The study adviser cannot answer detailed questions about admissibility because this depends on the assessment of your previous education. This also means that we are unable to arrange individual meetings to discuss eligibility questions of prospective students. Please review the information offered on the admission requirements page and this FAQ carefully, and if you have any substantial questions left, feel free to reach out to the study adviser.

The Board of Admissions will base their decision on your application as a whole. Therefore, the definitive answer to your application can only come from them.

For further information activities please see the Information Activities page.

You are eligible for admission to the master International Relations if you have obtained:

• A bachelor’s degree from a research university that matches the level of a Dutch academic Bachelor’s degree, or demonstrate to meet the requirements for such a degree, including general academic skills; and
• the bachelor’s degree should be in the field of social sciences, humanities, law or economics and
• prior education must include components worth at least 30 EC that are comparable in level, content and course objectives to courses of a given specialisation:

For specialisations Culture and Politics, Global Conflict in the Modern Era, Global Order in Historical Perspective, and Global Political Economy

• components worth at least 30 EC that are comparable in level, content and course objectives to the following courses of the bachelor’s programme International Studies at Leiden University:
  • World History (5 EC)
  • Introduction to International Studies (5 EC)
  • Cultural Interaction: Conflict and Cooperation (5 EC) or Communication across Cultures (5 EC)
  • Global Political Economy (5 EC)
  • International Relations (5 EC)
  • Politics of a specific area (i.e. Africa, East Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, North America, Russia and Eurasia, South and Southeast Asia) (5 EC)

You can find information about these courses in the online prospectus for the BA International Studies. 

For specialisation European Union Studies

• a completed minor in European Union Studies at Leiden University or components worth at least 30 credits in the field of contemporary European studies with comparable content and course objectives.

Keep in mind that we also have a limited capacity to our master’s programme. Therefore, there are also qualitative admission requirements, to be found on their respective admission requirement pages.

Students who don’t have the exact courses as described above but still have courses comparable to them, could add an addendum page to their motivation letter stating the 30 EC of relevant courses, together with the key readings and course objectives for each one.

If you’ve still got time to pursue (comparable) courses in the field as described in the admission requirements during your bachelor’s degree, it’s certainly recommended to follow those courses.

However, if you hold a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, as indicated above, but are unable to demonstrate via your academic record that you meet the specific requirements set, you are required to submit a 1,250 word essay as part of the admission process:

• In this essay you must demonstrate a clear affinity with and specific knowledge of International Relations in general and specifically in the field of the specialisation for which you apply.
• Specifically, the essay must clearly answer an original research question, provide a reasonable and reasonably well organised argument that demonstrates a satisfactory understanding of the essay topic, demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of historical and/or social science methods, critically engage with the additional reading specified on the Required documents page of the specialisation and contain no fundamental errors.

The Board of Admissions will then review your application and make an assessment of your suitability for the programme.

Applicants in possession of a Bachelor’s degree from a university of applied sciences, equivalent to the level of a Dutch HBO bachelor’s degree, in the field of economics, history, political science (and international relations), law or European Studies can apply for admission to European Union Studies but are not directly admissible and may be referred to the pre-master programme.

Other specialisations of International Relations do not accept students with a (equivalent to the Dutch) HBO bachelor’s degree.

The MA International Relations offers a pre-master for one of the specialisations: European Union Studies

None of the other specialisations offer a pre-master programme.
The Board of Admissions will review your application and will mention on your application decision whether they would offer you a premaster programme.

If no pre-master programme is mentioned on your application decision, you are not offered a premaster programme.

Yes, you can apply for the programme already. If you are admitted in that case, it will be on the condition that you hand in your final documents such as language tests and/or bachelor’s degrees before the start of the programme in September or February.

Note: there are different earlier deadlines for final documents of students that require a student VISA as they have requirements for their visa application. Please enquire with the Student Affairs Front Office.

Please look carefully at the language test requirements for information of the exemption group. If you’re not part of that list, you will be expected to hand in a language test.

For further questions you can contact the Student Affairs Front Office.

Yes, there are various scholarships available for students at Leiden University. These scholarships can help support your studies financially and are offered based on different criteria such as academic merit, nationality, and specific programme enrolment.

For detailed information on the scholarships that you may be eligible for, including application procedures and deadlines, please visit the Leiden University Scholarships page. This page provides comprehensive information about the scholarships offered.

No, the application deadline is a hard deadline. Therefore, your application after that deadline can only be for a future intake.

Check your language settings in Studielink. If you set it to English, you will be able to find it under MA International Relations. In Dutch, you will find us as MA Internationale Betrekkingen. After, you can choose the specialisation of your choice.

Please reach out to the Student Affairs Front Office.

Please do reach out to the study adviser. We would be happy to answer your questions.