Applied Cognitive Psychology (MSc)

Admission requirements

To be eligible for Applied Cognitive Psychology at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.

Diploma Requirements

The following diploma requirements apply for this programme:

Students with a Bachelor in Psychology from Leiden University are directly eligible for admission, if at least the appropiate specialisation course is completed. Students must apply in Studielink, preferably no later than 1 month before the start of the programme. 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.

Prospective students should:

have earned a Bachelor degree in Psychology at a Research University (not at a University of Applied Sciences / Professional Education) or demonstrate the ability to meet the requirements for such a degree, and;
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 SPSS, 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 psycho diagnostics
- Advanced courses (at least 30 ec) on a third year Bachelor level on topics pertaining to this master specialisation

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. 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.

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, with the following minimum band scores: 22 (reading), 22 (listening), 22 (speaking) and 25 (writing)

For detailed information about which English qualifications are accepted, as well as the relevant exemption criteria, refer to English language proficiency. This language requirement does not apply if you have:

completed your education in the USA, the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia or Canada (except French-taught programmes in Canada) or;
an (English-taught) International Baccalaureate or;
a Bachelor diploma from a Dutch research university (e.g. Leiden University) or;
a Dutch VWO diploma.

Go to the next step: Check the application deadlines