English language requirements

At UG we require our PhD candidates to be sufficiently proficient in the English language. The minimum requirements are stated below. Some Graduate Schools have stricter requirements. Those are stated on the admissions page of the specific faculty Graduate School.

To ascertain that PhD candidates are sufficient in English, the Doctoral Board approved the following general requirements:

• An English proficiency test (test results no older than 2 years) is required for admission to all UG Graduate Schools. The test results have to meet the minimal requirements detailed below; some faculty Graduate Schools require a higher score.
• A letter from a prospective thesis advisor stating that the potential candidate has an excellent command of the English language is NOT allowed as the only proof (but can obviously contribute when the other requirements are met).
• At least one interview has to take place with the potential candidate and a minimum of two supervisors/persons from the UG. The interview enables the supervisor(s) to judge the communication skills of the candidate.
• A written assignment is recommended as part of the interview; for instance, the candidate can be given a scientific article and asked to provide a 300-500 words summary.

Test requirements

There are multiple types of tests available but the most common, well known and internationally recognized tests are the TOEFL and the IELTS. For the latter the test requirements are listed here. For other tests, the Board of Admissions of the faculty Graduate School decides on the equivalence of the test scores to the ones cited here.

IELTS

• A minimum overall score on the IELTS (6.5 or 7.0) is required, as well as a minimum score of 6.0 on parts.

TOEFL

• A minimum score of 92 on the internet-based test is required, as well as a minimum score of 21 on the parts.
• The TOEFL 'MyBest Scores' are not considered in the admission procedure

In case of dyslexia, please contact the TOEFL and/or IELTS organisation

Exemptions

Candidates are exempted from proving proficiency in English if they:

• completed a secondary education (HAVO or VWO certificate) in the Netherlands
• are a native English speaker
• completed a Bachelor or a Master degree programme which was fully taught in English.

The Board of Admissions of the faculty Graduate School decides in special cases.