Academic bachelor

You can enrol directly if you have (or will have before the start of the new academic year) one of the qualifications in the table below and you do not need a visa to enter Belgium. In this case, you are exempted from the admission procedure.

Enrolments start in July before the start of the academic year concerned.

You will need to follow the admission procedure if your qualification was issued in an EER member state but is not listed here or if you do need a visa to enter Belgium. 

You will always need to submit an application for admission. If favourable, a letter of acceptance will be issued which is required to apply for a student visa. Please note that you can already start your admission application if you did not yet obtain the degree but are in your graduation year. For enrolment, the necessary degree always needs to be obtained.

Apart from the secondary education degree, additional requirements (like grades and/or entrance examination scores) can be applicable, as shown in the list below of some common degrees:

You can enrol directly if you have one of the qualifications in the table below and you do not need a visa to enter Belgium. In this case, you are exempted from the admission procedure.

Enrolments start in July before the start of the academic year concerned.

You will need to follow the admission procedure if you need a visa to enter Belgium.

Students whose degree was already recognised by NARIC as being equivalent to a Flemish diploma that gives direct access to a bachelor programme also already comply with the diploma requirements. These students also don’t need to submit an application for admission and can also enrol directly with the registrar's office in accordance with the enrolment procedure.  Please note that a NARIC equivalence does not exempt the holder from other requirements (e.g. language).

Dutch language proficiency can be shown in two ways:

• Either you have completed and passed at least one complete year (= 60 credits) of courses taught in Dutch at a secondary school, university college or university.  The courses should not be aimed at acquiring the Dutch language or preparing for the required level of Dutch in higher education.
• Or you’ve obtained one of the following language certificates (within the last two years):
  • the certificate Interuniversitaire Taaltest Nederlands voor Anderstaligen (ITNA; level C1 for all language related programmes, level B2 for all other programmes).
  • the Certificaat Nederlands als Vreemde Taal (profile Educatief Professioneel for all language related programmes, profile Educatief Startbekwaam  for all other programmes).
  • the diploma Staatsexamen Nederlands als tweede taal NT2 - programma II (all programmes except language related programmes)

Without proof of proficiency in Dutch, enrolling for one of our Dutch programmes is not possible.  Please note that no other language certificates than the ones listed above will be accepted (such as certificates from Adult Education Centers (CVO)). Furthermore, certificates older than two years, counting from the start of the enrolment period, are not accepted.

Diploma of a European School or an International Baccalaureate and Dutch as Language 1 or Level A?  In that case, you are exempted from the Dutch language test.

Want to learn Dutch?
If you don’t master Dutch yet you can opt for the one-year preparatory language programme offered by Linguapolis. Please note that it’s not possible to obtain a student visa solely on the basis of this language programme. When applying for a visa you’ll also need to proof that you can start a bachelor’s programme after completing the language programme. Thus two admission letters are requested to apply for a student visa: one for the preparatory language programme and one for the bachelor's programme. To simplify things our university has devised one application procedure for both programmes (please read below for more information). As a result, it’s not possible to apply for a bachelor's programme at our university while taking a language programme somewhere else.

Candidates can prove their proficiency in English by submitting one of the following language certificates with the listed minimum scores:

• TOEFL iBT (Test of English as a Foreign Language; taken at a test center - Home editions are not accepted): a minimum score of 80. You can find more information about TOEFL at www.toefl.org
• IELTS Academic (International English Language Testing System; taken at a test center - Online tests are not accepted): a minimum score of at least 6.5, and on each part minimum 6.0. You can find more information about IELTS at www.ielts.org;
• ITACE (Interuniversity Test of Academic English for Students): minimum level B2. You can find more information about ITACE at www.itace.be/students/
• Cambridge English: minimum B2 First with a score of at least 176. You can find more information about Cambridge English at https://www.cambridgeenglish.org

Certificates older than two years, counting from the start of the enrolment period, are not accepted.

Applicants who have previously obtained a diploma in an English taught programme in Australia, English-speaking Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States of America are exempt from providing an additional language test certificate.

Students holding a degree issued by a recognized educational institution in Flanders, are exempt from the English language test. Based on the Benelux Decision about mutual degree recognition of 18 May 2015, this exemption of the English language test also applies to holders of degrees issued by recognized educational institutions in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg.

Diploma of a European School or an International Baccalaureate and English as Language 1 or Level A?  In that case, you are exempted from the English language test.

In certain situations, additional exams apply in addition to the standard admission requirements:

• Students who wish to study Medicine (Bachelor or Master) or Veterinary medicine (bachelor; starting from 2023-2024) will have to pass the entrance exam (information only available in Dutch).
• Students who wish to study the following bachelor's programmes
  • Bio-engineering science
  • Biomedical science
  • Engineering technology
  • Mathematics
  • Pharmaceutical sciences
  • Physics
  • Veterinary medicine

will have to participate in the compulsory 'starttoets' (information only available in Dutch). Participation will give you access to the enrolment for these programmes. The outcome of the exam will determine if you have to take extra compulsory courses.

The APS (Akademische Prüfstelle) is a mandatory academic screening for most students who have a Chinese degree. These students will not be able to obtain access to higher education in Flanders and to receive a Belgian student visa without the screening.  The screening is done at one of the APS screening centres in China, namely in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu, and consists of two parts: a formal check of the diploma and an interview of the candidate to test his/her academic knowledge. The screening can take several months before a decision is proclaimed; it’s therefore recommended to start the procedure on time. Please visit the APS website for detailed information.

Some categories of students can be exempted from the APS procedure:

• Students admitted to our university within  the framework of a bilateral agreement between their home university and the University of Antwerp
• Students admitted to our university as part of an official exchange programme (Erasmus-Mundus, ASEM-Duo…)
• Students admitted to our university with a scholarship from the China Scholarship Council
• Students that already have earned a degree or credits in a degree programme at an institution of higher education outside China
• Students with a diploma from Hong Kong or Macau
• Refugees from the People's Republic of China
• Non-Chinese students with a diploma obtained in the People's Republic of China

Additionally, some students can be exempted from the second part of the APS procedure (academic interview):

• Students with a permanent Belgian residence permit
• Students applying for a PhD

Students who want to apply for an exemption need to upload a document in their online application in Mobility Online which clearly proves that they belong to one of these categories. In case the proof is found to be valid the Registrar’s Office will contact the concerning authorities to grant the exemption.