Law and Society (MSc)

Check the admission requirements

To be eligible for Law and Society at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.

In order to be considered for the Master programme Law and Society, you should possess (before the start of the programme)

a bachelor's degree from a recognised research university in law or social sciences (political sciences, public administration, sociology, cultural anthropology and development sociology or general social sciences) or a bachelor’s degree in law (LL.B) or
a bachelor's degree from a recognised research university in a multidisciplinary programme which includes courses in both law and social sciences subjects (i.e. some programmes in Liberal Arts and Sciences: the Politics, Psychology, Law and Economics programme of the University of Amsterdam; Urban Studies; International Studies etc.)

Check the Course and Examination Regulations (OER) and the admission requirements (Chapter 5) on the website.

You cannot be directly admitted! All students with any of the above mentioned bachelor’s degrees from a research university (completed before the starting date of the programme) must register via Studielink and apply for admission via the online application portal (uSis) before the deadline.

Applicants with a higher professional education (HBO) degree are not eligible for admission. They can only start in the first year of the bachelor’s programme.

Proven English language proficiency, demonstrated by way of an English test IELTS academic (overall score of 6.5) with at least 6.0 for each of the four components or an equivalent result for a Toefl or Cambridge ESOL test (check the equivalent scores). Your test result may not be more than two years old.

You can apply to a programme before you obtain the results of your language exam (if you already have your results you can upload them directly in our online portal). If you are admitted, it will be on the condition that these results will meet the required levels specified.

The following requirements apply:

IELTS Academic: 6.5 overall, with at least 6.0 for each separate component score.
- We do not accept IELTS Academic online.
- We do not accept IELTS General Training or IELTS Indicator.
TOEFL internet based: 90 overall, with at least 20 for each separate component.
- We are not able to accept The TOEFL IBT Home Edition™, except in the following situations only:
  You took the test before 1 Sept 2022 (and it is not more than 2 years old), or you are unable to take an in-person test on location because test centres are inaccessible or closed due to unsafe conditions in a country.
- We do not accept the following types of test: TOEFL My Best™ scores (multiple test scores combined), TOEFL Essentials™ or institutional tests such as ITP.

Cambridge English Exam C2 Proficiency, or C1 Advanced (180), with a minimum score of 169 for each separate component.

Note that English test results may not be more than two years old.

You do not have to submit an English proficiency test if you have completed your education in the USA, UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Canada (except French-taught programmes in Canada) Singapore, South-Africa or Malta; or if you have obtained an English-taught International Baccalaureate™; or if you have completed a Dutch VWO diploma or an English-taught bachelor at a Dutch research university.

For detailed information, including exemption criteria and methods of submission, refer to English language proficiency.

There is a limited capacity set at 60 admissions per academic year. After the deadline, the applications will be reviewed through a selection process which aims to admit the most suitable applicants for the programme.

The selection criteria will be:

a good academic record (GPA, grade for the bachelor's thesis, grades for interdisciplinary courses and/or courses pertaining to the field of Law and Society, amount of time needed to complete the bachelor's programme);
an interest in Law and Society, demonstrated by electives or courses completed during the bachelor's programme and/or extracurricular activities and an essay;
a broad, international outlook and good communication skills, demonstrated by courses or electives completed during the bachelor's programme and/or extra-curricular activities.

The board of admission will assess the suitability of each applicant as to each of these criteria and the candidates will be ranked on basis of:

an academic essay in English of 800-1000 words (excluding references, which are expected). The essay expands on a topic or theme within the Law and Society domain, that is to say a topic or theme located at the intersection of law and society. In the essay, a relevant question is identified, discussed from different angles and subsequently answered. The essay is written by the applicant solely, it is not co-authored.;
a full transcript of the results obtained during the bachelor's programme;
a letter of motivation in which the applicant explains the interest in this programme and elaborates on the plans for the future and the part the programme would play in these plans.
a c.v. with information about prior education and extracurricular activities, in particular those which demonstrate an interest in the field of Law and Society, a broad, international outlook and/or communication skills.

>> Go to the next step 2: Check the application deadlines