What you must upload

Interactive tracker

Document checklist

Official six pieces from Entry Requirements. This is a planning tool, not an official KAUST decision. Tick as you prepare them.

Required at application

The six pieces

1. 1. Official university transcripts

   A complete academic record from every higher-education institution you attended: courses, credits where used, grades, final award, and the grading scale. Mark sheets or graduation certificates can stand in if that is what the university issues.

   If the degree is unfinished, upload a partial transcript, unofficial record, or screenshot from the student system. Final official transcripts must be sent by the awarding institution to the Office of Admissions before you arrive if you are admitted. Non-English originals need both the original and a certified English translation. KAUST will not recommend a translator.

2. 2. Curriculum vitae

   Full but concise. Official minimum: legal name as on passport or national ID; date of birth; correspondence address; phone and email; every post-high-school institution with dates; qualifications taken and pending (level, title, dates); relevant work; research and publications with abstracts where useful; other skills and interests. They explicitly want extracurriculars — they use them to judge how you will live in a closed campus community.

3. 3. Statement of purpose (~750 words)

   Past work, preparation for the field, background and interests, academic plans, career objectives, and why this specific KAUST programme. This is not a life memoir and not a second CV. Name the research problems you want to work on and why KAUST’s labs and faculty are the right bench. There is no separate “fellowship essay.”

4. 4. Three referees

   Contact details only — you do not upload letters. Institutional or professional email required. Requests leave the system the moment you save the names. Academic referees are expected unless your last degree ended more than three years ago. Ask them to include comparison language and research ability. Target: all letters in within seven calendar days of the deadline.

5. 5. English score (if available)

   IELTS 7 / 6.5, TOEFL iBT 5 / 4.5 (code 4107), PTE 71 / 67, or Cambridge 185 / 176, as published on 21 September 2026. You may apply without it; admitted students must meet the floor before enrolment. Confirm current numbers on the official page. See Eligibility.

6. 6. Passport or Saudi national ID

   A clear, unobscured copy of the passport page with photo and personal details. Saudi applicants may use a national ID instead. After an offer you will need a passport valid at least 12 months with two adjacent blank visa pages — renew before onboarding if you are close.

Optional

GRE / PGAT

Not required. If you include a score, upload an official report. Validity is five years. Self-reported numbers are unofficial until verified.

After the offer — not for the portal

Attestation and visa medicals

Do not confuse application uploads with onboarding. If you are admitted, KAUST onboarding will ask for degree attestation (often up to 60 days, frequently via the Saudi Cultural Mission), a GAMCA / visa medical report (HIV, Hep B, Hep C, VDRL, TB — a positive result can block an Iqama), and a visa invitation process through a local agent. Those documents are not what you upload in September or January. Details on After Selection.

Common file mistakes

• Transcript without a grading scale.
• English-only translation without the original, or original without a translation.
• Personal email addresses for referees.
• Saving referees before they have agreed — the request emails immediately.
• Waiting for a “final” transcript when a partial record would have made the deadline.
• Editing after submit. You cannot, unless they ask.