What is a pre-Master’s programme?

If you do not meet all the selection requirements for the Master's track in Psychology or Healthcare Psychology (Dutch-taught only), you might qualify for a pre-Master's programme. In a pre-Master’s programme you follow a number of courses that will make you eligible for selection for the master's track of your choice.

Would like to know whether a pre-Master's programme is an option for you? Then apply for the Master's track of your choice before the deadline:

• 1 March - general application deadline date for tracks starting in September.
• 1 November - early application date for tracks starting in September with an option for a pre-Master’s programme in semester 2 (apply between 1 October-1 November)
• 1 February - application deadline only for tracks starting in February (KP and T&O).

The admissions committee will decide whether you already qualify for the master's track. If not, the admissions committee will check whether a pre-Master's programme is possible for you to become admissible.

Please note that a pre-Master’s module is not available for every selection requirement.

Prerequisites

Prerequisites

A pre-Master's programme is only possible:

1. For the master's in Psychology
   - if you need to take a maximum of 60 ECTS credits of courses to start fulfilling the admission requirements and you meet all other selection requirements.
   Please note:
   -For the master's in Health Care Psychology, tracks Clinical Psychology, Clinical Forensic Psychology and Clinical Neuropsychology there is a maximum of 12 EC of courses in a pre-Master's programme. For the track Clinical Developmental Psychology, a maximum of 30 EC applies. Please note that the master Healthcare Psychology is offered in Dutch and non-native speakers of Dutch need to demonstrate proof of their language proficiency certificate when applying for the master.
   -For the Research Master Psychology no pre-Master's programme is offered.
2. the required courses can be scheduled and obtained within a maximum of 1 academic year with a feasible study load (e.g. a maximum of 30 EC per semester), and,
3. you are not required to have a visa to study in the Netherlands, or already hold one.

You must then successfully complete the pre-Master's programme within 1 academic year (September-August) in order to be eligible for selection for the track of your choice (additional restrictions may apply for some tracks).

For the directly following academic year, we guarantee that the successfully completed pre-Master's programme will qualify you for the selection of the track of your choice. If you apply later, admission requirements may have changed.

Qualified does not mean selected

A pre-Master's programme qualifies you for the selection procedure of the master's track. Qualifying does not automatically mean that you have been admitted to the master's track. You will have to apply for the selection procedure of the master's track. The selection committee selects students from among all applicants who meet the admission requirements.

Apply on time!

If you think you need a pre-Master's programme, be sure to apply early so you can find out quickly about your next steps. Applications can be submitted from 1 October to 1 November (EU-candidates and those that do not need a visa to study in the Netherlands). The sooner you apply, the sooner you will find out whether you still need to complete any courses and what those might be. This may involve a limited number of courses (or even just one) that can be taken during semester 2. In that case, you can still qualify for the selection for the start of the master's track in the following academic year.

If you apply before 1 November in Studielink and MyInfo, we will make sure to notify you before the Christmas holidays in case you require (and qualify for) a pre-Master's programme. Please note, choose September as start date in Studielink. Only complete application forms with start date September submitted before 1 November will be processed.

If you apply later, make sure to choose the September enrolment in Studielink. The application deadline will be 1 March. You can expect to receive the outcome by mid-May. Should you need to take a pre-Master's, you can do so in the following academic year.

Costs

The costs of a pre-Master's programme strongly depend on the number of ECTS credits you need to obtain. For Dutch students, the costs also depend on whether or not you already graduated from your bachelor’s programme and already did another pre-Master's / Master's programme. At the Education Desk Psychology we are happy to inform you about the costs once it is clear what your pre-Master's programme consists of.

Hbo-bachelor / undergraduate degree programme with an applied emphasis

An undergraduate degree programme with an applied emphasis (Dutch: hbo-bachelor) is not equivalent to an academic Bachelor’s degree, and therefore gives no access to the Psychology Master’s nor to the pre-Master’s programmes. This is because one not only needs knowledge of psychology to succeed in the Master’s programme, but also skills/knowledge of scientific research methods and other scientific skills like critical thinking, academic writing, etc.

In our pre-Master's programmes for students with an academic Bachelor’s degree in a relevant subject we are able to correct deficiencies in specific knowledge needed for the Master’s programme. However, student holding an undergraduate degree also need to correct their deficiencies in academic skills and this takes more than a year. Since a pre-Master’s programme legally can not be longer than one year, we are unable to provide a pre-Master’s programme.

We advise students holding an undergraduate degree to do the Bachelor’s programme in Psychology at UvA, or elsewhere. Also, it is worthwhile to check other Psychology Master’s programmes since some do have pre-Masters for students holding an undergraduate degree.