What is a pre-Master’s programme?

If you do not meet all the selection requirements for the Master's track in Psychology or Healthcare Psychology (Dutch-taught only), you might qualify for a pre-Master's programme. If you would like to know whether a pre-Master's programme is an option for you, please apply for the Master's track of your choice. The admissions committee will then decide whether you already qualify for the master's track. If not, the admissions committee will check whether a pre-Master's programme is an option for you to qualify for admission. A pre-Master's programme consists of courses that will help you qualify for the selection procedure for the Master's track of your choice. Please note that not for every entry requirement we have pre-Master’s modules available.

Prerequisites

Prerequisites

A pre-Master's programme is only possible if:

1. you need a maximum of 60 ECTS credits to meet the admission requirements. Please note: 

   - For the tracks ‘Klinische Psychologie’ and ‘Klinische Forensische Psychologie’ of the master Healthcare Psychology, the following restrictions apply: a premaster may consist of a maximum of 12 EC, and only candidates with a Dutch academic bachelor’s degree in Psychology or the UvA bachelor’s in Psychobiology are eligible. Please note that the master Healthcare Psychology is offered only in Dutch. Non-native speakers of Dutch need to demonstrate their NT2-II (advanced level) certificate in order to qualify for the master. - For the Research Master’s in Psychology no Pre-Master’s programme is offered.

2. the required courses are scheduled and can be completed at a feasible workload within a maximum of 1 academic year (e.g. a maximum of 30 ECTS credits per semester).
3. you do not need a visa to study in The Netherlands.

Subsequently, you must successfully complete the pre-Master's programme within 1 academic year to qualify for the selection procedure for the track of your choice.

For the following academic year, we guarantee that the successfully completed pre-Master's programme will qualify you for the selection of the track of your choice. If you apply later, admission requirements may have changed.

Qualified does not mean selected

A pre-Master's programme qualifies you for the selection procedure of the master's track. Qualifying does not automatically mean that you have been admitted to the master's track. You will have to apply for the selection procedure of the master's track. The selection committee selects students from among all applicants who meet the admission requirements.

Apply on time!

If you think you need a pre-Master's programme, be sure to apply early so you can find out quickly about your next steps. Applications can be submitted from 1 October to 15 November (EU-candidates and those that do not need a visa to study in the Netherlands). The sooner you apply, the sooner you will find out whether you still need to complete any courses and what those might be. This may involve a limited number of courses (or even just one) that can be taken during semester 2. In that case, you can still qualify for the selection for the start of the master's track in the following academic year.

If you apply before 15 November in Studielink and MyInfo, we will make sure to notify you before the Christmas holidays in case you require (and qualify for) a pre-Master's programme.

If you apply later, make sure to choose the September enrolment in Studielink. The application deadline will be 1 March. You can expect to receive the outcome by mid-May. Should you need to take a pre-Master's, you can do so in the following academic year.

Costs

The costs of a pre-Master's programme strongly depend on the number of ECTS credits you need to obtain. For Dutch students, the costs also depend on whether or not you already graduated from your bachelor’s programme and already did another pre-Master's / Master's programme. At the Education Desk Psychology we are happy to inform you about the costs once it is clear what your pre-Master's programme consists of.

Hbo-bachelor / undergraduate degree programme with an applied emphasis

An undergraduate degree programme with an applied emphasis (Dutch: hbo-bachelor) is not equivalent to an academic Bachelor’s degree, and therefore gives no access to the Psychology Master’s nor to the pre-Master’s programmes. This is because one not only needs knowledge of psychology to succeed in the Master’s programme, but also skills/knowledge of scientific research methods and other scientific skills like critical thinking, academic writing, etc.

In our pre-Master's programmes for students with an academic Bachelor’s degree in a relevant subject we are able to correct deficiencies in specific knowledge needed for the Master’s programme. However, student holding an undergraduate degree also need to correct their deficiencies in academic skills and this takes more than a year. Since a pre-Master’s programme legally can not be longer than one year, we are unable to provide a pre-Master’s programme.

We advise students holding an undergraduate degree to do the Bachelor’s programme in Psychology at UvA, or elsewhere. Also, it is worthwhile to check other Psychology Master’s programmes since some do have pre-Masters for students holding an undergraduate degree.