Master course admission requirements are defined by the French Community of Belgium Decree of 7 November 2013 defining the higher education landscape and the academic organisation of courses.
Admission requirements for this programme must be satisfied at the time of enrolling at the university.
In the event of the divergence between the different linguistic versions of the present conditions, the French version shall prevail.
A. General requirements
Art. 111 §1. Admission to studies leading to the award of a Master’s degree will be granted to students with one of the following qualifications:
1. an undergraduate (first-cycle) degree in the same field of study;
2. the same Master’s (second-cycle) degree, but with a different specialization (focus);
3. a long-cycle undergraduate or Master’s degree, in accordance with a decision by the academic authorities and subject to the additional requirements that they lay down;
4. a degree comparable to those mentioned above, awarded by a higher education institution, within or outside the French Community of Belgium, in accordance with a decision by the academic authorities and subject to the additional requirements that they lay down;
5. a degree obtained abroad and deemed equivalent to a master's degree mentioned in paragraphs 2 or 3 in accordance with this Decree, a European directive, an international convention or other legislation, subject to the same requirements.
Any qualification conferring the same professional opportunities or enabling the holders to continue their studies in their home system are deemed comparable to a long-cycle degree awarded in the French Community of Belgium.
The additional admission requirements referred to in 3° and 4° are intended to ensure that students have acquired the prerequisite knowledge for the studies in question.
Where these additional admission requirements consist of one or more additional courses, these may not represent more than 60 additional credits, taking into account all the credits which students may also be able to use in the master course.
In particular, students holding a 60-credit master's degree referred to in Article 70 §3 shall be awarded at least 45 credits when enrolling in studies leading to the corresponding 120-credit master's degree.
B. Access for students with a short-cycle undergraduate degree
Art. 111 §2. Admission to studies leading to the award of a Master’s degree will be also granted to students with one of the following qualifications:
1. a short-cycle undergraduate degree, in accordance with a decision by the Government or the academic authorities and subject to the additional requirements that they lay down, without these requirements being more restrictive than those laid down by the Government or making any distinction between institutions that have awarded the degree;
2.a short-cycle undergraduate degree awarded by a hiher education institution, within or outside the French Community of Belgium, in accordance with a decision by the academic authorities and subject to the additional requirements that they lay down;
3. a degree obtained abroad and deemed equivalent to the one mentioned in paragraph 1, in accordance with this Decree, a European directive, an international convention or other legislation, subject to the same requirements.
The additional admission requirements referred to in 3° and 4° are intended to ensure that students have acquired the prerequisite knowledge for the studies in question.
Where these additional admission requirements consist of one or more additional courses, these may not represent more than 60 additional credits, taking into account all the credits which students may also be able to use in the master course.These courses are part of student's study programme.
C. Bachelor-Master Transition
For students who have yet to acquire or validate a maximum of 15 credits from their bachelor programme:
Art.100 §7. At the end of the bachelor programme, students who still have to acquire or validate a maximum of 15 credits of the bachelor study programme may complete their annual programme with course units of the master for which they satisfy the prerequisites. They are enrolled in the master programme, however, for the purpose of acquiring or recognising the value of the bachelor course units, whereas they are deemed to be enrolled in the bachelor programme.
Students pay the master tuition fee and are exempt from the bachelor tuition fee.
Students who have not acquired their bachelor's degree cannot apply to their annual programme the master course credits that correspond to their dissertation or year-end project.
For these students, the bachelor course units are determined by the bachelor programme jury and the master course units are determined by the master programme jury.
D. Access to Master's studies via a jury evaluation of previous studies
Art. 111 §4. Subject to the general requirements laid down by the academic authorities, students with a diploma, degree,certificate or other qualification, issued outside the French Community, that does not grant them admission to Master's studies in accordance with the previous paragraphs may nevertheless be admitted by the relevant Examination Board if all of the higher education they have successfully completed is deemed by the Board to be worth at least 180 credits.
As far as additional course units are concerned, such students are equated to students admitted in accordance with the requirements referred to in §2.
E. Admission to Master's studies on the basis of accreditation of knowledge and skills obtained through professional or personal experience (Accreditation of Prior Experience)
Art. 119 §1. Subject to the general requirements laid down by the authorities of the higher education institution, with the aim of admission to the Master's programme, the examination boards ccredit the knowledge and skills that students have obtained through their professional or personal experience. This experience must correspond to at least five years of documented activity, with years spent in higher education being partially taken in account: 60 credits are deemed equivalent to one year of experience, with a maximum of two years being counted.
At the end of an assessment procedure organized by the authorities of the higher education institution, the Examination Board will decide whether a student has sufficient skills and knowledge to successfully pursue Master'studies.After this assessment, the Examination Board will determine the additional courses and possible exemptions constituting the supplementary requirements for the student's admission.
F. Admission to a Master's degree with a teaching focus
Art. 113 § 1. Anyone not demonstrating sufficient proficiency in French will not be admitted to examinations for a Master's degree with a teaching focus.