts (BA) over 4 years, with Honours and Co-op options. Apply to Arts (Vancouver); you do not choose psychology on the application.
• Okanagan campus (Kelowna): Psychology is offered as both a BA and a BSc, through that campus’s Arts and Science degrees.
• Interested in neuroscience? The Vancouver BSc Behavioural Neuroscience major stopped admitting students in 2022W and has been replaced by the Undergraduate Program in Neuroscience (UPN), offered jointly by Science, Arts and Medicine; you apply to the Bachelor of Science.
• Two degree choices: The application lets you list a first and second choice, which can be in different faculties and on different campuses. A common combination is Arts (Vancouver) first and Arts or Science (Okanagan) second.

2. Academic requirements: high schools in China

• Graduation: Graduate from a university-preparatory senior secondary program, with the Upper Middle School Report of Grades, Huikao (academic proficiency test) results and Gaokao results; Huikao and Gaokao results must be provided by CSSD (China Credentials Verification).
• Gaokao: UBC expects at least the provincial Tier 1 university cut-off score.
• Not writing the Gaokao? Submit three or more AP exam results in three or more distinct subjects, with competitive results.
• Grades: The grades needed vary by degree and year. In past years, Arts on the Vancouver campus required about an 84% average on China’s grading scale (pass mark 60%), and about 75% on the Okanagan campus. Competitive degrees usually admit students above these levels.
• Courses: Vancouver Arts has no specific course requirements beyond general admission; UBC recommends language arts, mathematics, second languages, social studies and arts courses in junior and senior years. The Okanagan BSc requires three years of upper middle school math (pre-calculus) and two years of chemistry, with two years of physics highly recommended.
• International curricula: IB students need the full Diploma with at least three Higher Level courses; AP, A-Level and other curricula follow UBC’s requirements for those systems.

3. Academic requirements: Canadian high schools (BC as an example)

If you attend a Canadian high school, whether you are a citizen, a permanent resident or an international student on a study permit, you apply under the requirements for your province’s curriculum. For British Columbia:

• General requirements: Graduation from high school; at least 70% in Grade 11 or Grade 12 English; at least six Grade 12 courses recommended but not required. UBC considers your grades in all academic Grade 11 and 12 courses, paying special attention to courses related to the degree.
• Arts, Vancouver (Psychology BA): English Studies 12 or English First Peoples 12; no specific Grade 11 courses; Pre-Calculus 12 if you intend to major in Economics. UBC suggests courses in language arts, mathematics and computation, second languages, social studies, and visual and performing arts.
• Arts, Okanagan (Psychology BA): English Studies 12 or English First Peoples 12.
• Science, Okanagan (Psychology BSc): English Studies 12 or English First Peoples 12, Pre-Calculus 12 (minimum 67%), Chemistry 11, and one of Anatomy and Physiology 12, Chemistry 12, Environmental Science 12, Geology 12 or Physics 12.
• Other provinces: Requirements differ, for example ENG4U for Arts (Vancouver) in Ontario; select your province on UBC’s website.
• Completion: All required courses, including distributed learning courses, must be finished by June 30 before you start; current high school students taking distributed learning courses submit interim (50% complete) grades by March 15.

Sending your grades:

• BC and Yukon: Enter your Personal Education Number (PEN) on the application, then create a BCeID account and order your transcript for UBC on the Ministry’s student transcripts website, choosing “send my transcript now and allow this post-secondary institution to request transcript updates” with the default one-year date. UBC receives your grades directly from the Ministry, so do not send paper transcripts. UBC must receive electronic grades for assessment by March 15 and receives final grades on July 31.
• Ontario: Provide your OUAC reference number on the application and grades are sent electronically.
• Other provinces: Upload your transcript to the Applicant Service Centre as instructed by UBC.

Status, tuition and application fee:

• Canadian citizens and permanent residents (and others such as refugees) pay domestic tuition and an application fee of CAD 78.50.
• International students at Canadian high schools pay international tuition and an application fee of CAD 173.25, but are assessed on their provincial curriculum.

4. Academic requirements: transferring from a Canadian college or university

Many students in Vancouver spend a year or two at a local college before transferring to UBC. UBC’s rules are:

• Minimum: High school graduation and an admission average of at least C (60%, where 50% is a pass) or 2.0 on a 4.0 scale, typically on the most recent 30 credits. This only makes you eligible; Arts and other degrees are competitive.
• Which grades count: 0–6 credits, high school average only; 7–23 credits, high school average and post-secondary GPA; 24–30 credits, post-secondary GPA only; more than 30 credits, with emphasis on the most recent 30 transferable credits. With fewer than 24 credits you must also meet the high school requirements.
• Year level: Second-year applicants should ideally have 30 credits, third-year applicants 54–60.
• Transfer credit: Courses at recognized BC and Yukon colleges transfer according to the BC Transfer Guide, and UBC suggests considering an Associate Degree if you plan a BA. Taking the equivalents of PSYC 101 and 102 at college lets you declare the psychology major once you arrive.

5. English requirements

Four or more consecutive years of full-time education in English in Canada immediately before UBC (for example, Grades 9–12 in BC) meets the standard with no test. Otherwise, you can use one of these tests (in a single sitting):

• IELTS Academic: 6.5 overall, no band below 6.0; IELTS One Skill Retake, IELTS Indicator and IELTS General are not accepted.
• TOEFL iBT: 90 overall, with Reading 22, Listening 22, Writing 21 and Speaking 21 (new 1–6 scale: 4.5 overall, Reading 4.5, Listening 5, Writing 4.5, Speaking 4). UBC’s institution code is 0965.
• Duolingo English Test: 125 overall, with Reading 115, Listening 115, Writing 120 and Speaking 120.
• PTE Academic: 65 overall, 60 in each part.
• For 2027/28, test scores must be from January 1, 2025 onwards, and English documents are due by February 15, 2027.
• Four consecutive years of full-time English education immediately before UBC in another English-speaking country, or at an eligible English-medium international school elsewhere, also meets the standard, as do AP English Language or Literature scores of 4 or higher, or IB English A grades of 5 or higher.
• Newcomers and international students who have been in Canada for less than four years need a test score even if they attend a BC high school.

6. The personal profile: key for psychology applicants

Instead of a single essay, every high school applicant completes a personal profile in the online application: several short-answer questions of 500–2,100 characters each (about 50–500 words). Answers over the character limit are cut off. The questions cover:

• Who you are, how others would describe you and what you are most proud of;
• What is important to you, and why;
• Up to five activities or accomplishments (clubs, family or community responsibilities, arts, work, athletics, volunteering and more), with your responsibilities;
• One or two of those activities in more depth: your role and what you learned;
• Additional information (optional), such as how you chose your courses and how you prepared for your intended area of study.

UBC assesses profiles on four criteria: engagement and accomplishment, leadership, substance and voice, and the profile also counts towards entrance scholarships. You also list two referees: one must be a school official such as a teacher or counsellor, one must be able to speak to an activity in your long answers, and neither can be a friend, family member or paid agent. UBC contacts referees directly after offers go out.

Tips for psychology applicants:

• Use the additional information question to explain why psychology interests you and how you prepared: books you read, AP or IB Psychology, survey projects or data analysis.
• Activities do not need to be impressive on paper. Peer support, a school psychology club, volunteering with children or older people, or caring for family all work if you show what you noticed about people, what you did and what you learned.
• Reflect rather than list awards, and write in your own voice.

7. Timeline for September 2027 entry

• Early October 2026: The application opens on EducationPlannerBC, British Columbia’s application website.
• November 15, 2026: Deadline for international students to apply to UBC and submit the award application for the International Scholars Program. These awards are based on financial need and merit, include a review of family income and assets, and require a nomination from your high school (up to two students per school for UBC Vancouver), so talk to your counsellor in September or October. International students not nominated for it are automatically considered for merit-based awards such as the International Major Entrance Scholarship (IMES) once admitted; you can only be considered for one of the two programs.
• December 1, 2026: Deadline for Canadian citizens and permanent residents to apply to UBC to be considered for the Presidential Scholars Awards, Centennial Scholars Entrance Awards or Beyond Tomorrow Scholars Award.
• January 15, 2027: Application deadline for the 2027/28 Winter Session.
• January 31, 2027: International Scholars Program applicants submit the documents required for admission.
• February 15, 2027: Deadline for English language documents.
• March 15, 2027: UBC must receive BC high school students’ electronic grades for assessment; interim distributed learning grades are due too.
• March to April 2027: Scholarship announcements, including International Major Entrance Scholarships. Decisions for high school applicants are made on a rolling basis from November 2026 to June 2027.
• June 30, 2027: Complete all required high school courses; UBC receives BC students’ final grades on July 31.
• Application fee: CAD 78.50 for Canadian citizens and permanent residents, CAD 173.25 for international students who need a study permit, non-refundable.

Students writing the Gaokao in China will not have results by the January deadline. UBC reviews your high school record first, and you submit Gaokao results through CSSD once they are released.

8. After you arrive: getting into the psychology major

• First year: Take general Arts courses plus PSYC 101 and PSYC 102.
• Second year: Declare the psychology major on Student Workday, then take the methods and statistics courses PSYC 217 and PSYC 218, which are open only to declared psychology (and cognitive systems) majors. Every major completes a research project in PSYC 217.
• Third and fourth years: Specialize in areas such as behavioural neuroscience, cognitive science, clinical, forensic and health psychology, developmental psychology, foundations and psychometrics, and personality and social psychology. The major requires at least 30 upper-level PSYC credits.
• Honours: Highly competitive, with at most 30 incoming third-year students a year. The minimum is a 76% second-year average and at least 80% in PSYC 217 and 218; applications run from March 1 to April 1. Honours and research lab experience are a strong foundation for graduate study or clinical psychology.

9. After graduation

According to UBC, eligible full-time international students graduating from a bachelor’s degree can get a post-graduation work permit of up to three years. Psychology graduates work in marketing, government, healthcare, social services, counselling and more; becoming a registered psychologist in Canada generally requires graduate study.

Checklist

High school students in China:

• High school transcript and Huikao results (via CSSD)
• Gaokao results via CSSD (at least the provincial Tier 1 cut-off), or three or more AP exams
• IELTS, TOEFL, Duolingo or PTE scores
• Personal profile and two referees
• Application fee of CAD 173.25

High school students in BC:

• Your PEN on the application, and a transcript order for UBC through BCeID on the Ministry’s website
• English Studies 12 or English First Peoples 12; for the Okanagan BSc, also Pre-Calculus 12, Chemistry 11 and a Grade 12 science
• An English test score if you have had fewer than four years of English-medium education in Canada
• Personal profile and two referees
• Application fee: CAD 78.50 for citizens and permanent residents, CAD 173.25 for international students

Transfer students:

• Transcripts from every post-secondary institution attended; high school grades too if you have fewer than 24 credits
• Check how your courses transfer using the BC Transfer Guide

Sources: UBC, Psychology (Vancouver); Psychology BSc (Okanagan); Canadian high school students; Submit your documents; Transfer students; Tuition fee status; International Scholars; Awards for international students; English language competency; Dates and deadlines; Complete the application; Personal profile; Psychology major; Psychology honours. Information is for September 2027 entry (2027/28 Winter Session); past admission averages are for reference only. Check UBC for the latest details.