Who is eligible to be selected for a pre-Master’s programme?

1. Students with a Bachelor's degree in (Technical) Computer Science, Informatics or similar from a university of applied sciences (in Dutch: HBO) in the Netherlands with a grade point average of 7 or higher
2. Students who have completed a substantial part of a higher education degree programme in Informatics or a closely related subject supplemented by several years of relevant practical experience in the field of software engineering in an industrial context.

Please note:

• It is not possible to register for the pre-Master’s programme without an official pre-Master’s programme advice from the Admissions Board of the Master’s programme Software Engineering;
• The pre-Master’s programme is only available in Dutch;
• A thorough knowledge of Wiskunde B and the programming language C is highly recommended in order to start and complete the pre-Master’s programme successfully;
• The pre-Master’s programme is tailor-made: the Admissions Board decides which courses are included in a student’s pre-Master’s programme. Therefore, it differs per student which courses and how many course the student has to do;
• All students who are selected to do a pre-Master’s programme are strongly advised to do the 2 self-study courses Logic in Action and Functional programming, next to the courses that are included in the official admission letter of the Admissions Board, in order to prepare for the Master’s programme;

Pre-Master's programme

The Admissions Board will define a tailor-made pre-Master’s programme per student, which consists of 1 or more course(s) from the Bachelor’s programme Informatica. Furthermore, all students who are selected to do a pre-Master’s programme are strongly advised to do the 2 self-study courses.

Workload

The workload per course is 20 hours a week for a period of 2 months. The schedule of the UvA Bachelor’s courses is set by the Bachelor’s programme Informatica. The self-study courses are largely independent from the UvA schedule and can be completed in your own time.

The Admissions Board may waive courses from the above list based on your knowledge and skills. For details regarding these courses see the study guide of the Bachelor's Informatica (in Dutch).

It may be possible to include the UvA Bachelor's courses from the pre-Master’s programme in an on-going Bachelor's education. This depends mainly on your Bachelor’s programme. Due to their nature, the self-study courses can't be included in a Bachelor's programme under any circumstances.

How to apply for the pre-Master's programme

To be considered for the pre-Master's programme, you need to apply for the Master's programme Software Engineering. The Admissions Board will evaluate your application and you may be asked to complete a questionnaire detailing their individual competences, you may be invited for a cognitive capacity test and, in the final step, may be invited for a personal interview with a member of the Admissions Board. Based on this outcome  the Admissions Board may define an individual pre-Master's programme for you.  

Upon successful completion of all courses of your pre-Master's programme, you will be admitted to the Master's programme in the following academic year.

We advise students who want to do the Master’s programme Software Engineering and who expect to be required to do a pre-Master’s programme Software Engineering first to apply for the Master’s programme before 1 December. Most courses in the pre-Master’s programme take place in the second semester (February – June) and applying for the Master’s programme before 1 December will insure sufficient time to process your application and a guaranteed spot in the pre-Master’s programme should you need it.  

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