Admission requirements

The basic requirement for admission is a university Law degree which entitles the holder to practise in their country of origin or signifying completion of the academic stage of legal education (e.g., LLB). Because systems of legal education vary widely, the Admissions Board reserves the right to decide on access to the programme, so that the admission of candidates with mixed Law degrees, or an International Relations degree in a system which includes a substantial relevant law element will also be considered. This mainly concerns applications for the programmes Advanced European Union Law, Public International Law, and International Human Rights Law. Please be aware of the fact that a minor in law is the very minimum in these cases.

For all eight LLMs, a thorough basic knowledge of the field of law covered by the degree programme to the level of a Bachelor's degree programme is required as a minimum. This should comprise, per programme, of:

Not graduated yet?

If you have not graduated yet, you can already apply based on the documents currently available. In this case, you need to provide a statement of expected graduation and preferably a list of courses you still have to complete. In this stage of the application, if admitted, this admission will be conditional.

Certified copies

You do not have to submit your certified copies of your degree certificate(s) in hard copy with your initial application. You will be asked for these hard copies once/if you have been (conditionally) admitted. Hard copies of these documents are accepted in English, French, German, and Dutch.

Please note that all preliminary documents uploaded and/or submitted should be in English or be accompanied by an official English translation (only the hard copies mentioned above are accepted in the languages listed).

German applicants

If your university issues an LLB diploma, you can apply with this degree. If you are pursuing the German two state exam pathway for legal education and will not have an LLB diploma, you can apply with your results from the first state exam. In both situations, a GPA equivalency still applies (see selection requirement 1 below).

Candidates whose native language is not English must provide adequate evidence of proficiency in English. We accept the following tests:

* We do not accept IELTS Online and One Skill Retake certificates.
** TOEFL MyBest Scores are not considered in the admission procedure.

Exemption possibilities

It is possible to request exemption from handing in an English proficiency test in the following situations:

1. your native language is English;
2. you are taking/have completed an English-taught bachelor's degree programme at a Dutch research university;
3. you come from a bi-lingual country; or
4. you have taken a different kind of English-taught programme.

Please bear in mind that an exemption based on situation 4 is hardly ever awarded.

In all cases, it is up to the Admissions Board to decide upon all exemption requests.

No test result available yet?

If you don't have your English language proficiency tests result available yet, you can apply without the results. This means your admission decision can, at best, be a conditional admission. Your result can be submitted at a later date, though not later than 31 August. Please do check visa and scholarship deadlines, as mentioned in the item above.

Details of the TOEFL test can be obtained from ETS on their website. Our TOEFL institution code is 7191. Please mention this on your answer sheet when you are taking the test.
Details of the British Council Test are available from the British Council Office in your country or from their website. The test scores cannot be older than two years.

On top of providing the Admissions Board with transcripts and diplomas, you are required to achieve an equivalent minimum GPA (Grade Point Average) of 7.0/10 (Dutch grading scale). This is the average of all the marks of your LLB/previous bachelor's degree programme.

All foreign grades will be converted to the Dutch grading scheme, so please provide information about the grading scale used in your institution. To note, a score of 6 is a passing grade in the Netherlands.

You must send a letter in which they state your motivation to participate in one of the LLM programmes (max. 650 words). The letter should be written by you yourself in English; it is not allowed to submit an (official) translation nor to use AI for the motivation letter.

Please include a curriculum vitae in English, clearly stating, where appropriate, your working experience in the legal field and/or any other skills you have which might be relevant for your participation in the LLM of your choice.

You must provide one letter of reference from an academic referee who has detailed knowledge of your academic records. The letter in principle has to be written by a lecturer of your primary programme, preferably by a law lecturer.

The letter of recommendation should be in English, written on official letterhead, signed, and include full contact details of the referee including their institutional e-mail address. If the letter is not in English, it must be accompanied by a certified English translation.

In the letter, referees should state:

1. How long they have known you and in what capacity, and
2. What is their opinion of your ability to undertake a study programme at postgraduate level and to successfully complete the specific LLM programme you are applying to.