Since there are no entrance examination requirements for most of universities in the Netherlands, the admission procedure can be started when candidate provides international office of the university with the required documents. Before applying to a Dutch university, it is important to check qualifying requirements and application deadlines set by that university.
Here are general guidelines of qualification required for enrollment.
Application to a Bachelor (undergraduate) programme
While a secondary school diploma or an equivalent qualification is a must, some universities might have additional requirements if you apply to certain programmes. For example, additional credentials can be asked if you select a programme Bachelor in Arts at university college or research university.
Applying for a Master (graduate) programme
A Bachelor's degree diploma is required to apply for a Master programme at any Dutch university.
Candidate's abilities to read, write and converse well in English are also very important because English is the main language used at the universities in the Netherlands.
For application most universities require following documents:
- Diploma or certificate of secondary (high) school with list of subjects and hours per subject for Bachelor programmes.
- College or university diploma with list of subjects and hours per subject for Masters Programme.
- Results of TOEFL or IELTS test for non-native speakers. Some universities accept results of other English language proficiency tests. Please check with the respective university for details. Required scores are at least 550 (paper based) or 213 (computer based) for TOEFL. For IELTS test, score of at least 6 is required.
- Results of Dutch language test NT2 only for enrollment for programmes in Dutch. Language requirements for individual programmes or courses are indicated in the database of international study programmes.
- Curriculum Vitae (resume), reference letter(s) and a letter of introduction (an essay personal statement or motivation letter) with the information about candidate's background and reasons of choice studies in Netherlands.
Photocopies of these documents should be translated in English, France, Spanish or German and certified by educational institution (school ) or by notary.
Application deadlines
Most of Dutch universities have enrollment twice a year: in September (autumn) and February (winter).
- Deadlines for EU citizens, who do not need a study visa vary from March untill August for programmes starting in September and from November until January for programmes starting in February.
- Citizens outside EU should provide universities their application requests until March - May in order to start in September or until November - December if the studies begin in February. Some universities of applied sciences accept applications even in June for starting in September and in December for starting in February.
