Admission requirements - MSc International Development Studies

Purpose and reason for the admission requirements

The admission requirements for the master’s programme International Development Studies are defined in such a way that the students should be able to successfully complete the programme nominally in two years. To comply, student should have sufficient knowledge on social sciences and/or economics.

The criterion used for admission is

a WUR BSc degree in International Development Studies, Tourism, Health and Society, Economics and Governance, Management and Consumer Studies, Communication and Life Sciences, or equivalent.

The norm for this equivalence is

≥60 ECTS in:

• Social sciences (for example: sociology, anthropology, communication sciences, human and cultural geography) and/or Political sciences (international relations, governance studies)

Or ≥40 ECTS in:

• Economics (micro- and/or macroeconomics, business economics, behavioural economics, development economics).

And:

• Research methodology (socio-economic research methods, basics in statistics)

Method of assessment whether this norm is met

• Transcript of records displaying the content of previous course subjects and project work;

• Curriculum vitae displaying relevant work, internship and/or project experience on an academic level in a relevant field if applicable.

Scores attributed by the Admission Board

Admitted / not admitted / admitted under condition obtaining the BSc or MSc degree / not admitted with offer of pre-master.

The Admission Board may allow and/or suggest compensation of knowledge gaps by:

• a GPA≥7.0* for the previous education for small discrepancies as new knowledge is sufficiently easily acquired;
• a GPA≥7.0* and an individual pre-master's programme for larger discrepancies that can be compensated in ≤30 ECTS and one year of study.

*Check the general admissions page for the International credentials evaluation guide for international equivalencies to a Dutch GPA>7.0. This guide includes compensating factors for a slightly lower GPA the Admission Board may include in their judgement.

Contact us through the contact button above to discuss the possibilities of a pre-master or how to mitigate knowledge gaps if you are still in the process of obtaining your degree.

Find out more about pre-master's programmes.

Admissible study programmes

Graduates from the following (or similar) programmes may meet the knowledge requirements:

• Sociology
• (Cultural) Anthropology
• International Development Studies
• (international) Political Sciences
• International Relations and International Organisations
• Economics
• Interdisciplinary Social Sciences
• Human Geography
• Liberal Arts & Sciences
• Environmental Social Sciences
• Global Sustainability Sciences

If you have a relevant University of Applied Sciences (NL: hbo) degree in the Netherlands related to the social sciences, economics, or development studies, you may meet (part of) the admission requirements. You might be directly admissible, or admissible after completing a pre-master. Hbo degrees that may meet the admission requirements include: European Studies, Global Project and Change Management, and International Tourism Management and Consultancy.

Inadmissible study programmes

Graduates from the following study programmes rarely meet the admission requirements: Psychology, Languages and Educational and Child Sciences (NL: Pedagogische Wetenschappen).

Did you do a bachelor’s in technical sciences, life sciences or (relevant) management sciences?

Probably you are not admissible to the MSc International Development Studies (MID). However, you may be admissible to the MSc Development and Rural Innovation (MDR).

MID and MDR are sister programmes, designed for different target groups. MDR is specifically designed for students who haven’t done a Bachelor’s in social sciences or economics, but would like to do a social sciences master’s with an emphasis on international development. Please check the admission criteria for both study programmes to see what applies to you.