Admission and application
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Application period
Please select your nationality and previous education to view the application periods.Application period
Please select your previous education to view the application periods.Application period
September intake
Application period
September intake
Note on the deadline: Formally speaking, the admission deadline for Dutch and EU/EEA students with non-Dutch previous education is 1 July, 2026. However, students with non-Dutch previous education who participate in the priority lottery for housing must have an admission decision from Radboud University. Since the draw will take place from 1 June to 1 July, the deadline of 1 May, 2026 is mentioned here.
Application period
Please select your previous education to view the application periods.Application period
September intake
Application period
September intake
Note on the deadline: Formally speaking, the admission deadline for Dutch and EU/EEA students with non-Dutch previous education is 1 July, 2026. However, students with non-Dutch previous education who participate in the priority lottery for housing must have an admission decision from Radboud University. Since the draw will take place from 1 June to 1 July, the deadline of 1 May, 2026 is mentioned here.
Application period
Please select your previous education to view the application periods.Application period
September intake
Application period
September intake
Please note: would you like to apply for a scholarship? Please note that the application deadline for scholarships is 31 January 2026 23:59 CET. Your application needs to be complete by 14 February 2026 23:59 CET.
Dutch degree
Admission requirements
A completed university bachelor's programme (other than in Business Administration) makes you eligible for the Pre-Master's programme.
A completed bachelor's programme (240 EC) related to Business Administration makes you eligible for the Pre-Master's programme. HBO study programmes that qualify for the Pre-master's programme are
- Accountancy
- Business Economics
- Business Administration
- Business Information Technology
- Facility Management
- Financial Services Management
- Hotel Management
- International Business and Languages
- International Business and Management Studies
- Management, Economics, and Law
- Human Resources and Labour/Human Resources and Organisation
- Human Resource Management
- Small Business
- Technical Business Administration
In addition to holding a compatible degree, HBO candidates are selected based on the unweighted average final grade, calculated over the last 120 ECTS of their HBO program. Unweighed means that all components that are assigned study credits weigh equally in the average. The unweighted average will not be rounded up. The Business Administration Examining Board will apply the following policy:
- Students with an average final grade of 7.5 or higher are automatically granted admission to the Pre-Master's programme.
- Students with an average final grade between 7 and 7.5 are invited to send a letter of motivation to the Examining Board. Based on this letter, the Board will decide whether to grant a candidate admission. If you are not granted admission based on your motivation letter, you have to complete an GMAT test. You will be granted admission if you score > 565 points on the GMAT.
- Students with an average final grade lower than 7 can be granted admission to the Pre-Master's programme on the basis of a GMAT/GMAT Focus Edition (scoring >=565) or GRE (overall score 315, quantitative score 158) to be admissible to the pre-Master's
For more information about the GMAT, see www.gmac.com
The study programme does not provide support in completing the GMAT test.
How to Calculate Your Unweighted Grade Point Average
Complete the provided file by entering the grades and credits (EC) for the last 120 EC of courses from your program, typically those from the final two years of study. Save the completed file as a PDF and upload it to Osiris. Ensure all information is clear and presented on one page.
- Enter the grades and corresponding EC (study credits) for the last 120 EC worth of courses. Include courses for which you have not yet received a grade. In such cases, leave the grade field blank but fill in the number of EC.
- Follow the order of your official transcript. Do not abbreviate or translate course names; write them exactly as listed on the transcript.
- The unweighted average will not be rounded up.
- If a course is not graded with a numeric score, enter what is indicated on the transcript (e.g., a ‘P’ for pass).
- Do not include partial grades; only use final grades for which EC have been awarded.
- Use commas instead of periods for decimal grades (e.g., 7.2 should be written as 7,2).
- Ensure the entered information matches your official transcript.
- Save the completed file as a PDF and upload it to Osiris.
Important: Failure to submit this file will result in your application being delayed or reset, and you will be asked to submit the file correctly. Strictly adhere to the above guidelines to avoid delays in your application process.
Non-Dutch degree
Admission requirements
If you have a non-Dutch educational background, you cannot apply directly for the pre-Master’s, but you need to apply for the Master’s programme first. The Examining Board will then decide if you are eligible for direct admission to the Master’s or whether they require you to participate in a pre-Master’s before you can enter the Master’s.
If you have applied for the Master’s and received a message that you are (conditionally) admitted to the pre-Master’s programme, and you would like to accept this offer, you need to apply in Studielink through the following steps:
- Go to 'Study programmes' and select 'Add new enrolment application'
- Search for 'Business Administration'
- Select the Educational institution: Radboud University
- Select the Type of study programme: WO Bachelor
- Select ‘Premaster Business Administration’, and make sure to enroll for the upcoming academic year
Once you have submitted this application in Studielink, you can disregard the automatic emails from Studielink, except if they are about providing information about the payment of the contribution fee, but you need to follow the instructions from the Admissions Office admissions [at] ru.nl, which you will receive shortly after your application.
When it comes to all English-taught Bachelor’s programmes, English language proficiency may be demonstrated through one of the following diplomas:
- A Dutch pre-university Secondary Education diploma (VWO);
- An International Baccalaureate Diploma (Diploma Programme): English taught IB or English A Language and Literature HL
- A European Baccalaureate Diploma, which includes English Language 1 or English Language 2
- UK Standard Pathway: combination of 3 GCSEs and 3 GCE A-levels
- A diploma equivalent to, or higher than the Dutch VWO diploma, obtained at an institution in an EU/EEA member state, Australia, Canada (excluding Québec), Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom or the United States of America with English as the only medium of instruction.
- One of the following diplomas, which includes a minimal passing grade for English in the final examinations:
- Austria: Reifezeugnis/Reifeprüfungszeugnis (check the additional requirements)
- Belgium: Diploma van Secundair Onderwijs (for the Diplome d'Enseignement Secondair (Enseignement Secondaire Général) or the Abschlusszeugnis der Oberstufe des Sekundarunterrichts (Allgemeinbildende Unterricht) a language test is needed as proof of English language proficiency)
- Denmark: Studentereksamenbevis
- Finland: Ylioppilastutkintotodistus/Studentexamenbevis
- Germany: Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife (check the additional requirements)
- Luxembourg: Diplôme de Fin d’Études Secondaires
- Norway: Vitnemål fra den Videregående Skolen
- Sweden: Högskoleförberedande examen
- Aruba: Diploma Voorbereidend Wetenschappelijk Onderwijs
- Sint Maarten: VWO-diploma
- Curaçao: VWO-diploma
- Suriname: Diploma Voorbereidend Wetenschappelijk Onderwijs (V.W.O.) from an accredited V.W.O. School from the Nuffic List.
If you do not meet the English language proficiency requirement via one of the conditions above, you can satisfy the requirement via an English exam.
To meet the English language proficiency requirement, you will need to pass one of exams mentioned below. All certificates may not be older than two years.
TOEFL iBT
A TOEFL (iBT) certificate with an overall score of ≥ 80 and subscores ≥ 20
Note: we do not accept the TOEFL at Home Edition exam.
IELTS Academic
An IELTS Academic certificate with an overall score of ≥ 6,0. Subscores ≥ 6,0
Note: we do not accept the IELTS Online exam.
If you have a background in Business Administration, but your previous education has been judged to be of insufficient level by the Examining Board (applied sciences rather than academic degree), or you have not taken 30 ECs (840 hours) in statistics and qualitative/quantitative research methods, we require you to do a GMAT Focus Edition (score >= 565), GMAT (score >=600), or GRE (overall score 315, quantitative score 158) to be admissible to the pre-Master's. Radboud University currently accepts the GMAT Online exam and the GRE General Test at Home. Furthermore, for Radboud University to be able to verify your GRE scores electronically, we ask that you request the ETS to share your results with us by using the Institution code of Radboud University: 1261
Application procedure
To apply for a programme, you need to submit a request for enrolment in Studielink before the application deadline. Before you apply, please check the admission requirements and then follow the steps below.
Steps
Step 1: Submit your enrolment request via Studielink
Apply for your chosen pre-Master’s programme via Studielink. You can apply for a programme for the following academic year from 1 October onwards.
Submitting a request for enrolment requires the following steps in Studielink.
- Go to 'Study programmes' and select 'Add new enrolment application'
- Search for your pre-Master’s programme by name: ‘Pre-Master’s in [name of study programme]’. The name of the pre-Master’s programme is often the name of the Master’s (specialisation).
- Select the educational institution: Radboud University
- Select the type of study programme: WO Bachelor
Register on time! You do not need to have completed your previous education when you apply. You can find the application deadline at the top of the Admission & Application page of the pre-Master's programme.
Step 2: Fill in the digital questionnaire
Because your prior education needs to be assessed, you will receive the login details for a digital questionnaire at the email address that you provided in Studielink. Log in, complete the questionnaire and upload the requested documents.
Please make sure that you submit your questionnaire and the documents before the application deadline of the pre-Master's. If you do this after the deadline, there is no guarantee that we will be able to process your application for admission in time. You can find the application deadline at the top of the Admission & Application page of the pre-Master's programme.
Step 3: Keep an eye on your inbox
Your request for admission will then be processed. Within approximately 3 weeks after you have submitted the digital questionnaire, Student Admissions will inform you by email about the admission decision. There are three possible outcomes:
- You will be granted unconditional admission, which means you can enrol for the programme.
- You will be granted conditional admission: there are conditions that you will need to fulfil before definitive admission can be granted. You will receive an email about what these conditions mean.
- You will not be granted admission: your application will then be withdrawn from Studielink and unfortunately you cannot enrol for this pre-Master's. You will receive further details by email.
The details of this outcome will be forwarded to the email address that you provided in Studielink.
Have you been admitted to the pre-Master’s?
You can now enrol for the programme.
Application procedure
How to apply for a pre-Master's programme if you have a non-Dutch previous education:
Students with a non-Dutch previous education cannot directly apply for a pre-Master’s. You must first apply for a selected Master's programme.
If you do not meet all the admission requirements for your selected Master's programme, you may be offered admission to the pre-Master's programme. This will be communicated in your admission email.
Completing the pre-Master's programme grants you direct admission to the Master's programme.
Questions?
Contact us via email at admissions [at] ru.nl (admissions[at]ru[dot]nl).
Questions or Concerns?
If you are unsure about your application, your enrolment request in Studielink can always be cancelled.
Do you have questions about the admissions procedure or are you unsure whether you meet all the requirements? Get in in touch with admissions [at] nsm.ru.nl (admissions[at]nsm[dot]ru[dot]nl).
Do you have a question about the application procedure, Osiris or tuition fees? Get in touch with the Central Student Desk:
- E-mail: centralstudentdesk [at] ru.nl (centralstudentdesk[at]ru[dot]nl)
- Phone: +31 24 – 361 23 45
- Click here for the opening hours
Please note that in Studielink you can only apply for the English programme. If you want to register for the Dutch programme, please select the English programme in Studielink. Once you have completed your application, you can switch to the Dutch programme.