Apply for an English-taught premaster programme

For more information about our premaster programme, check out the Sint Lucas Antwerpen website.

Admission requirements

To apply for our international premaster’s programme, you will need:

  • A professional bachelor degree (HBO bachelor in the Netherlands) in visual arts or academic bachelor’s degree (WO bachelor in the Netherlands) in non visual art (with additional visual artistic qualifications). 
  • Language certificate CEFR level B2 English or higher (CRFR: Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).
  • An artistic portfolio for the intake interview

Go to supporting documents to check the full details.

Tuition fee

Our tuition fee for a full-year programme (58 credits) in the 2025-2026 academic year for premaster is:

  • 7329 euro for non-EEA nationals
    • 1505,80 euro – fixed
    • 100,40 euro – variable (per credit)
  • 1128,40 euro for EEA nationals
    • 299 euro – fixed
    • 14,30 euro – variable (per credit)

The tuition fee is to be paid annually. Please note that the non-EEA tuition fee needs to be paid in full before 27/06/2025 12:00 CET. Supplementary flat-rate and programme-related costs are not included.

EEA or non-EEA?

  • European Economic Area: including all 27 EU-member states + Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway 
  • Belgian students are EEA students and follow this procedure. 

Scholarships

KdG offers no scholarships or grants.

Application Due dates

Academic year 2025-26: Admissions will open in January 2025. During your registration, you will choose between the five different contexts organised by the programme. You may only have one interview per academic year. Due to the capacity of our facilities, there is only space for a limited number of students per context.

The last moment in September will be opened if organizationally feasible.

Admission test Premaster 
Candidate students from outside the EEA are strongly advised to take part in the artistic admission test in March or June 2024. Candidate students from outside the EEA must submit their application for a student visa as soon as possible after they have passed the artistic entrance exam. This will allow them to obtain the necessary visa in time to attend classes at the start of the academic year 2025-2026.

  • 13 March 2025 – For all students
    • Due date for registration: 27 February
    • Due date for handing in assignments: 9 March
  • 27 June 2025 – Only for students who do not require a visa
    • Due date for registration: 17 June
    • Due date for handing in assignments: 24 June
  • 5 September 2025 -  Only students who do not require a visa. Registrations open from 1 July 2025, if organizationally feasible.
    • Due date for registration: 25 August
    • Due date for handing in assignments: 1 September

Application procedure

Here’s the information we need to process your application.

As soon as we have received all of the above, your application is complete and we will check whether you meet the admission requirements.

If you meet the admission requirements, you will be invited for the admission test. We ask you to send us your artistic portfolio and assignment before the start of the interview.

After this test you will receive feedback regarding your application and enrolment. The result of the test is valid until the academic year 2026-27.

Application fee

We require a non-refundable application fee payable during your online application.

  • Cost: 136,50 euro (excluding bank costs). This fee is deducted from your tuition fee if you are accepted onto the programme.
  • Have a regular Belgian or Dutch diploma? Then the fee is refundable if you are not accepted or enrolled in the programme.
  • Do you fulfil all the admission requirements and you’ve received a negative test result? Then the fee is also refundable.

Supporting documents

You need to upload the following supporting documents:

Education certificate

  • We require a certified copy of the original diploma in the original language.
  • Upload bachelor certificates in English, Dutch, French or German only. Certificates in other languages need translating first by a SWORN translator before submission.
  • As a rule we accept certificates that grant access to a comparable higher education degree programme in the country it was awarded. Every admission file, however, is assessed on its own merit.
  • You can apply before you have received your bachelor certificate, provided that:
    • You are a student in the final year of your bachelor study program, expecting to graduate by the end of June this year.
    • As part of your online application, you submit a statement of your expected qualifications, provided by your school.
    • You do send a copy of the final certificate before the start of the academic year. Without this you won’t be able to start.

We carefully validate all required documents. If a document submitted is found to be fraudulent, your application will be rejected.

Conditional acceptance

  • If you do apply before you have received your final bachelor certificate, and your application is accepted, you will receive a conditional acceptance and an invitation to pay your first year’s tuition fee.
  • This will allow you to proceed without delay with your application and arrangements to join KdG on time.

English language requirements and certification

We require CEFR level B2 English or higher for our English-taught premaster programme. You must provide proof of your English proficiency and you will need to provide a test certificate unless you meet one of the exemptions listed below.

Do you hold a Belgian diploma? Note that these diplomas are not considered as sufficient proof of English proficiency. You will need to provide additional certification of your level of English.

If you have a learning disability or impairment such as dyslexia that can affect your language test arrangements, contact admission@kdg.be. We'll be happy to explain how the language testing companies can accommodate you.

Proof of English language proficiency

We accept the following as proof of your language proficiency:

English language test certificate
Achieved the required scores in one of the language tests listed below within the last two years:

  • Duolingo English test
    Minimum overall score: 115, minimum sub scores: 100
  • Cambridge English Qualifications
    Minimum overall score: 168, minimum sub scores: 161
  • IELTS (& IELTS Online)
    Minimum overall score: 6.0, minimum sub scores: 5.5
  • ITACE
    Minimum overall score: B2, minimum sub scores: B2
  • TOEFL-iBT
    Minimum overall score: 78, minimum sub scores: 18. Use our code B712 to speed up the process

KdG proof of course credit

  • You previously earned a KdG proof of course credit for English B2 or higher.

International Baccalaureate Diploma

  • Achieved a score of five or higher in your International Baccalaureate Diploma for English A or English B

Exemptions to providing test certification.
To be exempt from providing a language test certificate, you need to meet one of the following requirements:

  • Exemption category 1

You can provide official confirmation from your secondary school or university that you have:

  • Studied in the USA, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand or one of Canada’s English-speaking provinces and obtained (or will obtain) a secondary school diploma with at least two years’ schooling there.
  • Or completed two years at a higher education institute there

 

  • Exemption category 2

You can provide official confirmation from your secondary school or university that you have:

  • Studied at a secondary school or higher education institute where English was the only language of instruction and you completed two years or more of full-time secondary education there.

Under this category you will be registered for a KdG Skype language test during your application. The test includes a written task. Please note that the language test can only be arranged during the period January – July. Note that we carefully validate all required documents. If a document submitted is found to be fraudulent, your application will be rejected.

  • KdG language screening session

    KdG offers free on-campus language screening sessions to check your level of English. These consist of a test on reading comprehension, listening comprehension and vocabulary, and a speaking and writing assessment with an examiner.

    • You must obtain a CEFR level of B2 or higher for all parts to be eligible for a place on our English-taught degree programmes.
    • These tests will take place in Antwerp (Campus Groenplaats) 
    • Reservations are mandatory.
    • You may only attend one on-campus screening session. If you do not obtain the required grade, you will need to take one of the alternative language tests referred to above.
    • Bring your own laptop and a headset to complete the online part of the test.
    • Choose an on-campus language test date (note that all times are CEST and more test dates will be published here in due course):
      • Tuesday, 25th of March – 17:00
      • Tuesday, 6th of May – 17:00
      • Monday, 26th of May – 17:00
      • Wednesday, 25th of June – 14:00
Yes, I'll book my on-campus language test now

Applying from China?

  • All students with a Chinese degree are obliged to obtain an APS certificate of academic screening.
  • An APS certificate is also a condition for obtaining a student visa to study in Belgium.
  • Chinese applicants should add the APS certificate to their application. Start the process yourself before applying to KdG by contacting info@aps.org.cn
  • The APS screening is not an academic selection procedure but is to avoid document fraud and to guarantee a sufficient language knowledge.

Acceptance & Payment Instructions

We will contact you by email to confirm the outcome of your application.

Some students may receive a conditional acceptance – subject to them submitting their bachelor degree certificate by the beginning of September.

Please note that the non-EEA tuition fee needs to be paid in full before 27/06/2025 12:00 CET.

Artistic portfolio

The portfolio is reviewed after the diploma and language check and is also the starting point for the online admission interview.

Portfolio & points of attention

  • There are different kinds of portfolios, ranging from a website to a digital portfolio (in pdf format for example).

  • Motivate your vision, make sure that your personal vision on what you do and want you want do in the future gets a place in your portfolio.

  • Make the most of your strengths. If you focus on a niche or a very specific domain within your design or art practice, then this is definitely something to emphasise.

  • It is always better to have five good projects in your portfolio than fifteen mediocre ones. So be critical about what you include in your portfolio.

  • Make sure you develop a number of your projects in your portfolio into cases, where the whole process is explained. You go through the different phases of the process, from the challenge to the result. This can go from the first sketch, further elaborated proposals and a prototype to the finished product or work of art.

Visual diary: PechaKucha and motivation

Create a visual diary according to the PechaKucha format: 20 images with each image displayed for 20 seconds. In these 20 images you offer a presentation of your own work and research. This consists of documentation of already created works and relevant references.

In addition, you will prepare a verbal presentation that you will give during the online conversation while playing the PechaKucha slideshow. In this presentation you will motivate your choice for your Premaster course and pay attention to the artistic path you have taken up to now, indicate where you are now and look to the future.

Visual diary: alternative form

Because we believe in the Premasters that no specific form of presentation should be mandatory, it is also possible to choose an alternative form of the visual diary. The principle remains the same: you offer a presentation of your own work and research. The condition is that you formulate a proposal for an alternative form of presentation and that you can sufficiently motivate this. (Please note: we reserve a maximum of 7 minutes for this form of presentation).

Start your application now

For more information about our premaster programme, check out the Sint Lucas Antwerpen website.