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University of Twente · Netherlands

Creative Technology

Technology approached from the making end: interaction design, electronics, prototyping and software, built around a workshop culture rather than a lecture hall.

EmilioEsc07 · CC BY 4.0

Where: Enschede, Netherlands
Length: 3 years
Taught in: English
Starts: September
Apply by: 15 January 2027
Admission: Open to all who qualify

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 asks for no particular IB subject, so it is open to a student who did not take HL sciences and still wants to build things.

Degree and length

Length: 3 years, 180 ECTS
Field: Design and architecture

What you need

And one of these combinations:

English A: Literature SL (min 4)
English A: Language and Literature SL (min 4)
English B SL (min 6)
English B HL (min 5)

Check my subjects against it

Check it on utwente.nl

How places are decided

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.

From 21: Twente's colloquium doctum, with vwo-level subject certificates before the deadline. At 18, only the full Diploma reaches it.

How that route works

It does not close this one to you, and Twente publishes the alternative in more detail than any other Dutch institution here. Twente names IB certificates once, and only "in combination with another high school diploma", so Course Results standing alone are not directly admissible. What it publishes instead is the Colloquium Doctum (toelatingsonderzoek), which it runs under articles 7.25, 7.28 and 7.29 of the Dutch Higher Education Act. You must be at least 21 on 1 September of the year you start. Applications open on 1 October through Studielink like anybody else's: you file a normal enrolment request before the programme's deadline, then complete the Osiris questionnaire, upload whatever diplomas you do hold and a blank PDF stating that you are applying via a full Colloquium Doctum. You then have to pass the VWO-level subjects Twente lists for this programme — VWO English and VWO Mathematics A, B or C — with certificates from CCVX, James Boswell or the Dutch Official State Examination, all before that programme's deadline. There is no blanket Dutch-language requirement: VWO Dutch appears in Twente's table only against its Dutch-taught programmes, and not against this one. Twente also publishes two slower routes: an hbo propedeuse, the first 60 ECTS of a bachelor at a Dutch university of applied sciences, NVAO-accredited and relevant to the programme, which it says does not guarantee admission; and a foundation year, accepted only where the resulting qualification is nationally accredited in the country it was taken in, assessed case by case. All of these wait for your 21st birthday. Retaking to be awarded the full IB Diploma is the route that reaches this at eighteen. 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.

No minimum total is published. Twente states that the IB Career-related Certificate is not directly admissible, though it invites a case-by-case application from anyone holding a further qualification alongside it. On Course Results specifically, Twente says only that IB certificates may be admitted "in combination with another high school diploma", which is a student who already holds a qualifying school-leaving qualification — not a Course candidate holding IB subjects and nothing else. Twente also states the general rule that "a certificate or diploma must be awarded upon completion".

Sources (11)

Entry requirements and admission rules for Creative Technology.

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

University of Twente — BSc Creative Technology, admission requirements institution

You are admissible if you have an international secondary school diploma equivalent to the Dutch VWO-diploma: good A-level results or International Baccalaureate. [...] As the programme is entirely English-taught, you have to meet the English language requirement.

Creative Technology requires an international secondary school diploma equivalent to the Dutch VWO diploma and names no subject requirement at all.

Read 2026-09-23. Applies to the 2027 autumn intake.
University of Twente — International Baccalaureate admission requirements institution

With the International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma, you will probably be admissible to a bachelor's programme at the University of Twente. This depends on the subjects and their corresponding levels you have achieved. [...] In general, there is no minimum IB grade requirement. [...] The 'Career-related Certificate of the International Baccalaureate' is not directly admissible to the University of Twente. [...] These admission requirements are valid for the September 2026 intake. The requirements are announced in October for the following September intake moment. The University of Twente therefore cannot provide any information regarding admission requirements for future intake moments that are not yet open for applications. [...] English Language A: Literature – Standard Level or Higher Level - Grade ≥ 4; English Language A: Language and Literature – Standard Level or Higher Level - Grade ≥ 4; English Language B – Standard Level - Grade ≥ 6; English Language B – Higher Level - Grade ≥ 5. [...] A high score in a Standard Level (SL) subject cannot replace the same subject at Higher Level (HL) when the subject on HL is required for admission.

Twente admits on a full IB Diploma with no minimum total, publishes its English and Dutch language rules as named IB subjects with minimum IB grades, refuses the IB Career-related Certificate as a direct route, and states that a high SL grade cannot substitute for a required HL subject.

Read 2026-09-23. Applies to the 2027 autumn intake.
University of Twente — Colloquium Doctum institution

The Colloquium Doctum is for students aged 21 or over who do not have Dutch VWO-level qualifications. You must be at least 21 years old on 1 September of the academic year you wish to start. […] The Colloquium Doctum is regulated under the Dutch Higher Education and Research Act (WHW), Articles 7.25, 7.28, and 7.29. […] Applications open on 1 October via Studielink. You should submit a standard enrolment request before the application deadline. […] complete the Osiris questionnaire […] Please upload any diplomas you have already obtained, and also a blank PDF stating that you are applying for admission via a full Colloquium Doctum. Any alternative exams required for the Colloquium Doctum must be completed before the deadlines that apply to your chosen programme. […] For other subjects—Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology—the University of Twente accepts certificates from CCVX, James Boswell, or the Official State Examination. […] Advanced Technology: VWO English, VWO Mathematics B, VWO Physics. Creative Technology: VWO English, VWO Mathematics A, B or C. Technical Computer Science: VWO English, VWO Mathematics B.

Twente publishes its colloquium doctum in full: it is for applicants aged 21 or over on 1 September of the academic year they wish to start who do not hold Dutch VWO-level qualifications, applications open on 1 October through Studielink, and it publishes the VWO subjects examined for each bachelor programme and the bodies whose certificates it accepts — CCVX, James Boswell and the Dutch Official State Examination.

Read 2026-09-23. Applies to the 2027 autumn intake.
University of Twente — Admission with the International Baccalaureate institution

A successfully completed International Baccalaureate diploma is required before the start of the academic year. In general, there is no minimum IB grade requirement. […] If you will be (conditionally) admitted based upon IB certificates in combination with another high school diploma, the possible grade requirement will be mentioned within your (conditional) admission letter.

Twente requires a successfully completed IB Diploma before the start of the academic year, and mentions IB certificates only as something it may admit on in combination with another high school diploma.

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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