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Language requirements Exchange Students

The courses open to exchange students are taught in English. We therefore only accept students whose English language command is equivalent (or higher) to the proficiency levels that we require from our regular degree-seeking students, which you can read below.

Whilst we expect all exchange students to have the required level of English to study at Tilburg University (see below), most students (except students with mainland Chinese nationality - see below) are not required to submit any certificates, etc. as proof. We trust our partner universities to only nominate students who fulfil these requirements.

Bachelor students should have the CEFR level B2, which is equivalent to the following test scores:

  • Academic IELTS test 6.0 (minimum score 5.5 on all parts); or
  • TOEFL iBT with a minimum score of 80 for the traditional TOEFL iBT test taken at a test center, or the TOEFL iBT Paper Edition; or
  • Cambridge English test results: C1 advanced (formerly CAE) or C2 proficiency (formerly CPE). For both C1 and C2, we accept a score of A, B or C.

Master students should have the CEFR level C1, which is equivalent to the following test scores:

  • Academic IELTS test 6.5 (minimum score 6.0 on all parts); or
  • TOEFL iBT with a minimum score of 90 for the traditional TOEFL iBT test taken at a test center or the TOEFL iBT Paper Edition; or
  • Cambridge English test results: C1 advanced (formerly CAE) or C2 proficiency (formerly CPE). For both C1 and C2, we accept a score of A, B or C.

Students with mainland Chinese nationality (not including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) must submit a TOEFL or IELTS certificate in order to obtain the required Nuffic certificate for the visa to study in the Netherlands. This is national immigration policy for all Dutch universities. This requirement also applies to mainland Chinese students whose home university is in another country than China.