Access studies with professional experience
If you wish to apply for a Bachelor or Master programme of the University of Luxembourg and you do not have a diploma at the required level, you may nevertheless qualify for admission through recognition of your professional experience. With the recognition procedure the University assesses whether your professional experience and qualifications are equivalent to the level required to enter the study programme for which you are applying.
To be eligible for a recognition of professional experience, you need to have a minimum of three (3) full-time equivalent years of professional experience in a field of relevance to the programme (e.g. three years of full-time or six years of part-time work). All types of professional experience can qualify, whether as an employee or a freelancer, through voluntary work or while self-employed.
Please note that recognition of professional experience for access to studies is only possible for for EU, EEA and Swiss nationals.
To apply for a bachelor or master programme of the University on the basis of professional experience, please follow the application process as explained on the Student Department (SEVE) web pages. Please also make sure that you consult the admission information for the study programme to which you intend to apply. You can find this information on the programme web pages.
When submitting your application, please indicate that you have at least three full-time equivalent years of professional experience.
The procedure for recognition of professional experience is initiated by the University after you have submitted your application. If the University is considering your application for admission and you do not have the required diploma but you do have relevant experience, the University may start a procedure for the recognition of professional experience. If so, the SEVE will ask you to provide additional evidence of your professional experience. The academic committee in charge of assessing your experience may also invite you to an (online) interview.
If at any moment during the recognition process you decide that you no longer wish to pursue your application, please notify the SEVE.
To prepare the documentation required to assess your professional experience, we advise you to make use of the assistance of the University of Luxembourg Competence Centre. To do so, please forward the request for documentation you have received from the SEVE to the following email address: vaeprofessionnelle@competence.lu.
Documents should:
- Refer to professional activities involving knowledge, skills and expertise at the qualification level required to access the programme (levels 4-5 of the European/Luxembourg Qualifications Framework to access a Bachelor programme, levels 5-6 to access a Master programme);
- Be authentic and certified as far as possible (e.g. copies of original certificates carrying an official stamp or signature, original job or project descriptions, original documents/samples produced as part of your work);
- Be relevant in view of the admission requirements for the study programme to which you are applying. For example, documents related to professional experience should be in fields that correspond to the disciplines accepted for access to the programme.
References should come from referees who have had a direct role in your work (e.g. supervisors, co-workers, clients).
Once you have compiled all the relevant documents, they will be reviewed by the director of the study programme to which you have applied and assessed by a committee composed of faculty staff and professionals. The committee assesses whether the submitted evidence is authentic and relevant to the request. It then establishes the extent to which your professional experience is equivalent to the access requirements for the given study programme.
When the committee has reached its decision, the SEVE will inform you whether you can be admitted.
Please note that the recognition process can take several weeks. You will be notified if the University needs any further information from you during the process.
The committee in charge of recognition may decide to invite you for an (online) interview in order to further clarify the nature and extent of your experience. You will receive an invitation with the time and details of the interview by email. If the committee has specific questions, these may be communicated to you in advance of the interview. Please be ready to answer these and other questions related to the documentation you have submitted.
If you believe that you have experience that is equivalent to certain parts of the study programme for which you are applying, you can request an assessment of your experience to obtain exemptions from study requirements or to be placed in a higher study semester. Further information on how to submit the request and the recognition procedure can be found in the section “Receive exemptions from study requirements and enter a programme in a higher year”.
Please note that the University will only process your request if you are admitted.