The selection committee requires all students to have basic knowledge of the broad range of subjects within the field of Psychology at level 1 (comparable to UvA bachelor year 1, basic, introductory courses). If you have completed an introductory course on Psychology (≥ 5 ec), this is enough to cover this requirement. If you haven’t, you can pass this requirement by showing you have passed a basic course on each of these subjects: Social Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Clinical Psychology (often called Psychopathology), Biological Psychology and Cognitive Psychology, for ≥ 1 ec per subject.

If you have successfully completed, or will complete one of the bachelor’s programmes stated below before 31 August, you automatically qualify for this basic requirement (basic knowledge of psychology.

• Bachelor in Psychology at any university in The Netherlands
• UvA Bachelor Psychobiology
• The “UvA Kwalificatieprogramma” within the bachelor of Applied Psychology at Hogeschool van Amsterdam
• UvA Bachelor Interdisciplinary Social Sciences
• UvA Bachelor PPLE with a major in Psychology
• UvA Bachelor Bèta-Gamma with a major in Psychology
• UvA Bachelor Pedagogical Sciences

If you have a different previous education, please show in your application how you meet this requirement. You can do this by referring to one or more courses that you have obtained in the area of this requirement and by enclosing the study guide description of these subjects with your application.

If you do not meet this basic requirement with your prior education, you can take the following course at the UvA:

• Introductory Psychology (for 6 ec, part of a larger course Introductory Psychology and Brain & Cognition of 12 ec; students that only wish to do part A can do so)

Please note: by taking this course, you meet this requirement. Whether you can attain these courses within a pre-Master's programme can only be determined if it is clear which deficiencies you have in addition. More information about the attainment of courses to meet the admission requirements for the selection can be found under the information about pre-Master's programmes.

• ≥24 EC Methods and Statistics courses in Psychology or Social Sciences of which ≥21 ec on quantitative research
   
• The selection committee requires all students to have completed ≥ 24 ec courses on Methods and Statistics (M&S), preferably Psychological methods and statistics, but M&S courses on the broader field of social sciences are accepted as well. Since our master’s programme is focused on quantitative research (as opposed to qualitative research), at least 21 of the required 24 credits needs to be about quantitative research. This requirements assures you will have the knowledge/skills you need in the master’s programme.
• Concerning methodology, the selection committee looks for information indicating you have a good understanding of the following topics: observational versus experimental studies, (quasi-)experimental designs, randomization, sampling, confounding, bias, test construction, measurement error, test reliability, and test validity. You should also be able to explain what type of conclusions can be drawn from different types of study designs (and what not), and should be able to analyze the quality (i.e., reliability and validity) of a psychological measurement instrument.
• Concerning statistics, the selection committee looks for information indicating you have a good understanding of the following topics: descriptive statistics, (conditional) probabilities, random variables, populations versus samples, sampling distributions, inferential statistics, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing. You should also be able to summarize univariate and bivariate data distributions, and should be able to test null hypotheses (t-tests, ANOVA – factorial/mixed, ANCOVA, MANOVA, correlation, regression, moderator/mediator analysis), do PCA, non-parametric testing, etc.
• A book that reflects the level of statistical knowledge that is needed is "Discovering statistics using SPSS" (4^th edition) by Andy Field.  

If you have successfully completed, or will complete one of the bachelor’s programmes stated below before 31 August, you automatically qualify for this basic requirement (basic knowledge of psychology).

• Bachelor in Psychology at any university in The Netherlands
• UvA Bachelor Psychobiology
• The “UvA Kwalificatieprogramma” within the bachelor of Applied Psychology at Hogeschool van Amsterdam
• UvA Bachelor Interdisciplinary Social Sciences
• UvA Bachelor PPLE with a major in Psychology
• UvA Bachelor Bèta-Gamma with a major in Psychology
• UvA bachelor's degree in Pedagogical Sciences (NB: students doing the UPvA do a special variant of the bachelor's degree Pedagogical Sciences at the UvA and do not automatically meet the requirements; they have to prove this when registering)

If you have a different previous education, please show in your application how you meet this requirement. You can do this by referring to one or more courses that you have obtained in the area of this requirement and by enclosing the study guide description of these subjects with your application.

If you do not fully meet this requirement, but do for at least 18 ec, it is possible to take a 6 EC M&S course with us. Depending on your track preference this will be one of these courses:

• MODA (Methodology: Operationalization, Design and Analyses): for students interested in these tracks: Cultural psychology, Coaching and vitality in organisations,  Consultancy and Organisational development, Human Resource and Career Management, Social influence, Sports and performance psychology
• Behavioural Research Toolbox: for students interested in the tracks Brain and Cognition in Society and Behavioural Data Science
• Evidence-based Clinical Practice: Research Methods: for students interested in the Development & Health track

If you have obtained less than 18 EC M&S courses in your previous education, unfortunately it is not possible to supplement your knowledge and skills with us.

At the UvA, a pre-Master’s programme may not exceed 60 EC, and may last no longer than one academic year. With regard to that, we cannot compose a premaster’s programme for candidates who need more than 6 EC to fulfil this M&S requirement.

Please note: You would meet this M&S requirement by completing one of the above mentioned courses, assuming you already obtained at least 18 EC in your previous education in the field of this requirement. However, eligibility for a pre-Master's programme depends on which and how many deficiencies you would have to solve altogether.
More information about the requirements for pre-Master’s programmes

In order to ensure that you have sufficient research and writing skills to start the master’s, the selection committee wants you to demonstrate that you have done an empirical research project of ≥9 EC on a subject within Psychology or a related social science and have written an individual research report about it in APA-style. 

Please note: A literature review does not suffice; you must have carried out empirical research, i.e. collected and analysed data.

If you have successfully completed, or will complete one of the bachelor’s programmes stated below before 31 August, you automatically qualify for this basic requirement.

• Bachelor in Psychology at any university in The Netherlands
• The “UvA Kwalificatieprogramma” within the bachelor of Applied Psychology at Hogeschool van Amsterdam
• UvA Bachelor Interdisciplinary Social Sciences
• UvA Bachelor PPLE with a major in Psychology
• UvA Bachelor Bèta-Gamma with a major in Psychology
• UvA bachelor's degree in Pedagogical Sciences (NB: students doing the UPvA do a special variant of the bachelor's degree Pedagogical Sciences at the UvA and do not automatically meet the requirements; they have to prove this when registering)
• UvA Bachelor Psychobiology

If you have a different previous education, please show in your application how you meet this requirement. You can do this by referring to one or more courses that you have obtained or will obtain in the area of this requirement, and by enclosing the course catalogue description of these subjects with your application.

If you have not done any research in your previous education that meets the description above, unfortunately it is not possible to supplement your knowledge and skills with us. In that case, you are not eligible for a pre-Master’s programme.

More information about obtaining courses to meet the admission requirements for the selection can be found at the information about pre-Master's programmes.