Requirements
To be admitted to our study programmes, you will have to meet the entry requirements below.
Do you have Dutch prior education and are you applying for one of our English taught programmes? Please check the entry requirements for students with a Dutch diploma here. The information below applies to the academic year of 2025-2026. These entry requirements are subject to changes in government policy and Saxion regulations.
The student must be admissible to Higher Education through a diploma with good results at least equivalent to the Dutch HAVO, VWO or MBO-4 for our bachelor programmes and a bachelor’s degree for our master programmes. Does your diploma meet these requirements? Check here what the Nuffic has to say about the diploma you’ve obtained.
The Nuffic chart provides an overview of common diplomas and their Dutch educational system equivalencies, giving you insight into your admission chances.
Student Registration might send your diploma/transcripts to the Nuffic for assessment and verification, to determine whether your diploma level is equivalent to Saxion's diploma requirements.
Please note: while the Nuffic's chart is a helpful guideline, our Student Registration will make the final admission decision, considering your previous curriculum.
As proof that you meet the English language requirement, you will be asked to upload one of the English language certificates below. The minimum required scores are applicable to our bachelor- and master study programmes.
- IELTS Academic with a minimum overall score of 6.0. We do not accept the Academic IELTS Online certificate.
- TOEFL Internet Based with a minimum score of 80 or TOEFL Paper Based with a minimum score of 550. Please note that we do not accept the MyBest scores of the TOEFL test as well as the TOEFL iBT Home Edition certificate.
Make sure you add Saxion as a score recipient by using our institutional code 7533. - Cambridge English Language Assessment with a minimum score of 169 – First, Advanced, Proficiency. We would like to ask you to share your results online with Saxion so we can verify them.
- LanguageCert Academic with a minimum score of 65.
- Pearson PTE Academic with a minimum score of 61.
- TOEIC, both listening and reading with a minimum score of 865 and speaking and writing with a minimum score of 335.
Please be aware that we do not accept language test certificates that are older than 2 years at the desired start date of the study programme.
Exemptions
You are exempted from submitting one of the above test certificates if:
- Your diploma is on Nuffic's diploma list and the subject English is on your final transcript of grades.
- The medium of instruction of your completed bachelor or master studies was English (this requires submitting a copy of your bachelor or master diploma). Please provide us with an official signed and stamped statement from your university in which they confirm that the medium of instruction of the entire curriculum was English.
This also applies to the English taught American High School curriculum that is accredited by an American regional accreditation organization, the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme and GCE AS/A level certificates issued by AQA, Pearson, Edexcel, OCR or Cambridge. - In some cases exemption is possible if the diploma is obtained in a country where English is the main language of communication. Please inquire via [email protected] whether you qualify.
IELTS, TOEFL, LanguageCert, Pearson PTE, TOEIC and Cambridge English grades & scale
IELTS Academic | TOEFL Paper Based | TOEFL Internet Based | LanguageCert Academic | Pearson PTE Academic | TOEIC | Cambridge English Language Assessment | |
Listening and Reading | Speaking and Writing | ||||||
6.0 | 550 | 80 | 65 | 61 | 865 | 335 | 169 - 172 |
Planning to enrol in a study programme at Saxion in September? If so, you will receive an invitation after 1 March to an online Meet & Greet for your study programme. During this informal online event you will get to know our university of applied sciences, current students and lecturers. In addition, you will have the opportunity to get to know future fellow students via our digital platforms, such as intosaxion.nl. To complete the picture, you are also invited to check out our video clips about the teaching and the facilities at Saxion.
Meet & Greet: the perfect time to ask questions and to ascertain whether there is a match between you and the study programme. If you still don't know which programme to choose after the online Meet & Greet, you may request an individual online interview (study choice check).
Further information
Please contact our Servicepoint for more information. There is a Servicepoint in Deventer and Enschede. They are open every working day. All (future) Saxion students can ask their questions here, regardless of the location of their programme.