How to Apply in Belgium

Those who want to study in Wallonia need to hand in a copy of their secondary education certificate which has to be acknowledged by the Ministry of Education of the home country. Graduates of the International Baccalaureate and graduates of “European Schools” are accepted without further acknowledgement of the Ministry.

Next to the copy of your secondary education certificate you need a letter of motivation and an excerpt from your certificate of birth in the original. Furthermore you need a proof of the payment of the administration fees (124 Euro). You can find more detailed information about the payment options on the Website of «Service Équivalences».

Your documents have to be handed in personally or sent by mail to the Wallonian Ministry of Education. Deadline is the 15th of July. It is however advisable to hand it in much earlier, at best before the middle of March.

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Here is the contact data:
Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche scientifique de la Communauté française
Direction générale de l'enseignement obligatoire
Service d’équivalences

Visitor Address:
Rue Courtois, 4 – 1080 Bruxelles
Opening Hours: Monday to Friday,from 9 am to 12 pm and from 1.30 pm to 4 pm.
Postal Address:
Service des équivalences de l'enseignement obligatoire
Rue A. Lavallée, 1
1080 Bruxelles

E-Mail: equi.oblig@cfwb.be
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For more information and a list of study programs visit the following website www.study-belgium.com.

Attention! For Flanders different requirements are in effect: Those who have an officially acknowledged secondary education certificate can usually apply directly at the university. The requirements, however, vary from university to university. You can find helpful information about the study in Flanders on this website: www.highereducation.be


Exceptions:
Since 2006, some of the Wallonian degree programs have been restricted for not Belgian students. This holds true for the BA-study programs of veterinary medicine and „Kinésithérapie et réadaptation“ (Kinesiotherapie and Rehabilitation) as well as for the degree programs at the „Haute Écoles“, e.g. logopedics, ergotherapy, midwifery, specialized education, physiotherapy and audiology. The ratio of non-Belgian students in these degree programs is limited to thirty percent of the enrolled students of the last semester. More detailed information can be found on the websites of the universities.

For being accepted for study programs in the realm of engineering science you have to pass a special admission examination. Those who successfully pass this test can be accepted to every university or „Haute École“ in the French community.
Also, in Wallonia there is no admission test for the study of medicine. During the first year of study the students have to pass an evaluation according to the criteria of the “Act of Admission for the study of medicine and dental medicine” from July 1st of 2005. Ensuing only the best students with outstanding results will be selected to continue their study and be granted to the second year.

At the Flemish Universities there are also admission tests at the universities for the study programs of medicine and dental medicine. These tests („Toelatingsexamen arts & tandarts“) are mandatory for all Belgian and foreign prospective students. More information can be found here.

Furthermore admission tests are mandatory for the following:

  • Nautic Science
  • Audio Visual and Visual Arts
  • Music
  • Theatre

As the tests are held at each university the dates for the tests have to be looked up on their websites.



Language requirements

The language requirements vary from university to university. Therefore it is important to check all the requirements at an early stage.

In Wallonia, students must prove their French proficiency in a language test, the so called „Examen de maîtrise de la langue française“. The tests are organized by the universities and usually take place twice a year. Many universities also offer preparation courses for the language tests.

Dutch language proficiency can be attested by language tests like „Profiel Academische Taalvaardigheid (PAT)“ or the „NT2-Examen“. Some universities also offer language courses and language tests. Information on the admission requirements for a study in Flanders can be found on this website: www.highereducation.be.