You are eligible to apply for the MA Middle Eastern Studies if you have:

• A bachelor’s degree from a Dutch research university in Middle Eastern Studies; or
• A bachelor’s degree from a research university, equivalent tot the level of a Dutch academic Bachelor's degree, including general Academic Skills, and
  • the bachelor's degree is in the field of Middle Eastern Studies or a relevant subfield, such as Arabic Studies, Hebrew Studies, Persian Studies of Turkish studies; or
  • A bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences or Humanities, with either a relevant regional specialisation (e.g. Middle Eastern Studies) or a regionally relevant minor or courses on the cultures, histories, literatures, politics, and religions of the Middle East with a total of at least 30 EC.

The Board of Admissions will assess whether your degree and background are sufficiently related to the level and content of a bachelor’s degree from a Dutch research university in Middle Eastern Studies on the basis of these requirements.

Applicants with a bachelor’s degree from a Dutch research university in International Studies who have completed all area courses for the Middle East, and either wrote their BA Thesis on the Middle East or completed optional courses worth 10 EC on the Middle East are considered to have fulfilled the entry requirements.

Students with a Bachelor in Middle Eastern Studies from Leiden University are directly eligible for admission. Students can apply in Studielink. There is no need to submit an application for admission using the online application portal.

If you have a bachelor’s degree from a research university that does not meet the requirements specified above, you may be eligible for a 30 EC (jn case your degree is in a related field) or 60 EC pre-master’s programme. After submitting your application in Studielink, the Board of Admissions will decide whether you can be directly admitted to the master’s programme or whether you will first need to complete a pre-master’s programme. It is not possible to apply for a pre-master’s programme directly. 

Once you have completed the imposed pre-master’s programme, you will be admitted to the Master’s programme. Read more about the pre-master’s programme.

If you have a Bachelor’s degree in a related field from a university of applied sciences, equivalent to the level of a Dutch hbo bachelor’s degree, the Board of Admissions may impose the 60 EC pre-master’s programme. Read more about the pre-master’s programme.

The following requirements apply:

• IELTS Academic: 6.5 overall, with at least 6.0 for each separate component score.

For other accepted exams, including score equivalency tables and criteria for the accepted exams, refer to our English language proficiency requirements.

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, if you have obtained an English-taught International Baccalaureate™; if you have completed a Dutch VWO diploma or an English-taught degree at a Dutch research university or an English-taught bachelor’s degree from a Dutch university of applied sciences.