Contribute to optimal physical functioning in sports and health
Check whether you meet the admission requirements and find out how to apply.
Entry requirements
In order to gain admission to the Master’s programme Human Movement Sciences, you need to have a relevant WO (academic) Bachelor’s degree and basic knowledge of Anatomy, Physiology and Psychology at the level of "Introductory textbooks". In addition, sufficient research skills and knowledge of Mathematics and Physics are required. Because the master's programme is taught in English, you also need a good command of English as a working language.
Please consult the list of admission criteria.
Direct admission
You can be admitted directly to the master's programme, if you have one of the following WO bachelor's degrees:
Direct admission requiring review by the Admission board
If you don’t hold one of the Bachelor’s degrees listed above, but you are confident that you meet all the admission criteria, the Admission board of the department of Human Movement Sciences will decide whether you are indeed directly admissible.
Background in mathematics
Although mathematics (Wiskunde B) is not a formal entry requirement, it is expected that your basic knowledge of mathematics is sufficient. If you are not sure about this, or suspect that your knowledge may be insufficient, we strongly advise you to get additional mathematical training before entering the programme.
Application with a Dutch degree
Step 1: Register in Studielink
Apply for the Master’s programme Human Movement Sciences. You will receive login details with which you can complete your registration in your dashboard on VU.nl. A registration does not commit you to anything and can be cancelled free of charge until 1 September.
Step 2: submit a request to evaluate your eligibility
- Application form
- Motivation letter. Please use the format in the Application file.
- Description of courses that are relevant for Human Movement Sciences. Please use the Course
descriptions form in the Application file.
- List of courses of your completed Bachelor’s programme, including grades and credits (ECTS).
You can insert this in your application file or you can upload this as a separate document on your
dashboard.
You can upload the Application file as 'diploma' on your dashboard on VU.nl. Upload all your documents as one joint PDF-file.
The deadlines for application:
The Master’s programme in Human Movement Sciences is open to both Dutch and international students. The Faculty’s Admission Board will decide upon your admission after having evaluated your complete online application.
In order to gain admission to the Master’s programme Human Movement Sciences, you need to have at least a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited research university including at least three full years of academic study amounting to a minimum of 180 EC or equivalent.
Your Bachelor’s programme should include basic knowledge of Anatomy, Physiology and Psychology at the level of "Introductory textbooks". You also should have obtained sufficient research skills and knowledge of Mathematics and Physics. Please consult the list of admission criteria for a more detailed description of the required knowledge before starting applying for this master’s programme.
What if you do not meet all admission criteria?
If you do not meet the admission criteria, the Admission board may decide that you are admissible after you have eliminated your deficiencies. These deficiencies depend on your educational background. If you do not meet the admission criteria, you will receive a list of online courses you will be asked to attend and pass in order to eliminate the deficiencies. We recommend to start the courses prior to 1 April if you intend to start in September. Furthermore, if you are unsure about your eligibility to our programme, we recommend applying before 1 March in order to leave sufficient time for the admission process and the deficiency programme.
Please be aware that the online programme is challenging and only 20% of the participants successfully pass the exams. The costs of the online courses are €204,- per course and are non-refundable. The online courses particularly focus on research methods that are commonly used in the field of Human Movement Sciences, like mathematics, programming, biomechanics, statistics and measuring movement, and correspond to the “Requirements Methodological Knowledge” section in our list of admission criteria.
If you are applying for one of our English-taught Master's degree programmes you will have to demonstrate sufficient English language proficiency by submitting English test results.
Although complete applications are preferred, you can begin your application before you have completed the test and then submit your passing score once you have been conditionally admitted.
You can find an overview of all accepted tests and scores that can be used to demonstrate your English language proficiency on the language requirement page.
Please download your Master application file to check which documents are required for this programme.
To apply you are required to provide the following documents:
After having prepared the required documents, please follow the online application procedure.
All students seeking admission to an international Master’s programme with an international degree are required to pay a non-refundable €100 application fee. Only after you have paid this fee will we be able to start the evaluation of your application file. If you are applying for more than one programme, you will only need to pay the application fee once. Your application fee payment is valid for two years.
Information on how to apply with an international university degree and deadlines can be found here.
As an international student planning to study at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, you can apply for a variety of grants and bursaries. Detailed information about scholarships and deadlines can be found on www.vu.nl/scholarships or www.grantfinder.nl.
Our International Student and Alumni Ambassadors are happy to tell you all about their experiences with studying at VU Amsterdam and living in Amsterdam.
You will find the full overview of our Ambassadors here: vu.nl/ambassadors. There you can chat with them directly.
If you are not directly admissible to the Master's programme, it may be possible to enter the master's programme after completion of a pre-master's programme. Whether you can be admitted to the pre-master's programme depends on your educational background. More information about the pre-master's programme (in Dutch). Students with a bachelor degree such as Medicine, Biomedical Sciences and Health Sciences may follow an abridged pre-master’s programme.
Students with a bachelor Mechanical Engineering obtained at one of the Technical Universities, can become eligible for admission by completing the minor Sport, Bewegen en Gezondheid and the course Movement Analysis (students with a bachelor Mechanical Engineering will need to take the course Movement Analysis instead of the minor course Sportpsychologie or Revalidatie).
Please note that the pre-master's programme is completely taught in Dutch and is therefore not suitable for international students.
The online Movement Sciences transition programme in is a tailor-made programme for talented and motivated higher professional education (HBO) students who want to speed up the process of qualifying for admission to a Master's programme in Movement Sciences at VU Amsterdam.
As an HBO student, you can start the Movement Sciences transition programme from the second year of your bachelor's programme. Because the transition programme uses a digital learning environment, you can follow the programme through distance learning (but you can also follow parts of the programme on campus). This makes it possible for you to combine it with your HBO programme. You can follow the transition programme as:
The standard transition programme is 30 EC and is comprised of the five standard courses from the pre-master’s programme. After completing the transition programme and a relevant HBO programme, you will qualify for direct admission to the one-year Master's programme in Human Movement Sciences: Sport, Exercise and Health. The same standard programme is required for admission to the Master's programme in Human Movement Sciences (Research), but you will need to meet additional requirements related to your grades and motivation. There is currently a partnership agreement in place with a number of HBO programmes:
Hogeschool van Amsterdam: Academie voor Lichamelijke Opvoeding (ALO) en Sport, Management en Ondernemen (SM&O) en Oefentherapie Mensendieck
Contactperson ALO: Hemke van Doorn
E-mail: h.van.doorn@hva.nl
Contactperson SM&O: René Randsdorp
E-mail: i.d.m.randsdorp@hva.nl
Contactperson Oefentherapie Mensendieck: Manon Wentink
E-mail: m.m.wentink@hva.nl
Hogeschool Utrecht: Instituut voor bewegingsstudies (IBS)
Contactperson Fysiotherapie: Matthijs Tuijt
E-mail: matthijs.tuijt@hu.nl
Hogeschool Leiden: Opleiding Fysiotherapie
Contactperson: Babs Juriën
E-mail: jurien.b@hsleiden.nl
Windesheim: School of Human Movement & Sports (CALO)
Contactperson: Mariëtte van Maarseveen
E-mail: mjj.van.maarseveen@windesheim.nl
Haagse Hogeschool: Opleiding Bewegingstechnologie (BT) en Academie voor Lichamelijke Opvoeding (HALO)
Contactperson BT: Herre Faber
E-mail: h.faber@hhs.nl
Contactperson HALO: Michiel Krijger
E-mail: m.krijger@hhs.nl
If you are following one of the HBO programmes above and would like to know more about the transition programme, please contact the relevant staff member within your own study programme. If you are not following one of the study programmes above, please ask the coordinator of the transition programme about the possibilities by sending an email to schakelprogramma.fgb@vu.nl.
If you are interested in the High Performance track, please email your motivation letter (please use this form) and curriculum vitae (CV) before June 1, 2024 to toelatingscommissie.fgb@vu.nl (please indicate subject: Application HPC track). You will be required to attend an information meeting and you will need to complete a short written assignment. The selection procedure may also involve an intake interview. The Admission Board will inform you about the final decision no later than August 23, 2024.
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