Admission requirements

Msc Programme
PhD Programme
Online Course
Regular Short Course

Admission requirements MSc programme

The official admission requirements for the UNESCO-IHE MSc programmes are:

1. A bachelors degree in a field related to the programme the applicant would like to join (for requirements specific to a masters programme/specialisation, please refer to the participant’s profile section of the particular masters programme/specialisation).
2. In principle, candidates should have a minimum of three years of practical or research experience since graduation. All applications are, however, considered on their individual merits.
3. English language requirements (see below).

English language requirements (for all study programmes)

Because all educational programmes are taught in English, it is very important that the candidates have an adequate level of spoken and written English.

The minimum required scores are as follows:

• IELTS: 6.0 and above
• TOEFL paper based: 550 and above
• TOEFL computer based test: 213 and above
• TOEFL internet based: 83 and above

Exceptions to these rules are:

• Candidates who have received their secondary and tertiary education in English and Native speakers of English; UNESCO-IHE does not require a language certificate from native English speakers of the following countries: Australia, Botswana, Canada, Cameroon (English-speaking region), Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, India, Ireland, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Rwanda (English-speaking region), South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, UK, USA, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
• Candidates who have previously attended a course or programme given in English, but not longer than four years ago;
• An exception may be made if a candidate does not meet the required TOEFL or IELTS score, but has a very good academic background or many years of relevant work experience. Admission in these cases will be decided by the admission board.

The Institutional TOEFL-code number of UNESCO-IHE is: 8949.

Candidates whose English test results are not available shortly before the deadline of application for a certain fellowship, can already send in their application without the test result. They may be given a provisional admission letter. In this case final admission may be given later after receipt and approval of the English language test.

Admission requirements PhD programme

The main requirement for a PhD study at UNESCO-IHE is that candidates should hold an UNESCO-IHE MSc degree with high qualification. An MSc degree from another university or institute, equal to the standard of UNESCO-IHE, may also be acceptable. If a candidate is not yet in the possession of an MSc degree, but has an interesting research proposal and proven track record, he or she may be admitted to the UNESCO-IHE MSc programme first, as part of and in preparation for the PhD research.

PhD candidates will only be accepted after their research proposal has been approved by UNESCO-IHE’s Academic Board. The PhD degree of UNESCO-IHE is awarded jointly with a relevant Dutch University, which ensures that it is embedded in the prevailing higher education legislation.

Admission requirements Short courses

Admission requirements include a university or Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree, a number of years of experience and a good command of the English language.

Admission requirements Online courses

Admission requirements include a university or Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree, a number of years of experience and a good command of the English language.