Applicants with non-law bachelor's degrees

Interested to pursue an LLM but don't have an LLB degree? In some situations, it is possible for applicants who have done bachelor level studies in other similar fields to gain admission to one of our LLM programmes. This can be via the regular application process for those that meet specific requirments, or via completion of a Pre-LLM programme.

Access via regular application process

The Admissions Board to our LLM programmes reserves the right to decide on access to the programme, so that the admission of candidates with mixed Law degrees, or a Political Science or International Relations degree in a system which includes a relevant law element will also be considered. This only concerns applications for the programmes European Law in a Global Context, Public International Law, and International Human Rights Law. Please be aware of the fact that a minor in law, or 30 ECTS obtained in prior law courses, is the very minimum in these cases. Applicants must of course satisfy the remaining admission requirements in order to be admitted to a programme.

If you are currently pursuing your bachelor's degree in International Relations and International Organization at the University of Groningen, you will already be taking 15 ECTS of law courses as part of your required curriculum. This means that you would only need an additional 15 ECTS in other law courses, in principle, to apply to certain LLM programmes. If you are interested to apply to one of our LLM programmes, please contact the International Office at llm rug.nl to inquire with a study advisor as to how you might become eligible to apply. They can advise you on which courses you could possibly take to satisfy the minimum requirements.

Access via completion of a Pre-LLM

For those students not eligible to apply via the regular application process, there may still be the opportunity to gain access if completing a Pre-LLM programme.

Students who have completed a Law degree in the Netherlands at a University of Applied Science ('HBO Recht'/International and European Law at The Hague University of Applied Sciences) or students who have completed a bachelor's degree at research university level in the Netherlands in a different field altogether can be admitted to a Pre-LLM programme.

For applicants with a non-Dutch degree (and without a minor in law) it is not possible to apply for the Pre-LLM programmes directly. If this is your situation, please read here.

The Pre-LLM programmes are available for all LLM programmes. You can see a list of all available Pre-LLM programmes, and their structure, here.

Please check here what the required documents and admission requirements are for our Pre-LLM programmes. Application instructions can be found here.