The pre-Master’s programme Media Studies is aimed at students who have a degree from a University of Applied Sciences (HBO) or an academic Bachelor’s degree that does not grant direct access to the tracks of the Master’s programme Media Studies. This pre-Master's programme is taught in English.
This pre-Master’s does not grant access to the Research Master’s Media Studies.
If you successfully complete the pre-Master’s programme within a year, you will automatically be admitted to the Master’s programme you wish to pursue. However, you do need to complete the programme within one year, as you cannot start the Master's without fully meeting the entry requirements. After completing the pre-Master's programme you will not receive a diploma or certificate.
Please note: If you have obtained an academic Bachelor’s degree, you do not need to take the two Academic Skills courses (2 x 6 ECTS), which means that the programme will comprise 30 ECTS instead of 42 ECTS. Below you see the programme of the current academic year; the courses in the coming academic year may differ slightly. The Course Catalogue for the new academic year will be published in May.
You will follow one of the programmes listed below. All of them give access to all of the one-year Master’s programmes, but we strongly recommend that you choose the variant that corresponds with the Master’s you are looking to do. For access to one of the Dual Master’s programmes, it is mandatory to follow the corresponding programme.
Recommended for the tracks Film Studies
Mandatory for the tracks Documentaire en fictie and Preservation and Presentation of the Moving Image
Recommended for the tracks Cultural Data & AI and New Media and Digital Culture
Mandatory for the track Journalistiek en media
Recommended for the track Global Cross-Media Cultures
In the 2023-2024 academic year, the program was still called Television and Cross-Media Culture.
Mandatory for the track Archival and Information Studies
You can choose between 'Media Theory' and 'Philosophy of the Humanities 1 (Media Studies)'.
You can choose an elective in History or Law. For questions, please contact the Master coordinator of Archival and Information Studies, dr. Annet Dekker (A.Dekker@uva.nl).
Please check the deadlines below very carefully, because they are strict. Missing one of the deadlines means that your application cannot be processed.
Your application to the Graduate School of Humanities always starts by submitting an enrolment request in Studielink and MyInfo application for the Master's programme you wish to pursue, even if you think you are eligible for the pre-Master’s programme.
An enrolment request in Studielink for the pre-Master’s programme alone is not sufficient and will not be taken into consideration.
If you need a visa for your stay in the Netherlands, please note that the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) only issues visas to pre-Master's students for the duration of one year. If you do not complete the programme in one year, you cannot continue your studies anywhere in the Netherlands.
The tuition fee rate for a pre-Master’s programme in the academic year 2025-2026 is €43.35 per ECTS, with a maximum of €2,601. This means that for a 42 ECTS pre-Master’s programme, the fee is €1,820.70; for a 30 ECTS programme, the fee is €1,300.50.