Green Chemistry fees & admissions

To be admitted to one of our 3-year bachelor programmes (also known as fast tracks), you will need to meet the admission requirements as outlined in Dutch Higher Education law. Your diploma must be the equivalent of a Dutch pre-university high school diploma (VWO).

NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences recognizes the international qualifications listed here for admission into our 3-year bachelor programmes*.

If the qualification you will obtain or have obtained is not listed as a recognised qualification, you are most likely not admissible for the 3-year programme. However, if you want to know this for sure, we recommend you apply for the programme through Studielink. Your qualifications will be assessed by an Admissions Officer at the Central Student Administration (CSA) department of NHL Stenden once you have applied.

It may be that you could be admitted to one of our 4-year bachelor programmes. Check the admission requirements for those programmes here to find out.

If it is unclear what the equivalent level of your secondary school 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.

* All applications will be assessed on an individual basis by the Central Student Administration (CSA) even if your diploma is listed as a recognised qualification. Although this document has been composed carefully by NHL Stenden, rights cannot be derived from this overview.

Experience-Based Admission

If you don’t have a VWO diploma or an equivalent to the Dutch VWO level, you may still be eligible to enrol in Green Chemistry through our Experience-Based Admission route. We will look at your background to see if you have the right experience. You are possibly eligible if you have:

• At least one year of experience in higher education or post-secondary study beyond secondary/high school, such as a bachelor’s degree, associate degree, vocational training, or similar
  AND/OR
• Gained work or research experience after your secondary/ high school

To start this process, after your application via Studielink, please send your CV with details about your education and experience, including related documents showing your post-secondary/high school experience, to green.chemistry@nhlstenden.com, with subject email “CV – Experience-Based Admission”. Our admissions team will check your background and notify you of your eligibility to enrol in the Green Chemistry programme through this route within two weeks.

For example, if you have completed at least one year of a bachelor’s degree or a short-cycle higher education programme and have studied mathematics, chemistry, or subjects related to both, during your secondary education/high school or higher education, you are eligible to join Green Chemistry through this experience-based admission route. 

Below are the standard language requirements at NHL Stenden. An additional requirement for the Green Chemistry programme is a minimum of 6.0 for each skill (IELTS).

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.

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 an associate degree, bachelor’s degree or master's degree and hold a diploma from a European institution listed here (provision 5.8a), 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 official language tests in accordance with the Code of Conduct International Student in Dutch Higher Education: 

• IELTS academic with a minimum overall band score of 6.0** (with an advised minimum of 5.0 for each skill). We do not accept the online version of the Academic IELTS results.*
• TOEFL *** iBT with a minimum required score taken before January 21, 2026: Minimum total score: 80 (0–120 scale) or after January 21, 2026: Minimum total score: 4 (1–6 scale).
• Cambridge English grades and scale* with the score First FCE–Grade B (scale 173–175) or First FCE–Grade C (scale 169–172)
• TOEIC score 865* (Listening and Reading) and 335 (Speaking and Writing). 
• LanguageCert academic ** with a minimum score of 65. We do not accept the online version of the LanguageCert academic results. 
• Pearson PTE Academic ** with a minimum score of 61. We do not accept the online version of the Pearson PTE academic results. 

* We only accept TOEIC®, TOEFL, IELTS, Cambridge, LanguageCert and Pearson PTE certificates from public programmes and not from institutional programmes. Public programmes are organised in public centres and deliver an official score report which is recognised worldwide. 
** IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC, LanguageCert and Pearson PTE certificates more than 2 years old (at the start date of the study), will not be accepted. 
***TOEFL iBT Traditional and 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.

English Language Course
If you haven't met the English language requirements mentioned above, NHL Stenden offers an English language course that you can participate in before starting your Bachelor's or Master's program at NHL Stenden. For more details, check this link.