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 C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference in French.

In addition, any student must provide proof to have achieved, in the second Romance language (Spanish/Italian), a receptive communicative competence (oral and written) of level B2 and a productive communicative competence (oral and written) of level B2.1 of the Common European Framework of Reference.

To have developed the following skills in the context of their previous academic training:

  • knowledge of French and Romance literature and linguistics (notions, genres, trends, authors, reference theories, etc.);
  • the production of a discourse that adequately and rigorously integrates the vocabulary, notions and concepts specific to each of these disciplines;
  • the mobilization of knowledge acquired in the various fields of the human sciences for the analysis of a literary text and a linguistic corpus;
  • mastery of the standard French language, both orally and in writing, and production of a university-level oral/written discourse in French;
  • the receptive and productive mastery of one of the two Romance languages provided for in the curriculum (Spanish or Italian);

at the end of a bachelor's programme including at least the following 100 specific credits:

  • 15 credits of general training (philosophy, history, arts, language sciences, criticism of sources, etc.);
  • 10 credits of general and comparative linguistics and literature;
  • 55 credits in French language and French literature (history of language and literature, literary analysis, historical linguistics, grammar, Old/Middle French, Belgian literature, etc.) ;
  • 20 credits in Romance languages and literatures (Spanish/Italian).

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.

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 French and Romance Languages and Literatures : General Direct access
Bachelor in Modern Languages and Literatures : General (one Germanic language + French)
Bachelor in Ancient and Modern Languages and Literatures
If students have chosen one of the following minors:
Minor in Spanish Studies
Minor in Italian Studies
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.
Any other bachelor of the Faculty of Philosophy, Arts and LettersIf students have chosen one of the following minors:
Minor in French Studies
Minor in Italian Studies
Minor in Spanish Studies
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.
Others Bachelors of the French speaking Community of Belgium
Bachelor in French and Romance Languages and Literatures: General Direct access
Any other bachelor in languages and literatures 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 of Linguistics and Literature (French + Italian/Latin/Spanish) 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
Foreign bachelor in languages and literatures Access based on application In case of admission, additional training to be determined depending on the student's educational background (consult Access 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 Français et français langue étrangère - crédits supplémentaires entre 45 et 60
BA - AESI orientation Français et morale - crédits supplémentaires entre 45 et 60
BA - AESI orientation Français et religion - 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 langues et littératures romanes 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 French and Romance Languages and Literatures : General 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 60 credits to be exempted.
Master [120] in French and Romance Languages and Literatures : General, second focus Direct access At the end of Master 120, each focus of the Master [120] in French and Romance Languages and Literatures : General can be obtained in a new programme of 30 credits.
Master [120] in French and Romance Languages and Literatures : French as a Foreign Language Access with additional training Programme to be determined depending on the student's educational background (consult Admission and Enrolment Procedures for general registration)
Master [60] in Modern Languages and Literatures : General (one Germanic language + French)
Master [120] in Modern Languages and Literatures : General (one Germanic language + French)
If students have chosen one of the following minors:
Minor in Italian Studies
Minor in Spanish Studies
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.
Master [60] in Ancient and Modern Languages and Literatures
Master [120] in Ancient and Modern Languages and Literatures
If students have chosen one of the following minors:
Minor in Italian Studies
Minor in Spanish Studies
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.

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.