Psychology (MSc)
Admission requirements
To be eligible for the MSc programme in Psychology at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.
Please note: Application for the master’s in Psychology (academic year 2022-2023) will be possible from 11 October 2021.
Please note: These pages display the general entry requirements and application procedure of our Psychology programme. For the specialisations Clinical Psychology, and Clinical Neuropsychology the procedure is different. Please visit the respective pages to learn more about the Admission and Application for these specialisations.
Diploma Requirements
The following diploma requirements apply to this programme. Please make sure to read carefully.
A bachelor degree in Psychology from Leiden University
Students with a Bachelor in Psychology from Leiden University are directly eligible for admission, if at least the appropriate specialisation course is completed. There is no need to submit an application for admission using the online application portal.
The entry requirements with regards to the specialisations for current Psychology Bachelor students from Leiden University who would like to continue a master's in Leiden can be found in the PDF file.
A bachelor degree in Psychology from another University
Prospective students should:
Requirement 1:
- have earned a Bachelor degree in Psychology from a research university and possess the skills, understanding and knowledge that are required for earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology at Leiden University, and;
- possess the skills, understanding and knowledge that are required for earning the bachelor’s degree; more specifically knowledge on university level of the following topics:
- Introduction to Psychology
- Social and Organisational Psychology
- Personality Psychology
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuropsychology and/or Psychophysiology and/or Biopsychology
- Clinical and Abnormal Psychology
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Theory or training in interpersonal skills, such as interview, counselling, discussion techniques
- Theory or training in psychodiagnostics
Note: if you have not obtained a degree in Psychology but an equivalent degree (equivalent to the bachelor degree in Psychology at Leiden University), you may also submit an application for admissions. The Board of Admissions will then assess your admissibility.
Requirement 2*:
- have obtained at least 30 ec in advanced courses on topics pertaining to this master specialisation,
Requirement 3*:
- have sufficient knowledge of Methodology and Statistics (at least 20 EC): introductory and more advanced courses in methods and statistics of psychological research (including psychometrics, multivariate data analysis) and the use of statistical software.
*An internship and/or thesis do not count towards this requirement
A pre-master certificate Psychology from Leiden University
Leiden offers a pre-master’s programme in Psychology for a specific group of students. Completing the pre-master's grants you access to the Master's programme in Psychology. Note that the pre-master’s programme does not prepare for the five clinical specialisations. Read more about our pre-master's programme.
Master’s admissions: exceptional circumstances
The University is providing an option for final year bachelor’s students and pre-master’s students who have encountered a study delay because of the corona measures and wish to begin a master’s programme in the 2020-2021 academic year. For these master’s specialisations this means that in exceptional circumstances you will be able to carry out assignments and sit exams in September. This will enable you to catch up on courses that you have missed so you can complete your bachelor’s programme before 1 October 2020. You will be able to start the master’s programme on 1 September 2020 (with retroactive effect) without a study delay.
In order to minimise the risk of study delay in your master’s programme, the Programme Board would like you to have completed your bachelor’s programme before you start the master’s. If you are not going to be able to complete your bachelor’s programme before the end of the academic year 2019-20, please focus on the starting date of 1 February 2021.
What do you need to do?
- Enrol and request admission to both programmes:
- Please contact your bachelor’s programme to check whether your credits can be obtained in September. Is this option available for you: please fill in this form before 15 June 2020.
- Register for the master’s programme in Studielink
- Request admission in uSis before 15 June 2020
- Re-enrol for your bachelor’s or pre-master’s programme before 1 September 2020 for a maximum of one month.
- Your master’s enrolment will be definitive as of 1 September 2020 (with retroactive effect) if you complete your bachelor’s or pre-master’s programme before 1 October 2020; otherwise the master’s enrolment will be cancelled.
- You pay only one tuition fee. If you complete your bachelor’s or pre-master’s programme before 1 October 2020, you pay the tuition fee for the master’s programme. If your master’s enrolment is cancelled, you pay the tuition fee for continuing the bachelor’s or pre-master’s programme.
Language Requirements
Prospective students should have proof of thorough proficiency in English by means of one of the following tests:
- IELTS overall 7.0 and band scores of at least 6.5
- TOEFL IBT 100, and band scores of at least 22
- Cambridge English CPE/CAE with a score of 185
Detailed Information English Language Proficiency
For detailed information about which English qualifications are accepted, as well as the relevant exemption criteria, refer to English language proficiency.