Admission requirements Master's degree

To be admitted to one of our master’s programmes, you will need to meet the admission requirements as outlined in Dutch Higher Education law. For an international Master’s programme at NHL Stenden you will need a relevant bachelor’s degree that is at is at least equivalent to an NLQF 6/EQF 6 level (Dutch/European Qualifications Framework).*

In general, you will need to have a relevant bachelor’s degree (NLQF 6/EQF 6) from a recognized university in order to be admitted to one of the master’s programmes at NHL Stenden.
Relevant fields of study for our master’s programmes include: 

Content & Media Strategy 

• Management, Media, Marketing, Communication or Business Studies

International Hospitality & Service Management 

• Hospitality Management, Leisure / Tourism / Events Management, Economics or Business Studies

International Leisure, Tourism & Events Management 

• Leisure / Tourism / Events Management, Economics or Business Management

Your qualifications will be assessed by an Admissions Officer at the Central Student Administration (CSA) department of NHL Stenden once you have applied for the specific programme through Studielink. In addition to the degree you have obtained, CSA will also consider your motivation letter and CV in its assessment.

If you wish to apply for a programme but do not have a relevant bachelor’s degree, please apply anyway through Studielink as we evaluate applications for master’s programmes on a case-by-case basis. In all cases, an interview may form part of the admissions procedure.  

If it is unclear what the equivalent level of your bachelor diploma is within the Dutch education system, NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences will have your diploma evaluated by Nuffic, a Dutch organisation specialised in the assessment of international qualifications. For an indication of how your educational system compares to the Dutch system, please visit the Nuffic website.

* The European Qualifications Framework (EQF) is a tool for understanding and comparing qualifications awarded in different countries and by different education and training systems. Its eight levels are described in terms of learning outcomes: knowledge, skills and competences. The levels of the Dutch Qualification Framework (NLQF) are linked to the levels of the EQF.

All non-EU/EEA applicants are required to submit an English proficiency test with their application to show that their English language skills are at a high enough level to succeed in their studies. This requirement is in accordance with the Code of Conduct International Student in Dutch Higher Education to which NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences complies.

Exceptions can be made for students who have had their preparatory education in a country where English is the only official educational language. 

If you are applying for a bachelor degree and hold a diploma from a European institution listed here, and English was included as part of the final exam curriculum, then the additional English language test is not required. The same applies to students who have attained General Certificates of Secondary Education (enough O and A/AS levels with the sufficient score), the European Baccalaureate Certificate, International Baccalaureate Diploma, or an IB career-related programme taught fully in English. 

All other applicants need to submit a valid and adequate English language test result with their application. 

NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences accepts four kinds of official language tests: 

• TOEIC score 670* (Listening and Reading) and 290 (Speaking and Writing). 

• TOEFL *** iBT with a minimum score of 80 We accept the following TOEFL iBT tests:  

  • TOEFL iBT Traditional**

  • TOEFL iBT Paper Edition** 

• Academic IELTS with a minimum overall score of 6.0** (with an advised minimum of 5.0 for each skill)  
• Cambridge ESOL score FCE-C (169, or higher).  

View the comparison of the different scores. 

Important to know is that NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences only accepts:

*TOEIC® certificates from public programs and not from institutional programs. Public programs are organized in public centers and delivers an official score report which is recognized worldwide.

**IELTS, TOEFL and TOEIC certificates which are not older than 2 years, at the start date of the enrolment you have applied for. This is a decision that has been made through NHL Stenden in addition to the Code of Conduct.

***TOEFL iBT Home Edition - we are aware that some centers, offering recognized tests, are temporarily closed. To meet the needs of students who are unable to take the TOEFL iBT^® test at a test center due to public health concerns, ETS is temporarily offering the TOEFL iBT Special Home Edition test in selected areas. NHL Stenden decided to accept the TOEFL Home Edition test if the test centers are closed and students are unable to do a TOEFL Traditional or Paper edition. Before registering for this test, you can include our TOEFL institution code of C652 for the verification process. Original test results must be sent directly from the Educational Testing Service to NHL Stenden. For further information check here.

Please note: If you do not yet have the necessary level in English, you may enrol in our Preparatory English Language Course.

• Conditional admission to the professional master