Admissions non-EEA students

Application for 2026-2027

We completed our admission rounds for 2026-2027 and cannot consider any late applications

Admission procedure for 2027-2028 for non-EU/EEA candidates

NOTE: candidates with Swiss nationality are considered EEA candidates!

Application for our admission procedure 2027-2028 opens in Studielink mid-November 2026.

The admission procedure for the bachelor's programme of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie consists of two rounds:

First admission round:

- For all non-EU/EEA applicants: assessment of your work after submitting your portfolio pdf online.

Second admission round:

- For all candidates: entrance examination. 

For all information regarding our admission rounds, dates, deadlines, etc., scroll down in the text below.

Application through Studielink

Application for our fulltime bachelor programme 2027-2028 opens in Studielink mid-November.

All candidates for our bachelor programme first have to apply through Studielink. So, from November, to submit a registration request, first go to the Studielink website: www.studielink.nl to read their guidelines to register. NOTE: once you've submitted an application request for our programme, you can still decide to withdraw or change it and start an application for other academies too. Participation in our admission procedure does not obligate you to study with us. 

Once you're registered in Studielink, you have to submit your application request for our bachelor programme in Studielink, with the blue button 'Add new course'. In the search field Educational Institution, put 'Gerrit Rietveld Academie' in the search filter to find our 2 bachelor courses (so do not search with 'basicyear' or the name of a specific department).

If you use the search filter 'Gerrit Rietveld Academie in the Educational Institution field', you will generate the two HBO bachelor level choices below:

- Fine Arts and Design fulltime, or;

- Fine Arts and Design parttime (= DOGtime).

Select your choice for fulltime (as you cannot apply for student visa on the basis of being admitted to our parttime bachelor). NOTE: non-EEA candidates may be eligible to apply for our part-time DOGtime bachelor's program if they already have a valid residence permit for the Netherlands (on other grounds than fulltime studies).

After selecting the fullltime programme, you have to select your next choice, for:

- first year, or;

- advanced year (this is what you choose when you want to apply directly for the 2nd/3rd year into one of our departments).

NOTE: In Studielink, you cannot select a specific department! So you only choose for our bachelor fulltime or parttime, and for first year or advanced year.

Once you have submitted your application request in Studielink, you will receive automatic e-mails with info about the next steps in your application process. On our closed application page, you'll have to fill out the additional application questions and indicate your department choice.

Residence permit

Students from all non-EU/EEA countries, except Switzerland, are OBLIGED to apply for a residence permit through the International Office of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie to study in the full-time bachelor program. So you cannot study in our part-time programme, unless you already have a valid residence permit for the Netherlands on other grounds, which allows for studying.

Non-EU/EEA students who applied for 2024-2025 had to have a provable amount of €23,400.- on their bank account to apply for their residence permit!

More information about a residence permit.

Required previous education

A secondary / high school diploma at EQF level 4 or higher (equivalent to Dutch Havo or Mbo4 diploma) is required for all candidates, which has to be obtained before the start of studies in September. Documentation of your diploma and final grades list has to be submitted as soon as possibe, before 1 August (if possible). In case you are not sure what the EQF level of your secondary / high school education is, you can check the Nuffic website for a comparison of your education with the Dutch school system.

Proof of English proficiency

Candidates are obliged to provide proof of English proficiency during the application process for 2027-2028. We accept one of the three options explained below:

• Proof A = a copy of your European high school/secondary diploma, with English as exam subject, level B2 or higher - to be submitted before mid-July 2027, or in case proof A cannot be provided;
• Proof B = proof that English is your mother tongue and/or completed high school in a native-speaking country (high school diploma of native-speaking country) - to be submitted before mid-July 2027, or, in case proof A or B cannot be provided;
• Proof C = your valid Academic IELTS certificate, with minimum overall band score of 6.0, with at least 6.0 for Speaking - which has to be included with your submitted portfolio application, so before the deadline of mid-December 2026 for Basicyear candidates and 1 March 2027 for 2nd year entry. WE DO NOT accept TOEFL or University of Cambridge ESOL Examination language tests as IELTS replacement! We do not consider portfolio applications without the requested proof of English proficiency. NOTE: If it is not possible - for political reasons - to take an IELTS exam in your country, please contact our Admissions Office at apply@rietveldacademie.nl .

NOTE: if you cannot provide proof A or B as described above, you are obliged to provide proof C. If you do the first admission round by submitting your portfolio application online through the portfolio machine, but cannot provide proof A or B as described above, your proof C must be submitted before the portfolio application deadline - otherwise your portfolio application will not be taken into consideration!

Selection of works for the 1st admission round

In your pdf document for the first admission round, show a wide variety of visual work, taking into account:

- to include a CV with info about your education & any relevant (pre)courses and work experience.

- to make your selection as diverse as possible, with a main focus on work of the past three years.

- to not only show final results, but also include initial sketches, ideas and plans which can provide some insight into your work (process) and the choices you have made.

- to show plenty of work, at least 20-30 pieces (but possibly more!). These can be drawings, sketches, design sketches, sketch books, paintings, photographs, collages, graphics, textiles, garments, ceramics, items of jewellery, floor plans, models, etc. and your visual portfolio can also include (short) texts if applicable.

- when applying for the first bachelor (basic)year, make sure the work you show is not too one-sided, so if you have a main interest in photography or graphic design, for example, do not only show photos or graphic work, but also work in other media.

- do not only show assignment-based work but also include your 'free work,' based on your personal ideas, created at your own initiative.

- to keep the document size of your pdf as small as possible, maximally 30-40 MB (and reduce the resolution of your photos/images, if necessary).

1st admission round: submitting your portfolio for assessment

For the 1st admission round, all non-EU/EEA candidates have to submit a portfolio pdf for assessment. On the basis of your submitted portfolio pdf, the admissions committee will determine whether to invite you to participate in the entrance examination.

But first, you have to register through Studielink and submit a registration request (see info above). Once you have submitted an application request through Studielink, you will receive automatic e-mails with information about the next steps and how to submit your portfolio pdf for assessment.

Portfolios for the Basicyear can be submitted from November till the deadline in December (see below). 2nd/3rd year candidates can submit their portfolios from mid-January till the deadline mentioned below. The guidelines for the selection of works that are outlined above, under Selection of works for the 1st admission round, also apply here.

NOTE: you can only apply for the 2nd year, if you completed at least 1 bachelor year of studies in fine arts/design successfully before the start of your studies here (and submit it by 1 August at the latest - if possible).

Deadlines to submit your portfolio & proof of English proficiency

For application 1st bachelor Basicyear fulltime 2027-2028, for non-EU/EEA applicants:

- From November 2026, till the DEADLINE: mid-December 2026 (including an Academic IELTS certificate if English is not your mother tongue).

For applicaton 2nd/3rd year fulltime 2027-2028, for all non-EEA applicants:

- From mid-January 2027, till the provisional DEADLINE: 1 March 2027 (including an Academic IELTS certificate if English is not your mother tongue).

We urge you to submit your portfolio a.s.a.p., well before the deadline! Definitely do not wait until last-minute, to avoid missing the deadline due to unexpected technical problems. Only applications submitted before the deadline will be taken into consideration!

NOTE: in view of the limited department study places, it could be that certain departments cannot accept any lateral entry candidates.

Second admission round: entrance examinaton

If you receive a positive assessment of your portfolio, you pass on to the second admission round; the entrance examination. After submitting all required application questions/documentation on our closed application page, you are registered for participation in the 2nd round and your entrance exam will be scheduled. NOTE: if a department has no study places for lateral entry candidates, no entrance exams are held.

Dates entrance exams

The entrance exams are scheduled in:

• week 12  - March 202 - for candidates full-time Basicyear (online in Teams);
• May 2027 - for 2nd/3rd programme year candidates full-time. NOTE: exact date varies per department, and if a department has no study places for lateral entry candidates, no entrance exams are held.
• (April 2027 (& extra round in May) - for candidates DOGtime)**;

** in principle, application for DOGtime is only open to EU/EEA candidates. Non-EEA candidates can only apply for DOGtime if they already have a valid Dutch residence permit (on other grounds than fulltime studies), which also allows them to study in the Netherlands. 

Two weeks before the exam week, registered candidates who passed the first round successfully will receive all relevant information by e-mail. Candidates for the first bachelor course year will then also receive the home assignments.

Extra information about entrance exam

The entrance exam consists of an admission interview with an admissions committee, during which you present a large selection of your work of the past 3 years.

BASICYEAR:

For all non-EEA candidates, the Basicyear entrance exams are scheduled ONLINE in Teams, so you don't have to travel to Amsterdam for the 2nd admission round (even if you live in the Netherlands). The Basicyear home assignments and further instructions on submitting your portfolio pdf beforehand (including the home assignments) for assessment will be sent to you at least 2 weeks before the exam week. Your online entrance exam consists of an interview with a Basicyear admissions committee discussing your work & goals. This interview takes appr. 15 minutes.

FULLTIME DEPARTMENTS:

In principle, the department entrance exams in May are in person at our academy (unless the department decides to schedule their interviews online).

Candidates living abroad very far away, can submit a request for an online exam instead - at least 3 weeks before the exam week - via apply[at]rietveldacademie.nl .

2nd/3rd year candidates attending the department exam at our academy are requested to bring an elaborate and diverse selection of their art/design work of the past 3 years to the exam. Your exam consists of an interview with the department committee, showing and discussing your work & goals.

The interviews will take appr. 15 to 20 minutes, but also take into account that you may have to wait for your turn.

GOAL OF THE ENTRANCE EXAM INTERVIEW(S):

With your input during the entrance exam, the committees hope to gather enough information about your visual abilities, your work and the various media you have worked with, your work process and outcome of the home assignments (if applicable), your motivation, background, sources of inspiration, expectations of the study programme, and the quality of your English communication, so we can get an idea of your possible suitability for our programme.

Entrance exam result

After the exam week, we need more time to further evaluatie all the interviews. As soon as possible - within 5 weeks after the exam week - you can expect to receive the result by e-mail.

Application for 2nd year entry

If you have studied at an art academy at bachelor level, and have completed at least the 1st bachelor year of studies successfully (with at least 60 ECTS or equivalent obtained), or will do so before your possible studies here, you can apply for 2nd year entry (instead of for the 1st bachelor Basicyear).  NOTE: in our bachelor program, the 2nd year is the first department/specialization year of the 4-year fulltime BA course.

After successful participation in the entrance exam, you do have to complete your 1st bachelor year of art/design studies (60 ECTS credits or equivalent) and submit the transcript of your 2 completed semesters in your application in Osiris, before the start of your possible studies here.

Application for 3rd year entry

If you have studied at an art academy at bachelor level and have completed the 2nd bachelor year of studies successfully (with at least 120 ECTS or equivalent obtained), or wil do so before your possible studies here, you can apply for 3rd year entry. After successful participation in the entrance exam, you have to complete your 2nd bachelor year of art/design studies and submit proof of your 4 completed semesters (transcript of obtained ECTS credits) in your application in Orisis, before the start of your possible studies here.

Entry into the final year of studies

It's not possible to enter into the fourth and final bachelor year of studies. Only students who have completed the third year of studies in our program can enter into the graduation year.

Code of conduct 

NL-scholarship for non-EU/EEA students

In cooperation with Nuffic, the Gerrit Rietveld Academie can award a total of 3 NL Scholarships (formerly known as 'Holland Scholarship') of 5,000 Euros to new bachelor students from outside of the EU/EEA.

During the application procedure for the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, candidates who passed the first admission round successfully, will receive an e-mail with an application form (at the end of April).

Questions? Contact: apply[at]rietveldacademie.nl