Admission Requirements

Completed Bachelors degree

To prove that you are suitable to take a master's degree at Leuphana University, you are required to hold a Bachelor degree or at least an equivalent qualification. The equivalence of foreign degrees is determined according to the assessment proposals of the Central Office for Foreign Education and assessed by uni-assist in the application procedure. Please also be aware of the exceptions.

Incompleted Bachelors degree

If you have not yet completed your degree at the time of application, you can still apply. To do so, you must prove that you have successfully completed at least 81% of the total required workload in your current course. Depending on the degree programme, 81% applies in relation to the total course credit of 180 Credit Points = 145 Credit Points or 210 Credit Points = 170 Credit Points. Please complete this form as proof of your progress and ask the examination office at your university to verify it.

If the Bachelors degree certificate is not yet available when you apply for a master's programme by the application deadline of June 1st, you must submit it by March 31st of the following year at the end of your first semester. If the proof is not provided in the prescribed time, the preliminary admission will be revoked: At the same time, you will be exmatriculated from the study programme.

If you are completing your Bachelors degree at Leuphana, please submit your Transcript of Records instead of the form.

International Law of Global Security, Peace and Development: For a scholarship, the degree certificate must be available at the time of application in January.

Work and Organizational Psychology: The degree certificate must be received by September in the year in which you are applying.

Scientific Requirements

At Leuphana Graduate School we offer consecutive Masters programmes. This means that you can only apply for a specific programme if your Bachelors degree was in that same discipline and the Masters degree programme builds on and deepens your level of knowledge from your first degree. Previous knowledge of a subject required for a consecutive Masters degree programme is proven by a sufficient number of credit points according to European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) in an identical or related discipline.

On the basis of the list of consecutive subjects, you can get a first impression of whether your first degree is subject-related. Please use this list of subjects and the degree programme profile to independently check whether your previous academic qualifications are sufficient for an application. The selection committee decides on your academic suitability for a Masters degree programme on the basis of your Transcript of Records. The committee meets at the end of the application period.

Please note: An individual assessment of your consecutivity cannot be made in advance. There is no possibility to make up credit points not achieved during the master's programme. The necessary credit points must be available at the time of application.

Does your transcript show no credit points?

If your transcript does not show any credit points, please ask your responsible examination office to provide a document clearly stating what percentage of the total study programme your respective courses accounted for.

Another requirement is proof of sufficient English language skills for all Masters programmes. For German-language programmes, proof of proficiency in German must also be provided. Please also note the exceptions.

If your native language is English, then you do not need to provide proof of English proficiency. All other applicants must provide proof in one of the following ways:

• by passing the internet-based TOEFL test (iBT) with a minimum score of 85 points
• by passing the TOEIC test with a minimum of 785 points in listening and reading
• by passing the TOEIC Listening & Reading test with at least 785 points
• by passing the IELTS (academic or general) 5.5 test
• by passing the Cambridge C1 Advanced (formerly CAE test Cambridge Advanced Certificate of English (Grade C or better)
• by passing modules at a university (at least 30 credit points according to ECTS) with English as the exclusive language of instruction and exams taken in English
• a successfully completed degree in the subject "English"
• School leaving exam of a school with English as the exclusive language of instruction, that qualifies for studying at a university in the respective country

English language proficiency (except for the school certificate) must not be older than 4 years. For programmes in English, proof of English proficiency must be available at the time of application. For programmes in German, the proof can be submitted later until the end of the respective winter semester (31st March).

Please also submit the Proof of English Language Proficiency form for the application together with your certificates.

If you want to prove your English language proficiency via the 30 CP from your university studies and did not complete your Bachelors degree at Leuphana, please fill out this form. Graduates of Leuphana please use this document.

International Economic Law

• ELTS Academic 6.5 test with no section below 6.5
• Internet-based TOEFL test (iBT) with at least 92 points and no section below 22 points, in the spoken English section not below 23 points
• Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) with Grade B or better
• Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE)  with Grade C or better
• PTE Academic with at least 68 points and at least 60 points in the written English section

No certification should be older than four years. Proof of English proficiency should be submitted with the application documents. No comparisons with other certification should be made. Please also hand in the form English language proficiency for IEL below.

International Law of Global Security, Peace and Development

• IELTS Academic 6.5 test with no section below 6.5
• Internet-based TOEFL test (iBT) with at least 79 points; with Reading 19; Listening 20; Speaking 20; Writing 24
• Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) with 176 points and no section less than 169
• Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE) with 176 points and no section less than 169
• PTE Academic with 59 points and with no subtest less than: Listening 59; Reading 60; Speaking 59; Writing 74
• Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English II & III & IV: ISEII Distinction with Distinction in all sub-tests
• Oxford English Test: Oxford ELLT 7, R&L: OIDI level no less than 7 with Reading: 25-26 and Listening: 18-19, W&S: OIDI level no less than 7

Native speakers are exempt from providing proof. The proof of English language skills must not be older than 2 years. To apply for a scholarship, proof of English must be available at the time of application. Please note short-term changes here.

Psychology & Sustainability

• IELTS Academic 6.5 test with no section below 6.0
• Internet-based TOEFL test (iBT) with at least 90 points and no section below 19 points, in the writing section not below 21 points
• Paper-based TOEFL test (PBT) with at least 575 points and no section below 45 points, in the speaking section not below 55 points
• Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) with Grade C or better
• Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE) with Grade C or better
• University of Groningen Language Center Test B2 - speaking, B2 - writing

No certification should be older than two years. Proof of English proficiency should be submitted with the application documents. No comparisons with other certification should be made. Please also hand in the form English language proficiency for P&S below.

Work & Organizational Psychology

You can find the necessary English Proficiency for an application in Work and Organizational Psychology on the website of Maastricht University.

Applicants to these degree programmes who neither have a German school leaving certificate (higher education entrance qualification) nor hold their first degree from a German university must provide proof of sufficient German language skills by the time of application. The proof must not be older than 4 years. Proof of German language proficiency can be provided in one of the following ways:

• DSH 2
• TestDaF 4 *

* Only certificates issued by the TestDaF Institute itself or TestDaF-licensed institutes will be accepted.

The equivalents are the following proofs:

• Holders of a university entrance qualification which was acquired at a German-speaking school in Germany or abroad;
• successful graduates of an assessment test at a German Studienkolleg;
• Applicants who have already successfully completed a German language study programme;
• Holders of the language diploma of the Kultusministerkonferenz Stufe II (DSD II) / (Beschlüsse der KMK vom 16. März 1972 und vom 05. Oktober 1973 in in their respective valid versions);
• holders of the Goethe Certificate C2;
• Applicants who have taken a language examination at another German university or at the International Study Centre Heidelberg or the Ecumenical Study Centre Bochum on the basis of the Framework Regulations for German Language Exams at German Universities.
• Holders of a certificate confirming that they have passed the examination "telc Deutsch C1 Hochschule" or telc Deutsch C2;
• Holders of other certificates that have been recognised by the Kultusministerkonferenz (KMK) and the Hochschulrektorenkonferenz (HRK) as proof of sufficient German language skills for admission to higher education.
• Holders of a certificate of successful completion of the German Language Test for University Admission (DSH) with the overall result DSH-1 or the Goethe-Zertifikat C1 on condition that the proof is provided by the end of the second semester at the latest. This regulation only applies if all other language requirements for admission are fulfilled at the time of application.