UCLouvain application requirements

To apply for a bachelor’s course, you must submit one of the following documents:

• an FWB upper secondary education certificate
  • awarded by a fully accredited secondary education institution or a secondary education institution for social advancement (“promotion sociale”) in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (FWB) from the 1993-94 school year onwards;
  • issued, at the latest, at the end of the 1992-93 school year, together with the diplôme d’aptitude à accéder à l’enseignement supérieur (“diploma of aptitude for access to higher education”);
• a higher education diploma
  • awarded by a Belgian university or haute école;
  • awarded by a Belgian secondary education institution for social advancement.
• proof of passing an entrance exam organised by higher education establishments or an exam board of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.
• a secondary school diploma, either
  • national, awarded by the Flemish Community, the German-speaking Community or the Royal Military School; or
  • foreign, recognised as equivalent to those mentioned above and conferring eligibility for the chosen course (two qualifications are automatically recognised as equivalent: the European Baccalaureate and the Geneva International Baccalaureate).
• a diplôme d’aptitude à accéder à l’enseignement supérieur (DAES) (“diploma of aptitude for access to higher education”) awarded by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation exam board.

Specific conditions may apply depending on your student degree.

Are you from outside the European Union and not considered as a European citizen?

In all cases, you must not already hold an undergraduate degree.

Then, depending on the nationality of your high school diploma, there are additional requirements :

1. Do you have a degree from outside the European Union ? You must :
   • have obtained an overall average of at least 13/20,
   • have obtained a non-European secondary school diploma in the three academic years preceding your application (for exemple, for the 25-26 academic year, your secondary school diploma must have been obtained in 22-23 or after),
   • must enclose the definitive equivalence of the diploma issued by the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. Any application without a definitive equivalence, and depending on the case, the DAES, will be automatically rejected.
2. Do you have a secondary school diploma from a non-Belgian EU country? You must :
   • enclose your diploma (or final transcript if you do not yet have your diploma) with your application,
   • enclose proof of equivalence (or proof that your application has been submitted) of the diploma issued by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.
3. Do you have a Belgian secondary school diploma? You must :
   • enclose your diploma with your application,
   • enclose your high school transcripts for grades 5 and 6.

Are you a non-Belgian European citizen?

Depending on the nationality of your high school diploma, you are subject to different conditions :

1. Do you have a degree from outside the European Union ? You must :
   • have obtained an overall average of at least 13/20,
   • must enclose the definitive equivalence of the diploma issued by the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. Any application without a definitive equivalence, and depending on the case, the DAES, will be automatically rejected.
2. Do you have a secondary school diploma from a non-Belgian EU country? You must :
   • enclose your diploma (or final transcript if you do not yet have your diploma) with your application,
   • enclose proof of equivalence (or proof that your application has been submitted) of the diploma issued by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.
3. Do you have a Belgian secondary school diploma? You must :
   • enclose your diploma with your application.

Are you a Belgian citizen?

Depending on the nationality of your high school diploma, you are subject to different conditions :

1. Do you have a degree from outside the European Union ? You must :
   • have obtained an overall average of at least 13/20,
   • must enclose the definitive equivalence of the diploma issued by the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. Any application without a definitive equivalence, and depending on the case, the DAES, will be automatically rejected.
2. Do you have a secondary school diploma from a non-Belgian EU country? You must :
   • enclose your diploma (or final transcript if you do not yet have your diploma) with your application,
   • enclose proof of equivalence (or proof that your application has been submitted) of the diploma issued by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.
3. Do you have a Belgian secondary school diploma? You must :
   • enclose your diploma with your application.

You can be eligible for studies on the basis of knowledge and skills acquired through professional or personal experience.

To be valid, this experience must correspond to at least five years of activity.

Years of higher education are only taken into account at the rate of one year for every 60 credits acquired, up to a maximum of two years.

An exam board assesses your skills and knowledge in relation to the course you have applied for. If necessary, the board may establish additional requirements to be met in order to make you eligible for the desired studies.

Additional requirements apply for certain courses.

• To qualify for the bachelor's course in engineering, majoring in civil and civil architectural engineering, you must pass the course entrance exam.
• To qualify for the bachelor's course in veterinary medicine, physiotherapy and rehabilitation, and psychology and education, or speech therapy: the number of places is limited for non-residents (see our page on limited enrolment courses: this refers to courses for which the number of places is regulated for students who are not residents of Belgium and who are applying for the first time).
• To qualify for a bachelor's course in medicine and dentistry, you must pass the entrance exam organised by the Académie de Recherche et d'Enseignement Supérieur (ARES, Academy for Research and Higher Education).
• The Bachelor of Science in Business Engineering is a joint program organised by KU Leuven and UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles. In order to register, all candidate must first submit an application via the KU Leuven admission platform. The conditions of access to this programme are specific.

In accordance with French Community of Belgium decree Article 111 §1, you are eligible to apply for a master’s course if you have one of the following:

• a bachelor’s degree in the same subject from a community university;
• a master’s degree in the same subject but with a different focus from a community university;
• a bachelor’s or master’s degree from a community university, haute école, or école superieure (“études supérieures de type long”), by virtue of a decision by the academic authorities and subject to the additional requirements they establish;
• a degree similar to one of the above, awarded by a Belgian higher education establishment, by virtue of a decision by the academic authorities and subject to the additional requirements they establish;
• a foreign degree recognised as equivalent to a master’s degree that confers eligibility in accordance with the above-mentioned decree, a European directive, an international convention or other legislation, and subject to the same requirements.

A foreign degree is similar to a degree awarded in the French Community of Belgium if the former leads to the same professional qualification or the same eligibility to pursue studies in the system of origin.

The additional eligibility requirements referred to in bullets three and four above are intended to ensure that the applicant has acquired the prerequisites for the course in question.

When these additional requirements consist of one or more additional classes, these may not represent more than 60 additional credits, taking into account all the credits the applicant would otherwise earn during the master’s course.

In particular, an applicant who holds a 60-credit master's degree as referred to in the relevant French Community of Belgium decree (Article 70 §3) would have at least 45 credits credited upon admission to the corresponding 120-credit master's course.

In accordance with French Community of Belgium decree Article 111 §2, you are eligible to apply for a master’s course if you have:

• a bachelor's degree from a community haute école or école supérieure des arts (“études supérieures de type court”), by virtue of a decision by the community government or the academic authorities and subject to the additional requirements they lay down, without said requirements being more restrictive than those laid down by the community government or establishing any distinction between institutions that award the degree;
• a degree similar to the above, awarded by a Belgian higher education establishment, by virtue of a decision by the academic authorities and subject to the additional requirements they lay down;
• a foreign degree recognised as equivalent to those above, which confers eligibility in accordance with the above-mentioned decree, a European directive, an international convention or other legislation, and subject to the same requirements.

The additional eligibility requirements are intended to ensure that the applicant has acquired the prerequisites for the course in question. When these additional requirements consist of one or more additional classes, these may not represent more than 60 additional credits, taking into account all the credits the applicant may otherwise earn upon admission. These classes form part of the admitted applicant’s programme of study.

This concerns students who still have to earn or transfer a maximum of 15 credits from their bachelor's course (from the academic year 2023-24).

In accordance with French Community of Belgium decree Article 100(3): at the end of the bachelor’s course, students who still have to earn or transfer a maximum of 15 bachelor’s course credits may supplement their annual programme with course units from the master’s course for which they meet the prerequisites.

• They remain enrolled in the bachelor’s course. However, for the purposes of earning or transferring credits in the master’s course, they are deemed to be enrolled in the master’s course.
• Students pay the bachelor’s course tuition fee and are exempt from paying the master’s course tuition fee.
• The annual programme is validated by each exam board, but the total number of credits may not exceed 60.
• Students who have not obtained their bachelor’s degree may not include in their annual programme master’s course units corresponding to their dissertation or final project, except in the case of 60-credit master's courses.

For students participating in this transition, bachelor’s course units are examined by the bachelor’s course exam board and master’s course units are examined by the master’s course exam board.

Course eligibility can be based on knowledge and skills acquired through professional or personal experience.

To be valid, such experience must correspond to at least five years of activity.

Years of higher education are only considered at the rate of one year for every 60 credits acquired, up to a maximum of two years.

An exam board assesses your skills and knowledge in relation to the course you have applied for. If necessary, the board may establish additional requirements to confer eligibility for the desired course.

In accordance with the French Community of Belgium decree Article 113 §1, no applicant can be admitted to the master's course in education or the course leading to an agrégé de l'enseignement secondaire supérieur (AESS, upper secondary education teaching certificate), unless they have first demonstrated a thorough command of the French language.

This is demonstrated by providing one of the following:

• a diploma or certificate mentioned in decree Article 107, paragraph 1, 1°, 2°, 4° and 8°;
• by passing a specific examination organised or co-organised by the higher education institutions, in accordance with the procedures established by ARES and with government provisions;
• the certificate referred to in decree Article 107, paragraph 1, 5°, when issued by a French Community exam board;
• proof of successful completion of other French language proficiency tests, the list of which is drawn up by the government;
• a foreign diploma, qualification or certificate attesting to studies that include sufficient instruction in the French language; the government shall establish the minimum requirements that such studies must meet;
• a higher education diploma awarded in the French Community and certifying studies to which access is conditional on proof of sufficient mastery of the French language.

In accordance with decree Article 113 §2, access to studies leading to the agrégé de l'enseignement secondaire supérieur (AESS, upper secondary education teaching certificate) is reserved for holders of:

• a master’s degree awarded in the French Community, or
• a master’s degree awarded in the German-speaking Community, the Flemish Community or by the Royal Military School and deemed similar by the academic authorities, or
• a foreign degree recognised as equivalent pursuant to this decree, a European directive, an international convention or other legislation, and subject to the same requirements.

Students enrolled in at least 120 credits at the end of a master's course at an institution in the French Community may enrol simultaneously for studies leading to the AESS. However, students admitted under this provision cannot receive the certificate until they have obtained the necessary master's degree.

In view of the reform of initial teacher education, these eligibility requirements will be repealed for the start of the 2025-26 academic year.

On the Louvain-la-Neuve campus:

Some classes are offered according to an after-hours schedule. Cross-disciplinary classes and seminars are offered in several series, with different timetables; students choose what suits them best.

On the Mons campus:

All classes (not internships) are offered after hours (weekday evenings and Saturdays).

In accordance with French Community of Belgium decree Article 112 §1, and subject to the general requirements established by the academic authorities, eligibility for specialised master’s courses is based on one of the following:

• a master’s degree awarded in the French Community of Belgium;
• a degree similar to a master’s degree, awarded by a higher education establishment in the Flemish Community, in the German-speaking Community or by the Royal Military School, by virtue of a decision by the academic authorities and subject to any additional requirements they establish;
• a foreign degree recognised as equivalent to those mentioned above pursuant to this decree, a European directive, an international convention or other legislation, and subject to the same requirements.

The additional eligibility requirements referred to in the second bullet point above are intended to ensure that the applicant has learned the subjects and acquired the skills required for the course in question. Where these additional eligibility requirements consist of one or more additional courses, these may not represent more than 60 additional credits, taking into account all the credits that the applicant may otherwise use upon admission. These classes form part of the admitted applicant's programme of study.

In accordance with French Community of Belgium decree Article 112 §2, and subject to the general requirements established by the academic authorities, an applicant who holds a Belgian master’s level qualification, diploma or certificate, which does not confer eligibility for a specialised master's course by virtue of the preceding paragraph, may nevertheless be admitted by the exam board of the course in question, subject to the additional requirements it establishes, if the board values all of the applicant’s prior higher education studies or acquired skills as equivalent to at least 240 credits.

In accordance with French Community of Belgium decree Article 112 § 3, the academic authorities may, by way of derogation from these general requirements and subject to the additional requirements they establish, admit to a specialised master's course holders of a qualification, diploma, or certificate awarded outside the French Community, which, in the system of origin, confers eligibility for doctoral studies, even if the courses leading to the aforementioned degrees are not organised separately or in at least five years.

* Each programme’s specific requirements are set out under the “Eligibility requirements” tab for each course (course catalogue).