Required Qualifications

You are eligible for admission to the MSc. Public Administration if you have obtained:

1) a bachelor’s degree in public administration, political science, public management, public economics or a similar programme closely related to Public Administration from a research university and can show competence in the methodology of social science research as evidenced by prior course work, or;

2) a bachelor’s degree from a research university provided that you have  completed the minor ‘Public Administration: Multi-Level Governance’ or the minor ‘Bestuurskunde: Openbaar Bestuur, Beleid en Management’ at Leiden University and can indicate your competence in the methodology of social science research as evidenced by prior course work; 

3) a bachelor’s degree in cultural anthropology, pedagogical sciences, law, and public health from a research university or a university of applied sciences and additionally having passed the prescribed pre-master’s programme pursuant to Article 5.4.1.

Please visit the pre-master’s webpage for more information about the possibilities and admission requirements of 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.