• You start this degree directly after completing your bachelor degree in Religious Studies.
• It is possible to enrol following many different degrees, although you might have to complete a pre-master first. 
• You combine the Master in Religious Studies with the Teaching Master. You will be challenged to draw connections between the courses at the Faculty of Humanities, and your teaching practice.
• Over the course of the two-year degree, you will intern at two different secondary schools. This way, you get acquainted with different types of education.
• You follow the courses of the Teaching Master in Dutch.

• You must first complete the Master in Religious Studies. After that, you can enrol in the Master Leraar VHO.
• You start with the master in Religious Studies after you have completed a bachelor degree in (or connected to) Religious Studies; you might have to complete a pre-master first.
• First, you follow the Master in Religious Studies, in which you specialise further in a specific field. Then, you focus on learning how to teach within ICLON’s teacher education programme.
• During the Master Leraar VHO, you will intern for one year at one secondary school.
• It is possible to combine the Master Leraar VHO with the World Teachers Programme (WTP), a bilingual (Dutch-English) profile.

Launch your career with a master’s degree

Continuing your studies after your bachelor's degree pays off. Graduates with a master's degree are more likely to find higher-level positions: 77% start at a university of applied sciences (hbo) or university level, compared to 63% of graduates who only hold a bachelor's degree. This difference remains visible in the long term. After more than two years of work experience, 87% of master's alumni work at a university of applied sciences or university level, compared to 76% of bachelor's alumni.

An unique strength on the job market

The master's in Religious Studies will equip you with a range of important skills and knowledge that will help you stand out in any future career. Our students' specialised knowledge is complemented by a broad and contextual understanding as well as critical-thinking skills that can be applied to the most complex conceptual problem.

Many of our students choose to do an internship during their study. Internships are a great way to gain indispensable firsthand experience in your area of interest before you decide on making it a career. In recent years students from the Religious Studies programme have been doing internships at the following organisations:

• The United States Embassy
• Representative Office of the Netherlands in Ramallah
• The Meertens Institute
• Centre of Learning and Dialogue (CLD), a NGO based in Nes Ammim
• Kids4Peace, Jerusalem
• Research internship at Leiden University

Our staff can help you identify both the career that is right for you, and the necessary steps to get you there. Our team at the Humanities Career Service provides all Leiden University humanities students with professional advice and guidance on everything from internships and career planning to job applications. Humanities Career Service also organises regular workshops on topics such as effective interview skills and creating a successful CV.

The Humanities Career Service offers you various (online) workshops, webinars and info sessions. Check our overview of career activities. 

The Leiden University Career Zone is an online career portal that helps you to prepare for the job market. Here you can find information, tools and tips to help you gain more personal insight, learn about the job market, develop your application skills, plan your academic and professional career, find job vacancies and discover what the Career Service can do for you.

Join the Mentor Network to contact alumni with experience on the labour market and ask them for advice. More than 1200 alumni are happy to help you!