Access Requirements

Master course admission requirements are defined by the French Community of Belgium Decree of 7 November 2013 defining the hiher education landscape and the academic organisation of courses.

General and specific admission requirements for this programme must be satisfied at the time of enrolling at the university.

Unless explicitly mentioned, the bachelor's, master's and licentiate degrees listed in this table or on this page are to be understood as those issued by an institution of the French, Flemish or German-speaking Community, or by the Royal Military Academy.

In the event of the divergence between the different linguistic versions of the present conditions, the French version shall prevail.



Specific access requirements

Student must hold a first level university degree.

Provide proof of level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference in French.

Have a training including the following 108 credits:

  • 30 credits of general or specialised courses in Belgian and European history, covering several periods;
  • 20 credits of introduction to the historical discipline and to research techniques (source criticism, general and specialised heuristics, bibliography);
  • 40 credits of implementation of theory (quantitative methods, computer science, seminars);
  • 18 credits of general education (philosophy, literature, arts and civilisation);
  • ancient, medieval and/or modern languages.

The 30 credits from the Minor in History may satisfy these requirements.

In the absence of sufficient training in one or more of these subjects, supplementary classes will be integrated into the master's programme (from 15 credits to a maximum of 60 credits). This preparatory module is established by the jury on the basis of the student's previous course of study.

Course equivalences are submitted for approval to the jury (small panel).

Students wishing to pursue a master's degree with a teaching focus must have a degree of the French Community of Belgium; failing this, they will have to pass a French language proficiency examination to demonstrate that their command of written and spoken French is equivalent to level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (for further information, visit https://uclouvain.be/en/study/inscriptions/french-language-master-teaching.html).

University Bachelors

Diploma Special Requirements Access Remarks
UCLouvain Bachelors
Bachelor in History Direct access
Other Bachelor of the Faculty of Philosophy, Arts and LettersIf students have chosen the Minor in History (Version B) Access with additional training Maximum 15 credits of supplementary classes integrated into the master's programme

If the UCLouvain Admissions Office considers the enrolment application sufficiently complete, it will submit the application to the faculty for a decision.
Other Bachelor of the Faculty of Philosophy, Arts and LettersIf students have chosen the Minor in History (Version A) Access with additional training Maximum 60 credits of supplementary classes integrated into the master's programme

If the UCLouvain Admissions Office considers the enrolment application sufficiently complete, it will submit the application to the faculty for a decision.
Bachelor in Law
Bachelor in Sociology and Anthropology
Bachelor in Political Sciences: General
Bachelor in Human and Social Sciences
Bachelor in Information and Communication
If students have chosen the Minor in History (Version B) Access with additional training Maximum 15 credits of supplementary classes integrated into the master's programme

If the UCLouvain Admissions Office considers the enrolment application sufficiently complete, it will submit the application to the faculty for a decision.
Other Bachelor Access based on application In case of admission, additional training to be determined depending on the student's educational background (consult Admission and Enrolment Procedures for general registration)
Others Bachelors of the French speaking Community of Belgium
Bachelor in History Direct access
Other Bachelor Access based on application In case of admission, additional training to be determined depending on the student's educational background (consult Admission and Enrolment Procedures for general registration)
Bachelors of the Dutch speaking Community of Belgium
Bachelor in HistoryProficiency in French at level B1 (CEFR) Direct access
Other Bachelor Access based on application In case of admission, additional training to be determined depending on the student's educational background (consult Admission and Enrolment Procedures for general registration)
Foreign Bachelors
Other Bachelor Access based on application In case of admission, additional training to be determined depending on the student's educational background (consult Acces on the file)

Non university Bachelors

> Find out more about links to the university

Only applicable to graduates of higher education institutions of the French Community of Belgium

Diploma Access Remarks
BA - AESI orientation Sciences humaines: géographie, histoire, sciences sociales - crédits supplémentaires entre 45 et 60
Les enseignements supplémentaires éventuels peuvent être consultés dans le module complémentaire. Type court

Holders of a 2nd cycle University degree

Diploma Special Requirements Access Remarks
"Licenciés"
Licence en histoire Direct access Programme to be determined depending on the student's educational background (consult Admission and Enrolment Procedures for general registration)
Masters
Master [60] in History Direct access Programme to be determined depending on the student's educational background (consult Admission and Enrolment Procedures for general registration)
Taking into account the student's educational background will allow 45 to of 60 credits to be exempted.
Master [120] in History, second focus Direct access At the end of this Master 120, each focus of the Master [120] in History can be obtained in a new programme of 30 credits.
Master [60] in History of Art and Archaeology : General
Master [120] in History of Art and Archaeology : General
If students have chosen the Minor in History (Version B) during their bachelor Access with additional training Maximum 15 credits of supplementary classes integrated into the master's programme

Programme to be determined depending on the student's educational background (consult Admission and Enrolment Procedures for general registration)

If the UCLouvain Admissions Office considers the enrolment application sufficiently complete, it will submit the application to the faculty for a decision.
Other Master Access based on application In case of admission, programme to be determined depending on the student's educational background (consult Admission and Enrolment Procedures for general registration)

Holders of a non-University 2nd cycle degree

Only applicable to graduates of higher education institutions of the French Community of Belgium

Access based on validation of professional experience

> It is possible, under certain conditions, to use one's personal and professional experience to enter a university course without having the required qualifications. However, validation of prior experience does not automatically apply to all courses. Find out more about Validation of priori experience.

Candidates who do not fulfil the abovementioned admission requirements, but who have duly attested significant experience relevant to the field of study in question, may apply for admission to the programme on the basis of an individualised admission procedure.

For more information on the procedure for admission by validation of learning from experience (VAE) in the Faculty of Philosophy, Arts and Letters: https://uclouvain.be/fr/facultes/fial/vae.html (https://uclouvain.be/fr/facultes/fial/vae.html).

Access based on application

Access based on application : access may be granted either directly or on the condition of completing additional courses of a maximum of 60 ECTS credits, or refused.

If the students' educational background is incomplete, supplementary classes may be integrated into their master's programme.

Students with a Belgian degree
Students whose previous educational background is not included in the above-mentioned admission requirements may apply for admission according to the procedure described below.

Students with an international degree (EU)
Students whose previous educational background is not included in the above-mentioned admission requirements may apply for admission according to the procedure described below.

Students with an international degree (outside the EU)
Students holding an undergraduate and/or postgraduate degree from a university outside Europe may apply for admission, provided they have obtained at least a 55% (or 11/20) general average for all successful academic years at their home university.
Applications that do not meet this minimum average requirement will be automatically rejected.
However, this may be waived provided that the applicant has duly attested significant professional experience (consult Validation of learning from experience).

The conditions for admission on the basis of a submitted dossier have changed in 2023-2024 compared to 2022-2023. They can be consulted here.

Admission and Enrolment Procedures for general registration

Requests for further information regarding admission to this Master's programme should be addressed to Ms. Fiorella Flamini, Study Adviser (conseiller.etudes-fial@uclouvain.be) of the Faculty of Philosophy, Arts and Letters.

All applications for admission, enrolment or re-enrolment (from a Belgian or international candidate) must be submitted online to the UCLouvain Enrolment Service (SIC): https://uclouvain.be/en/study/inscriptions.

If a Faculty's authorisation or derogation is requested by the UCLouvain Enrolment Service (SIC), the request for authorisation must be submitted to the Faculty of Philosophy, Arts and Letters, in accordance with the procedure described on the page: https://uclouvain.be/fr/facultes/fial/admission-et-inscription.html.