Requirements & application

As a prospective bachelor's student, you must have a diploma of higher secondary education that is equivalent to Dutch standards. To be admitted to Fontys University of Applied Sciences students must be eligible for higher education through a diploma of secondary education / high school diploma with good results. For international students this means:

• Senior high school diploma, which generally grants access to a Bachelor programme in the country of issue
• General Certificate of Secondary Education in 4 subjects with marks ranging from A-C, plus a General Certificate of Education with 2 subjects at advanced subsidiary level
• International Baccalaureate Diploma
• Baccalauréat Général
• American High School Diploma (AP courses are strongly recommended)
• For German students specifically: Fachabitur or Abitur (Fachhochschulreife or Allgemeine Hochschulreife)

Fontys has set minimum language requirements for all programmes conducted in English. Learn more about these requirements.

As a non-EU/EEA student, the Netherlands will require an Entry Visa* (MVV) and a Residence Permit. Fontys will apply on behalf of its students for these documents. We recommend you start the process early, i.e. approximately three months before you plan to enter the Netherlands.

More information about Visa*except nationals from Australia, Canada, Japan, Monaco, New Zealand, South Korea, the USA and Vatican City State.

As a prospective bachelor's student you must have a diploma of higher secondary education. For Dutch students this means: vwo-, havo- or mbo-diploma.

Dutch student without the right pre-education?

Are you a Dutch student and do you want to pursue the bachelor’s degree in IT in Dutch in Venlo, but do not meet the admission requirements and are older than 21 years? In that case, you are required to take a Dutch 21+ test, which consists of two parts.

Once you have successfully completed part 1, the intellectual capacity test (ACT), you will need to take part 2, a Dutch language test. Both tests are facilitated by Fontys. Click here for more information.

If you have Dutch nationality and wish to pursue the bachelor’s degree in IT in English in Venlo, but do not meet the admission requirements and are older than 21 years, you will need to take an English 21+ test. For this, you only need to complete the intellectual capacity test (ACT). If you pass this test, you will need to independently obtain an English language proficiency test (IELTS, TOEFL, or Cambridge certificate). Fontys does not offer this language test.

The dates on which the ACT test is administered at Fontys can be found here.

To take a language proficiency test, you can contact IELTS, TOEFL, or Cambridge organisations. More information about the minimum scores required can be found here.

You are responsible for taking the language test in a timely manner, and the costs for this are currently your own responsibility. In the Netherlands, these tests are offered by various providers, such as: bltc.nl.

Fontys University of Applied Sciences will act according to the Code of Conduct.