Linguistics and Literary Studies

Admission requirements for the bachelor's programme

Which degree is required?

To apply for this bachelor's programme (programme code 00722*), you need to have secondary school credentials that grant you access to a bachelor degree in your home country.

You have direct access to our bachelor's programme if:

1. You have graduated from a Belgian secondary school, and are in possession of a Belgian secondary school certificate.
2. You have graduated from an (international) secondary school, and are in possession of a degree that is held to be equivalent to a Belgian degree of secondary education. In this case, you must provide valid proof of your language proficiency. Check the List of equivalent secondary school certificates for more information.

If you have a secondary school degree that is not equivalent to a Belgian degree of secondary education, you will have to meet our language requirements (see below) and send us your secondary school diploma and transcript of records. The admissions committee then decides whether you are eligible to join the programme.

An online interview is always part of the application process. You will receive an invitation via mail from muba@vub.be for this online interview with one of the MUBA teaching assistants. In a digital calendar, you will be able to book an appointment of approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Topics that will be discussed include your personal background and your study motivation.

*Please make sure you verify the programme identifying code before applying to avoid confusion with the Dutch-taught parallel bachelor's programme in de Taal- en Letterkunde. 

Are there any language requirements?

Most importantly, you must be proficient in English, as this is the language of instruction. We accept the following proof of English language proficiency:

1. An upper secondary school diploma from the Belgian educational system.
2. A certificate from the institution where you finished your secondary or higher education, stating that English has been the language of instruction.
3. A certificate of one of the following language tests, corresponding to the Common European Framework of Reference with minimum level B2:

• ITACE: minimum level B2
• TOEFL: minimum level 79 for the internet-based test, 213 for the computer-based test, 550 for the paper-based test
• IELTS: minimum level academic module 6.5
• Cambridge Certificate of Advance English (CAE): minimum grade B
• Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE): minimum grade C

Please note that the test result must have been awarded no more than five years prior to the date of enrolment. It is mandatory that the language requirements are met before you are accepted at VUB. We do not issue letters of acceptance without it. 

Besides English for the general courses, your other courses will be taught in the target language. For this reason, you must have obtained the following proficiency level before studying a particular language:

• Students of Dutch are to have obtained level C1 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
• Students of French are to have obtained level B2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
• For German, Italian and Spanish, no previous knowledge is required at the start of your studies, but the learning pace does go fast.

Are there any other conditions?

Ready to apply for the Multilingual Bachelor? You will need the following documents:

• ID card / Passport copy
• Passport photo (to be used for your student card)
• Secondary school diploma or proof that you will graduate at the end of this school year
• Proof of English proficiency
• Secondary school results (not mandatory if you have direct access)
• Letter of motivation (not mandatory if you have direct access) - Don't forget to mention which languages you want to study!

Admission depends on our review of each application. Once we have checked the validity of the documents, we will send you an email inviting you for a mandatory short online interview.

Check the most important steps to consider

Lonnoy & Lorand scholarships 

Thanks to the bequest of Jeanne Lonnoy and Emile Lorand, the Language and Literature Education (TALK) and Linguistics & Literary Studies (MuBA) programmes at the VUB offer twelve scholarships to secondary school graduates who are passionate about language and literature and who would like to pursue a Bachelor's degree in Language and Literature or Linguistics and Literary Studies at the VUB. This scholarship covers the tuition fee for the first year of the Bachelor's degree at the VUB (with a maximum of €1000), and for students who already have a scholarship, we even cover the tuition fee for their three years as a Bachelor's student (also with a maximum of €1000).

Any applicant with a passion for language that wants to be a future student of Linguistics and Literary Studies is eligible for one of these scholarships!

Application process

An application consists of the following documents:

• A letter of motivation
  • Who am I?
  • Why do I want to study Taal-en Letterkunde/Linguistics and Literary Studies at VUB?
  • In which ways did I already express my talent for linguistics and literary studies?
  • Why would I need this scholarship?  
• a transcript of the applicant’s coursework in the previous and current year of high school
• a short recommendation letter by a high school teacher, which will be uploaded directly by the teacher (ca. 500 words)

Applications will be assessed by a commission of professors and teaching assistants of both programmes. The results obtained in high school will not serve as the main selection criteria but do give complementary information about the profile of the candidate. As of this, the commission also ascribes importance to the letter of motivation and the recommendation letters.

Apply here

Deadlines

• Start application process: April 1st
• Application deadline: August 15th
• Deadline letters of recommendation by high school teachers: August 22nd.
• Selection: the candidate will be contacted on August 30th.