collageAdmission requirements
Is this the master’s specialisation of your choice? Please read here about the admissibility for this programme.
Please note: the registration for the specialisation Clinical Psychology starting in February 2022 has already been closed.
The application for September 2022 opens on 1 October. For the Clinical Psychology specialisation a selection procedure and capacity limit applies. More information will follow soon.
Diploma Requirements
The following diploma requirements apply for this programme:
A bachelor degree in Psychology from Leiden University
Students with a Bachelor in Psychology from Leiden University are directly eligible for admission, if at least the appropiate specialisation course is completed. Students must apply in Studielink before 15 june 2021. There is no need to submit an application for admission using the online application portal.
The entry requirements with regards to the specialisations for current Psychology Bachelor students from Leiden University who would like to continue a master’s in Leiden can be found in the PDF file.
A bachelor degree in Psychology from another University
Prospective students should:
have earned a Bachelor degree in Psychology at a Research University (not at a University of Applied Sciences / Professional Education) or demonstrate the ability to meet the requirements for such a degree, and;
have sufficient knowledge of Methodology and Statistics (at least 20 EC): introductory and more advanced courses in methods and statistics of psychological research (including psychometrics, multivariate data analysis) and the use of SPSS, and;
possess the skills, understanding and knowledge that are required for earning the bachelor’s degree; more specifically knowledge on university level of the following topics:
Introduction to Psychology
Social and Organisational Psychology
Personality Psychology
Cognitive Psychology
Neuropsychology and/or Psychophysiology and/or Biopsychology
Clinical and Abnormal Psychology
Developmental and Educational Psychology
Theory or training in interpersonal skills, such as interview, counselling, discussion techniques
Theory or training in psycho diagnostics
Advanced courses (at least 30 ec) on a third year Bachelor level on topics pertaining to this master specialisation
A pre-master certificate Psychology from Leiden University
Leiden offers a pre-master’s programme in Psychology for a specific group of students. Completing the pre-master’s grants you access to the Master’s programme in Psychology. Note that the pre’master’s programme does not prepare for the specialisation Clinical Psychology. Read more about our pre-master’s programme.
Language Requirements
Prospective students should have proof of thorough proficiency in English by means of one of the following tests:
IELTS overall 7.0 and band scores of at least 6.5
TOEFL IBT 100, with the following minimum band scores: 22 (reading), 22 (listening), 22 (speaking) and 25 (writing)
Cambridge English Exam CPE/CAE of at least 180
Detailed Information English Language Proficiency
For detailed information about which English qualifications are accepted, as well as the relevant exemption criteria, refer to English language proficiency. This language requirement does not apply if you have:
completed your education in the USA, the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia or Canada (except French-taught programmes in Canada) or;
an (English-taught) International Baccalaureate or;
a Bachelor diploma from a Dutch research university (e.g. Leiden University) or;
a Dutch VWO diploma
Leiden University Psychology Ranking
Leiden University is among the top 100 universities in four prominent international rankings.
Worldwide rankings, or ‘university league tables’, were introduced nearly 15 years ago. These lists attract considerable attention when they are published, both within and outside universities. It is important to realise, however, that they offer only a very limited, sometimes imperfect and even misleading picture of the quality of a university as a whole. The Leiden Centre for Science and Technology Studies has therefore formulated ten principles for the design, interpretation and use of rankings.
Leiden is among the top universities in the most prominent international rankings. These are based on sometimes quite different indicators, which again serves to confirm the broad quality of the education and research at Leiden University. The VSNU gives an overview of the scores of all Dutch universities in these rankings.
ARWU Ranking
The ARWU Ranking is concerned only with research results. More than 1,000 universities worldwide are compared and the best 500 appear in the rankings. The main criteria for inclusion are the number of Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals awarded to staff and alumni, and the number of researchers at the university who have high citation scores. Publications in journals such as Nature and Science also important criteria. Leiden University is in 80th place in the ARWU ranking (2020).
ARWU ranking
THE World University Rankings
Times Higher Education (THE) has published the THE World University Rankings since 2004. Until 2010 this was in collaboration with the QS higher education research agency. The THE World University Ranking produces a top 200 of the world’s best universities based on 13 indicators. The institutions themselves provide the data for the THE ranking. The ranking is also largely based on a reputation survey among international scholars. Worldwide, Leiden University is in 70th place (2019-2020). In The Netherlands, Leiden is in 3rd position, behind Wageningen and UvA.
THE World University Rankings
Ranking by subject
THE also publishes a ranking by subject, the so-called The World University Rankings by subject. In this ranking Leiden University is in the following positions:
| Subject | Position |
| Arts and Humanities | 22 |
| Social Sciences | 37 |
| Law | 24 |
| Clinical, pre-clinical & health | 72 |
| Physical Sciences | 80 |
| Psychology | 77 |
THE Reputation Ranking
As well as the World University Ranking, the Times Higher Education (THE) magazine also publishes a ranking based on the reputation survey that it distributed among scholars. Only the top 100 are indicated in the ranking. Leiden is in the 61-70 range (2019).
THE Reputation Ranking
QS World University Rankings
The QS Ranking is compiled annually on the basis of a survey among a large number of academics and a study among employers. The ranking takes account of the quality of teaching and academic publications, as well as the staff-student ratio and citations.
In the ranking of the best universities in the world, Leiden University shares 128th place with the University of Groningen. After Delft University of Technology (57), the University of Amsterdam (61), Wageningen University & Research (115), Eindhoven University of Technology (120) and Utrecht University (121), Leiden, together with Groningen is, the sixth Dutch university in the ranking.
Ranking by subject
Alongside a general ranking, QS also publishes a number of rankings by subject (in 2021, five broad subject areas and 51 subjects). These are based on a combination of academic and employer reputation surveys, alongside two publication and citation indicators. The weighting is adapted for each discipline.
In the broad subject areas, Leiden University takes 35th place in the top 100 in Arts & Humanities, and 71st place in Life Sciences & Medicine. It is also possible to compare universities by specific subject. Depending on the subject, the first 50, 100 or even 150 universities will then be ranked. A number of Leiden research fields have been ranked in the top 30:
| Research field | Position |
| Anthropology | 25 |
| Archaeology | 8 |
| Classics & Ancient History | 4 |
| History | 15 |
| Law & Legal Studies | 24 |
| Pharmacy & Pharmacology | 11 |
| Politics & International Studies | 22 |
QS Top Universities Subject Rankings
Leiden Ranking
The Leiden Ranking charts the academic performance of 500 major universities throughout the world. Using a group of refined bibliometric indicators, the ranking aims to make an accurate measurement of the degree to which we collaborate with other universities. In the CWTS Leiden Ranking 2020 Leiden University is ranked 100th worldwide, and 6th in the Netherlands.
Leiden Ranking
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