International Bachelor Economics and Business Economics

Where: Rotterdam, Netherlands
Length: 3 years
Taught in: English
Starts: September
Apply by: 15 January 2027
Admission: Limited places

More facts

Length: 3 years
Taught in: English
Starts: September

Deadlines

1 December 2026*

Create your Studielink account

Your own plan
Details
Not an official deadline. With a Dutch address you log in with DigiD, which the government says takes about five days. Without one you upload a scan or photo of your passport or EU identity card and Studielink verifies it automatically. Either way, do it well before 15 January.
Source
15 January 2027, 23:59 CET

Numerus fixus applications close

Hard deadline
Details
Two numerus fixus programmes at most; medicine, dentistry, dental hygiene and physiotherapy allow one application per programme, so not medicine at two universities. Missing this does not cost you the year, but it does cost you every selective programme in it.
Source
1 May 2027, 23:59*

Last day to keep your right to a place (programmes without selection)

Equal consideration
Details
Apply by 1 May and you are entitled to admission to a non-selective programme you qualify for. The government says a first application after 1 May may be refused - the programme can still take you, but does not have to. Some institutions set earlier dates of their own, and theirs is the one that binds.
Studielink closes at 23:59 on 1 May. The government’s rule is what makes it an equal-consideration date: apply by 1 May and you are entitled to admission to a programme you qualify for ("Aanmelding tot en met 1 mei betekent ook recht op toelating"); a first application after 1 May "kan door de opleiding geweigerd worden" - the programme may still take you, but it does not have to. Some programmes close earlier for capacity or matching reasons, and the programme’s own date is the one that binds.
Source

All dates for this programme (2 more)

15 April 2027*

Ranking numbers issued

Details
Selection runs between 15 January and 15 April and every applicant receives a ranking number through Studielink. Indicative: Nuffic’s date, not the government’s.
Source
6 July 2027*

IB results released

Details
Both Dutch deadlines fall well before this. How a conditional place pending results is handled is set by each institution; ask yours.
Source

* Last year’s date, not yet confirmed.

Every date in the Netherlands

What it is

It states its IB entry rule precisely: named IB mathematics courses at named IB grades, with Applications and Interpretation SL ruled out.

Degree and length

Length: 3 years, 180 ECTS
Field: Economics

What you need

And one of these combinations:

Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches HL (min 4)
Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches SL (min 5)
Mathematics: Applications and Interpretation HL (min 5)

And one of these combinations:

English A: Literature HL (min 4)
English A: Language and Literature HL (min 4)
English A: Literature SL (min 5)
English A: Language and Literature SL (min 5)
English B HL (min 5)

Check my subjects against it

Check it on eur.nl

How places are decided

Your grade average, from your penultimate school year Asks for the full IB Diploma.

Requirements in full, and how places are allocated

Which IB award this asks for

This asks for the full IB Diploma. DP Course Results — what the IB awards for individual Diploma Programme subjects where the Diploma itself is not — do not satisfy it on their own.

No route for this programme: Erasmus's test for over-21s does not list it. Ask in writing, and plan on the full Diploma.

How that route works

Erasmus publishes a colloquium doctum and does not publish it for this programme. Under article 7.29 of the Dutch Higher Education Act it admits applicants who are 21 or older before 1 September and hold no qualifying prior education, on the strength of VWO partial certificates — but the twelve programmes it lists are Business Administration, Criminology, Dutch Law, Health Sciences, Liberal Arts & Sciences, Medicine, Pedagogical Sciences, Philosophy, Psychology, Public Administration, Sociology and Tax Law, and the International Bachelor Economics and Business Economics is not among them. Where the route is open it is self-service: Erasmus runs no entrance examinations, so you obtain the VWO subject certificates yourself through the Dutch State Examinations (registration closes 31 December before the year you want to start), OMPT, CCVX or Boswell Beta, register through Studielink by 15 January for a numerus fixus programme and submit the certificates by 1 August — and for the programmes whose requirements are published, the set includes a VWO partial certificate in Dutch at 7.0. Erasmus separately states that foundation year programmes are not accepted for entry to its bachelor's degrees and that homologation of a foreign diploma is not valid for admission. So for this programme, ask the Central Admissions Office in writing whether a colloquium doctum can be opened for it, and plan on retaking to be awarded the full IB Diploma. One further route is national rather than this institution's, and it is the only one that produces the qualification itself instead of an exemption from it: the Dutch staatsexamen vwo. Anyone who registers may sit vwo subjects one at a time with DUO — registration for the 2027 examinations runs from 15 October to 31 December 2026, each subject costs 144 euro with a ceiling of 720 euro a year, and the certificates stay valid for ten years, so the package can be built up and exchanged for a vwo diploma at the end. No age limit applies, which is what makes it different from every colloquium doctum above, and Dutch law lets the College voor Toetsen en Examens grant you ontheffing from individual subjects on the strength of International Baccalaureate results — the one place in Dutch education law where the IB is named. The bill is linguistic: by statute the examinations are sat in Dutch.

Erasmus School of Economics assesses the diploma itself and states that recognition or homologation of a diploma is not a substitute. Nuffic compares the full IB Diploma to a VWO diploma; DP Course Results are compared only to vwo-deelcertificaten. Neither page addresses DP Course Results by name; the requirement is stated as the full IB diploma, and Erasmus states that "Homologation of foreign diplomas is not valid for admission; students are assessed based on the diploma they obtained, not its equivalent" and that foundation year programmes are not accepted for entry to its bachelor's degrees.

What decides who gets in

These do not decide whether you qualify. They decide the order among everyone who does, so not meeting one is not the same as being ineligible.

Your grade average, from your penultimate school year
A weighted lottery for places 351 and beyond

Sources (9)

Entry requirements and admission rules for International Bachelor Economics and Business Economics.

Open this to see the exact page each rule came from, when it was read, and whether a person has checked it.

Erasmus School of Economics — IBEB admission institution

Be aware of the 15 January deadline, since this study programme is a numerus-fixus programme. [...] The information on this website is reviewed on annual basis. No rights can be derived for following academic years. [...] International Baccalaureate — English A HL (4) or English A SL (5) or English B HL (5). Mathematics: Analysis & Approaches HL minimum grade 4 or; Analysis & Approaches SL minimum grade 5 or; Applications & Interpretation HL minimum grade 5. Do you not meet these grades or you chose Application and Interpretation SL? You must submit a valid English and/or mathematics proficiency certificate. [...] For 2026-2027, 700 seats are available. Admission is based on a decentralised selection procedure and a weighted lottery. [...] Current secondary school students: we use the end-of-year grades of your penultimate year. [...] Online ESE curriculum-based activity [...] It is mandatory to participate and judged on a pass/fail basis. [...] Numbers 1-350: best grade average + passed the activity. Numbers 351 and higher: through a weighted lottery — Passed the curriculum-based activity; Your grades (weight 50%); A random score (weight 50%).

IBEB is numerus fixus with 700 seats for 2026-2027. Its IB requirements are published as IB subjects with minimum IB grades: English A HL 4, English A SL 5 or English B HL 5, and Mathematics Analysis and Approaches HL 4, Analysis and Approaches SL 5 or Applications and Interpretation HL 5. Selection ranks the top 350 on grade average and allocates the rest by a lottery weighted half on grades and half at random, after a compulsory pass/fail online activity.

Read 2026-09-23. Applies to the 2027 autumn intake.
Erasmus University Rotterdam — Admission via colloquium doctum institution

If (before September 1 of the relevant academic year) you are 21 years of age or older and do not have a prior education that gives access to a university degree (e.g., HAVO), you may be admitted to a university degree program pursuant to Art. 7.29 of the Higher Education and Scientific Research Act (WHW) if you have successfully completed the required certificates. Partial certificates can be submitted until 1 August […] For selective bachelors (numerus fixus) the deadline is January 15, for all other programs you can register until May 1 at the latest. […] In Studielink, indicate for previous education/preparatory education: colloquium doctum. […] EUR does not have its own CD-tests. You must obtain the required certificates yourself, for example by obtaining vwo certificates through the State Examinations (Staatsexamens) (you can apply for these until December 31 preceding the academic year in which you wish to start). Certificates can also be obtained through OMPT, Central Committees for Examinations CCVX and Boswell Beta […] Dutch: VWO (partial) certificate Dutch with at least a 7.0.

Erasmus publishes a colloquium doctum under article 7.29 WHW for applicants who are 21 or older before 1 September and hold no qualifying prior education. Erasmus runs no examinations of its own: the applicant must obtain VWO partial certificates themselves through the Dutch State Examinations, OMPT, CCVX or Boswell Beta, register through Studielink by 15 January for numerus fixus programmes and 1 May otherwise, and submit the certificates by 1 August. The route is published for twelve named programmes, and neither International Business Administration nor Economics and Business Economics is among them.

Read 2026-09-23. Applies to the 2027 autumn intake.
Wet op het hoger onderwijs en wetenschappelijk onderzoek (WHW), artikel 7.24 — wetten.overheid.nl ministry

Artikel 7.24. Vooropleidingseisen. 1 Onverminderd het derde lid geldt voor de inschrijving voor een opleiding in het wetenschappelijk onderwijs als opleidingseis het bezit van het diploma vwo, bedoeld in artikel 2.58, tweede lid, onderdeel a, of 2.80, tweede lid, onderdeel a, van de Wet voortgezet onderwijs 2020. 2 Onverminderd het derde en het vierde lid geldt voor de inschrijving voor een opleiding in het hoger beroepsonderwijs als vooropleidingseis het bezit van: a. het diploma vwo […] b. het diploma havo […] c. het diploma van een middenkaderopleiding of van een specialistenopleiding als bedoeld in artikel 7.2.2, eerste lid, onder d, onderscheidenlijk e, van de Wet educatie en beroepsonderwijs […]

Dutch law makes possession of a vwo diploma the entry requirement for a bachelor at a research university, and a vwo, havo or mbo-4 diploma the entry requirement for a bachelor at a hogeschool. What the article requires is a diploma; no partial or modular certificate appears in it.

Read 2026-09-23. Applies to the 2027 autumn intake.
Wet op het hoger onderwijs en wetenschappelijk onderzoek (WHW), artikel 7.29 — wetten.overheid.nl ministry

Artikel 7.29. Vrijstelling op grond van toelatingsonderzoek. 1 Het instellingsbestuur kan personen van eenentwintig jaar en ouder die niet voldoen aan de in artikel 7.24, eerste onderscheidenlijk tweede lid, bedoelde vooropleidingseis noch daarvan krachtens artikel 7.28 zijn vrijgesteld, van die vooropleidingseis vrijstellen, indien zij bij een onderzoek door een door het instellingsbestuur in te stellen commissie hebben blijk gegeven van geschiktheid voor het desbetreffende onderwijs en van voldoende beheersing van de Nederlandse taal […] 2 De bij het onderzoek te stellen eisen worden opgenomen in de onderwijs- en examenregeling. 3 Het instellingsbestuur kan ten aanzien van een bezitter van een buiten Nederland afgegeven diploma dat in het eigen land toegang geeft tot een opleiding aan een instelling voor hoger onderwijs, afwijken van de in het eerste lid genoemde leeftijdsgrens. Van die leeftijdsgrens kan het instellingsbestuur ook afwijken, indien in bijzondere gevallen geen diploma kan worden overgelegd.

An institution may exempt an applicant of 21 or over who holds neither the required diploma nor a statutory exemption, if a committee it appoints finds them suited to the programme and sufficiently proficient in Dutch. The requirements are set in the institution's own teaching and examination regulations. The age limit may be waived for the holder of a foreign diploma that gives access to higher education in its own country, in special cases where no diploma can be produced, and for art programmes.

Read 2026-09-23. Applies to the 2027 autumn intake.
Nuffic (Dutch ENIC-NARIC) qualification body

When students do not meet the requirements for a Diploma of the International Baccalaureate, they receive a DP Course result. We compare a DP Course result with VWO modular certificates (vwo-deelcertificaten) for the subjects with a pass. […] We compare a Diploma of the International Baccalaureate with a VWO diploma.

Nuffic states what a DP Course result is — what the IB awards when a student does not meet the requirements for the Diploma — and compares it to vwo-deelcertificaten for the subjects passed, against a full IB Diploma which it compares to a vwo diploma.

Read 2026-09-23. Applies to the 2027 autumn intake.
DUO (Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs) — Staatsexamen vo, aanmelden en kosten national agency

U kunt zich vanaf 15 oktober tot en met 31 december 2026 aanmelden voor de staatsexamens in 2027. Wijzigingen voor bestaande aanmeldingen kunt u tot en met 31 januari 2027 doorgeven. […] U mag zich aanmelden voor de vakken die u nodig hebt om een diploma of certificaat binnen uw profiel te halen, met maximaal 1 extra vak. […] Deelnemen aan het staatsexamen kost € 144,- per vak. Een vak met alleen een college-examen kost € 71,-. U betaalt maximaal € 720,- per examenjaar.

Anyone can register with DUO to sit Dutch state examinations subject by subject. For the 2027 examinations registration runs from 15 October to 31 December 2026, with changes accepted until 31 January 2027. Each subject costs 144 euro, or 71 euro where it has only a college examination, capped at 720 euro per examination year. No age condition is published.

Read 2026-09-23. Applies to the 2027 autumn intake.
Wet voortgezet onderwijs 2020, artikelen 2.72 en 2.74 — wetten.overheid.nl ministry

Artikel 2.72. Staatsexamens en deelstaatsexamens. 1 Het College voor toetsen en examens geeft degenen die zich daarvoor hebben aangemeld, en, indien van toepassing, voldoen aan de bij of krachtens algemene maatregel van bestuur te stellen regels voor toelating tot het staatsexamen, jaarlijks de gelegenheid om een staatsexamen vwo, havo of vmbo of een daarvan onderdeel uitmakend deelstaatsexamen af te leggen. […] Artikel 2.74. Afnametaal bij toetsen en examens. 1 De toetsen en examens als onderdeel van het staatsexamen of deelstaatsexamen worden afgenomen in het Nederlands. 2 Bij het afnemen van de toetsen en examens kan een andere taal dan het Nederlands worden gebruikt als: a. de toetsen en examens betrekking hebben op die andere taal; b. dat noodzakelijk is vanwege de specifieke aard, de inrichting of de kwaliteit van het onderwijs; of c. dat noodzakelijk is vanwege de herkomst van de kandidaten.

The College voor Toetsen en Examens must give anyone who registers the annual opportunity to sit a state examination or a partial state examination for vwo, havo or vmbo, and those examinations are sat in Dutch, with other languages allowed only where the examination is about that language or where the nature of the teaching or the origin of the candidates makes it necessary.

Read 2026-09-23. Applies to the 2027 autumn intake.
Uitvoeringsbesluit WVO 2020, artikel 4.8 — wetten.overheid.nl ministry

Artikel 4.8. Ontheffing staatsexamen wegens eerder gevolgd onderwijs. 1 Het college kan op aanvraag van de examenkandidaat voor het staatsexamen ontheffing verlenen voor een vak, indien de examenkandidaat op grond van eerder gevolgd onderwijs aantoonbaar in het bezit is van voldoende kennis en vaardigheden over dat vak. 2 De ontheffing, bedoeld in het eerste lid, kan worden verleend op basis van een diploma, getuigschrift, certificaat of ander bewijsstuk, al dan niet behaald in Nederland, dat door het college wordt aanvaard als bewijs van voldoende kennis en vaardigheden. […] 3 Het tweede lid is van toepassing indien na het jaar waarin het diploma, getuigschrift, certificaat of ander bewijsstuk is vastgesteld, nog geen tien jaar zijn verstreken. 4 Tot het diploma, getuigschrift, certificaat en ander bewijsstuk, bedoeld in het tweede lid, behoren in elk geval die van het Internationaal Baccalaureaat, het Europees Baccalaureaat en die van het overeenkomstige onderwijs in een lidstaat van de Europese Unie.

The College voor Toetsen en Examens may, on application, exempt a state examination candidate from a subject where earlier education demonstrably gave them sufficient knowledge and skills in it, on the basis of a diploma, certificate or other document less than ten years old — and the documents that count include, in any event, those of the International Baccalaureate.

Read 2026-09-23. Applies to the 2027 autumn intake.
Regeling aanmelding en toelating hoger onderwijs (RATHO), artikel 1.4 — wetten.overheid.nl ministry

Artikel 1.4. Gelijkwaardig diploma. De volgende diploma's zijn tenminste gelijkwaardig als bedoeld in artikel 7.28, tweede lid, van de wet aan een diploma als bedoeld in artikel 7.24 van de wet: a. het schooldiploma als bedoeld in artikel 24, eerste lid, onderdeel a, van het Besluit Saba Comprehensive School en Gwendoline van Puttenschool BES voor wat betreft de toelating tot het wetenschappelijk onderwijs; b. […] voor wat betreft de toelating tot het hoger beroepsonderwijs; c. het diploma behaald in Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten of Suriname […]; d. het diploma van het Europees baccalaureaat van de Europese school […] voor zover dat diploma het vak Nederlands als eerste of tweede taal omvat.

The ministerial regulation that designates diplomas as at least equivalent to the vwo diploma, which institutions are obliged to accept under article 7.28 lid 2 WHW, lists only four: two BES school diplomas, a diploma from Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten or Suriname, and the European Baccalaureate where it includes Dutch as a first or second language. The International Baccalaureate is not on the list in any form.

Read 2026-09-23. Applies to the 2027 autumn intake.

None of these sources has been checked by a person yet.

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