Taught courses

When applying for exchange or study abroad at Leiden University, you will select the individual courses you want to follow and so create your own personal study programme.

Course information

Leiden University offers a wide range of taught courses for exchange and study abroad students. Course information is updated each year between March and June for the upcoming academic year. Schedules are published a few weeks before the course starts.

Go to the Prospectus.
Click on ‘Exchange’ at the bottom of the screen.
On the next page use the filters on the left side to filter the results by semester, faculty, level etc.; or search for courses according to specific criteria by using the search bar at the top of the screen.
Click on a course you are interested in, then check the following information in the right-hand menu to find out if the course is suitable for you:

Course period	Semester 1 (period 1 & 2) = Fall (Sep & Dec/Jan) Semester 2 (period 3 & 4) = Spring (Feb & Jun)
Credits	How many EC the course is worth
Level	100, 200, 300: Bachelor level 400: Advanced Bachelor or Master level 500, 600: Master level (only open to Master students) Note: for level 300+ specific background knowledge is required.
Language	Language of instruction
Available as	Make sure the course is available to exchange/study abroad students

First, check with your home university how many credits you need to take at Leiden University. The normal full-time study load is 30 EC per semester.

To be admitted as an exchange/study abroad students, you must be admitted to at least 15 EC for one semester. However, your home university will usually require that you take more credits than that. Make sure you are admitted to sufficient courses to meet your credit requirements before arrival!

Leiden University uses the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). For further information on our credit and grading system please see EC and grading information.

On the application and admission pages you can find instructions on how to create your application then add your course selection.

Dutch language courses

You are also welcome to follow Dutch language courses at the university's Academic Language Centre. However, please be aware that these will not be included on your transcript and additional fees will apply.