ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS AND SELECTION PROCEDURE

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

A limited number of students will be admitted to the programme through a competitive selection procedure. The entry requirements are:

Your previous education must satisfy the requirements listed in the previous education section
It is highly valued during the selection process if your previous study programme included at least 15 ECTS in tax law, or if you have acquired relevant competencies through work experience in tax law (see ‘Tax law’ below);
You must have obtained a minimum standard in English language proficiency – see for more information the UvA website
You must be willing to participate actively in the classroom; and
You must have an open mind towards different cultures.

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It is possible to apply while finishing a previous degree or English-language proficiency test, in which case acceptance to the programme is conditional on satisfactorily completing the previous degree and/or proficiency test. We will need these documents before the deadline stated in step 1. Please take into consideration that the English language proficiency tests often get booked up months in advance and the results take more than two weeks to be published.

Note applicants with Dutch nationality must submit the same documents as all other applicants; they cannot register for this programme through the simplified procedure for Dutch nationals.

Previous Education

The candidate must satisfy one of the following sets of requirements:

Have completed a university degree in law that is the equivalent of a master’s degree in the Netherlands. An initial master’s degree from a university that follows the European BA-MA system is equivalent. Degrees from universities that do not follow the European BA-MA system must require a study of at least four years in order to be equivalent; if you are not sure whether your degree is the equivalent of a Dutch master’s degree, please consult us.
Have completed a university degree in law at bachelor level and be admissible to a traditional legal profession such as advocate, attorney, barrister, judge, notary, solicitor, etc.
Have completed an (advanced) Master’s degree from a technical college in a strongly related discipline, namely tax law, fiscal economics, or accountancy. An initial master’s degree from a university that follows the European BA-MA system is equivalent to a Dutch master’s degree. Degrees from universities that do not follow the European BA-MA system must require a study of at least four years in order to be equivalent; if you are not sure whether your degree is the equivalent of a Dutch master’s degree, please consult us.

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Have completed a Master’s degree from a research university (Dutch: WO) in any discipline, who has obtained at least 30 EC of law courses during university education. An initial master’s degree from a university that follows the European BA-MA system is equivalent to a Dutch master’s degree. Degrees from universities that do not follow the European BA-MA system must require a study of at least four years in order to be equivalent; if you are not sure whether your degree is the equivalent of a Dutch master’s degree, please consult us. In some cases it may be possible to substitute work experience of three years or more for the 30 ECTS in law; if you wish to use this possibility, please mail us in advance to inquire about it. For more information about the ECTS system, see below under the heading “ECTS”.
Have completed a professional accountancy qualification.

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Note Tertiary education at a technical college is not sufficient in any category. The name of the tertiary education institution is not determinative; in each case the University of Amsterdam makes its own assessment of the academic level of the institution and the degree obtained. If you have any questions in this respect, we will be happy to provide you with our assessment of your degree. Please be specific about your degree course and education institution in your email.

Note In respect of all these requirements there may be specific considerations in specific countries, for example in respect of admission to a traditional legal profession. If you are not sure whether you satisfy the entry requirements, please consult us in advance with details of your education and qualifications and we will be happy to advise on your admissibility to this programme.

Note The Admissions Board can set additional requirements to compensate for insufficient prior knowledge. If a required course of the Master’s programme was the subject of a prior examination, the Examinations Board can determine which courses shall replace it.

Tax law

It is valuable to have some prior knowledge of tax law, obtained either through university study or work experience. This study or work experience can be in either domestic or international tax law. This helps students entering this programme to have a good understanding of the content of the programme and give them the opportunity to share their knowledge in the field with their fellow students.

Work experience

Applicants who did not obtain 15 ECTS in tax law subjects during their studies nor have work experience in tax law, will also be considered, provided that they can show a genuine interest in the topic.

Please note that it does add value to your application file if you do have work experience in tax law. We recommend you to submit a description of your (work) experience explaining your responsibilities related to tax law or a supporting letter from your employer in this respect (which may be one of the two letters of reference that are required in support of your application).

ECTS

ECTS refer to the European system of study points that is used in European universities to denote the study load of individual courses. 60 ECTS measure the workload of an average full-time student during one academic year. Based on an academic year of 36-40 weeks, one ECTS represents 25-30 hours of study (classes and own study combined). Further information about this system is available on the website of the European Commission.

English language proficiency

The Amsterdam Law School accepts the following tests and test results:

TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) – The minimum required TOEFL score is 100 iBT, with a minimum score of 24 for each subscore. When sending TOEFL results, please use our institutional code: 9011. Otherwise we cannot check your test scores online.
IELTS (International English Language Testing System) – The minimum required overall IELTS score is 7.0, with a minimum score of 6.0 for each individual component.
Cambridge English Language Assessment: minimum score 183. A Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) certificate (minimum grade B) or Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE) certificate (minimum grade C).

Please note:

The Amsterdam Law School only accepts English-language proficiency test results that are no more than two years old at the time of the start of the programme.
Chinese applicants will need to submit an IELTS or TOEFL iBT test score and request a Nuffic certificate.

The following students are exempted from the above-mentioned test requirements:

Students who have received their prior education in one of the following English-speaking countries: Australia, Canada (except Quebec), Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States.
Students who have completed an English-language study programme (at the Bachelor’s level or higher).
Students in possession of an international or European Baccalaureate diploma (with English as the language of instruction).
Dutch students who received their prior education in the Netherlands.

APPLICATION AND ADMISSION PROCEDURE

Early admissions

Prospective students have the possibility to apply for an early admission procedure and be admitted by the end of February 2022. The deadline for application for the early admission procedure is the 1st of January 2022. Considering the numerous applications received each year and the limited number of students allowed to enrol, sending the application for an early admission would be a great opportunity to be accepted to the LLM without going through the screening procedure when the largest number of applications has been received.

In order to secure the effective participation of prospective students to the LLM, early applicants are required to pay a fee of € 1,000 after their acceptance to the programme has been confirmed by the UvA (late February). This amount will then be deducted from the LLM tuition fee, but will not be reimbursed if the student decides not to follow the LLM.

Application process

Before you can apply to the UvA, you will need to submit an enrolment application in , the national online system for students who would like to pursue a degree programme at a Dutch university.
Once you have registered in Studielink, you will also receive an email within 24 hours from Studielink with a link to the UvA online application system, which is where you submit your application to the University of Amsterdam.
For more information, please check the admissions and application information page of this Advanced LLM.

Supporting documents

In addition to completing the web form, please send in the following documents:

Curriculum vitae;
Motivational letter;
Certified copy of university transcript including grades;
Certified copy of university diploma;
If appropriate: evidence that your university education is equivalent to the ECTS standards set out in the list of entry requirements;
If appropriate: evidence that you have work experience in tax law at a sufficiently conceptual level;
Official copy of your TOEFL/IELTS/CPE/CAE score;
Two letters of reference;

If you are selected we request you to send certified copies of your qualifying degree and transcript to:

Amsterdam Law School – Admissions Office (room A6.01a)
P.O. Box 1030
1000 BA Amsterdam
The Netherlands

Or, if sent by registered post:

Amsterdam Law School – Admissions Office (room A6.01a)
Valckenierstraat 59
1018 XE Amsterdam
The Netherlands

Note The same selection procedure applies to all applicants for this programme, regardless of their nationality. For successful applicants, the immigration formalities that have to be completed after their acceptance on the programme depend on their nationality.

Application fee

Applicants with a non-EEA nationality are charged an application fee of € 100 to be paid before the application deadline. The fee is reimbursed to students who subsequently enrol successfully at the Amsterdam Law School.

The fee should be transferred to the following account:
Deutsche Bank
Account no. 50.90.95.402
Faculty of Law
Amsterdam Law School
1000 BA Amsterdam
IBAN no: NL69DEUT0509095402
BIC/SWIFT code: DEUTNL2N

Applications are not reviewed until all required application materials and the application fee have been received.

Important note Successful applicants who do not have the nationality of an EU country are advised to submit the paperwork for the immigration formalities as soon as possible after their acceptance in order to ensure that they receive their entry visa on time.

Once you have been admitted to a Master’s programme at the Amsterdam Law School, you will receive an email from the UvA Student Services Department detailing how to complete your registration and, where applicable, how to apply for a visa or residence permit. At this point, you will also receive a student ID number (UvAnetID), needed for payment. You should expect this email in May after your acceptance.

Course overview

A course overview per semester (with course descriptions) is available in the digital course catalogue of the Amsterdam Law School.
Click here

ADMISSIONS TIMETABLE 2021-2022

Deadline/date 1 November 2021
Event Application procedure opens

Deadline/date 1 January 2022
Event Final date for submission of application (application form and all supporting documents and payment of administrative fee) for early acceptance

Deadline/date End of February 2022
Event Applicants for early admission informed whether they have been selected. Those not selected will remain in the admission pool for the second acceptance round in May

Deadline/date 1 April 2022
Event Final date for submission of application and all supporting documents and payment of administrative fee for non-EU, Switzerland and EEA applicants

Deadline/date April 2022
Event In some cases interview held by Skype or telephone

Deadline/date 1 May 2022
Event Final date for submission of application form and all supporting documents for EU, Switzerland and EEA applicants

Deadline/date 1 June 2022
Event Applicants informed whether they have been selected and whether they have been awarded a scholarship

Deadline/date Last week of August 2022
Event UvA student introduction week

Deadline/date Beginning of September 2022
Event Start of first semester