Exchange agreement

Please check whether there is a valid exchange agreement between your home university and the University of Amsterdam. Contact your home university's exchange or international office for information on how to apply for an exchange at the Faculty of Humanities at UvA. The Faculty does not accept free-movers nor students from universities without a bilateral agreement and is not likely to start new exchange agreements.

Entry requirements of courses

There may be specific entry requirements for certain courses. This mostly applies to Master's courses. Please visit our page on courses for more information, and make sure that you will be eligible to take part in the courses of your choosing before proceeding with your exchange application. 

Language requirements

For all courses taught in English, students must be proficient in English. Students have to be able to read textbooks, understand lectures, write papers and other assignments in English, and take part in class discussions. Therefore exchange students must submit a sufficient result of an official English language test (native speakers are exempted).  

* MyBest scores from TOEFL iBT cannot be used to meet the language requirements.

*Please note that TOEFL Home Edition is not accepted. 

Exemptions

The requirement for sufficient English language proficiency can be met if you have obtained or will obtain one of the following:

• By completing English-taught secondary education in Australia, Canada (with the exception of Quebec), Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom or the United States of America
• Students who possess an international or European baccalaureate diploma (provided that it is an English-language diploma)
• Students who have completed a Bachelor’s or Master’s programme taught entirely in English (note: this does not include exchange, summer school or other non-degree programmes)

For more information on the official language tests please see:

• TOEFL
• IELTS
• Cambridge English language assessment
• Erasmus+ Language Placement Test

We encourage Erasmus students to use the Erasmus Language tool.

Upload your English language test result in your online application form for the Exchange Programme Humanities.
Please note: the test must have been taken less than two years before the start date of the programme. 

The test result can be sent to the International Office Humanities by email after the application deadline of 1 May/15 October, but before the course registration period in June/December.

Once you have checked that you will be eligible for an exchange at the UvA's Faculty of Humanities and that you meet the entry requirements for the courses you would like to take during your stay here, you can proceed with the actual application. Your first step in this process will be to apply for the Exchange Programme at your home university (which must be a partner university).

Your home university will then nominate you to the UvA's Admissions & International Office Humanities. Nominated students will receive an information letter from the International Office Humanities with information about the Faculty and important details about the application procedure. If the nominated student does not receive any information even though the home university has nominated the student, please contact the International Office Humanities. 

Nominated students will receive an invitation to register for an UvAnetID and student number.

Once you have carefully read the information on this page, and once you have received your UvAnetID, you can go to the student portal www.sis.uva.nl , log in with your UvAnetID, and click on ‘My Admissions’ to submit your application.

The following documents must be submitted with your application:

• Official transcript of grades (in English, with a minimum of 60 EC*);
• Copy of your passport (page with personal details);
• English language certificate. For details, please see the section on language requirements above, in step 2. Native speakers are exempted. The certificate may be submitted after the application deadline, but must be submitted before the course registration period in June/November!

*60 ECTS must be obtained before starting your exchange at UvA.

During the application process, you will be asked to fill in a course wish list. 

Within six weeks after the application deadline all students will receive information on the status of their application.
If your application is positively evaluated, you will receive an email with an offer to study at the University of Amsterdam as an exchange student. 
If your application is not positively evaluated (e.g. missing documents, lacking prerequisites) you will be notified by email within six weeks.

After your application has been accepted, more information on visa procedures will be sent to you if applicable. Exchange students will also receive the digital UvA Start Magazine and Start Newsletters. 

Home universities often require specific documents to be signed by the International Office Humanities. The most common documents are the Online Learning Agreement and Confirmation of Arrival.
The Online Learning Agreement is signed once your registration for all courses is final.

UvA Erasmus code: AMSTERD01

Exchange contact person: Simone Krop, international-fgw@uva.nl

The Confirmation of Arrival is signed once you arrive in Amsterdam. Please send the document that your university requires us to sign by email to: international-fgw@uva.nl.

See the page on course registration for deadlines and the full course registration procedure. 

The housing market in Amsterdam is very competitive, and although we try to offer all students registered for housing accommodation, this is not always possible. For this reason, we advise you to start your orientation for housing options early and to always explore the private housing market as well. 

More information about accommodation and other practical matters:

Practical matters

All students in the Exchange Programme Humanities receive a transcript stating the courses they have successfully completed with the credits and grades they have obtained. The transcripts are sent digitally about six weeks after the official end of their exchange semester. A hardcopy can be issued upon request.