University of Amsterdam

• Students must have a minimum cumulative average of 75% and be entering their third year or above when starting their exchange at UvA (i.e. Arts students may not apply in their first year)
• Non-native speakers of English should provide proof of proficiency in the English language by means of a TOEFL, an IELTS or a CAE test report. Check the English language scorecard requirements stated in the Course and Faculty Criteria available under Language Requirement
• Exchange students must take courses from within their assigned department/Faculty
• It's recommended to review the UvA faculty criteria. Find the updated PDF on their website under Entry Requirements.
  • Additional information can be found below under "Course availability and restrictions"

When Applying to Go Global:
- Commerce students (UBCV): select 'University of Amsterdam-COMM' 
- All other students: 'University of Amsterdam-uniwide'

Term dates

• UBC term 1 (UvA semester 1): Early September to Late December

• UBC term 2 (UvA Semester 2): Early February to Late June

• Semesters are divided in blocks of 8 + 8 + 4 weeks: with proper planning and flexibility in choosing courses, students can complete 30 ECTS (fulltime semester course load) in the first two periods, making the last period of 4 weeks optional (January and June) 

• If students finish a full-time course load before the end of the semester (e.g. in the first two blocks of the semester), they are allowed to return home earlier. However, the housing contract cannot be shortened and covers (almost) the entire semester. Consequently, you will have to pay rent up until the last day stipulated in your contract. In addition, leaving early could also affect your possibilities to attend a resit exam.

• Students selecting to study at the Amsterdam University College can return to UBC in time for Term 2 as many courses are offered within the first blocks of the semester

*See the UvA Academic Calendar 

Areas of study available:

• Arts
• Commerce (UBCV)
• Land and Food Systems
• Management (UBCO)
• Science

Course availability and restrictions

• Exchange students can only be registered at one academic department at UvA, and must select courses from within that department. Exchange students are expected to take courses from within their assigned department/faculty. Taking one or two courses in other faculties may be possible and will be considered on a case-by-case basis after acceptance.
• Once students are accepted by the University of Amsterdam, they can choose to enroll in the Amsterdam University College (AUC), a joint institute for the UvA
• The AUC's Liberal Arts and Science programs are taught in English
• As of Spring 2019, the Interdisciplinary study programme PPLE (Politics, Psychology, Law and Economics) is now also open to inbound global exchange students
• Students must select a faculty to study within while at Amsterdam. The options are:
  • Humanities (requires min 30 UBC credits completed in humanities areas like history, philosophy, culture, languages, literature, etc before going on exchange)
  • Social Sciences (requires min 30 UBC credits completed in social sciences areas like political science, sociology, economics, etc before going on exchange)
  • Psychology (requires min 30 UBC credits completed in PSYC before going on exchange)
  • Economics and Business (all UBC Commerce students must choose this option)
  • Science (requires min 30 UBC credits completed in Science areas before going on exchange)
  • Amsterdam University College (general arts & sciences)

Partner Course Information

Course equivalency Formula

• ECTS credits divided by 2 = UBC credits (i.e. 30 ECTS = 15 UBC credits)

Course load Information

• 30 ECTS credits per semester

Transfer credit

The transfer credit process takes approximately 16 weeks following each submission deadline. You should allow sufficient time to meet important deadlines that may affect you (e.g. application for graduation, registration in courses that require prerequisites that you took on exchange, entry to a major/honours program, etc.)

Search for previously approved courses

Additional note for language of instruction

• Language assessment is required if enrolling in Dutch coursework