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 an eligible diploma, you may nevertheless qualify for admission through a 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 domain of relevance to the programme (e.g., 3 years of full-time or 6 years of part-time work). All types of professional experience can qualify, whether gained as an employee, free-lancer, through voluntary work or while self-employed.
Please note that a recognition of professional experience for access to studies is only possible for citizens of the EU, EEA and Switzerland.
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 webpages of the Student Department (SEVE). Please also make sure that you consult the admission-related information of the study programme to which you intend to apply. You can find this information on the webpages of the programme.
When submitting your application, please indicate that you have at least 3 full-time equivalent years of professional experience.
The 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 a qualifying diploma but have the required experience, the University may start a recognition procedure. In that case, 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 to no longer pursue your application, please notify the SEVE.
To prepare the documentation required for the assessment of your professional experience, we advise you to use 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.
Documentary evidence should, in all cases:
- Refer to professional activities that involved knowledge, skills and competences at the qualification level required for access to the programme (levels 4-5 of the European/Luxembourg Qualifications Framework for access to a bachelor programme, levels 5-6 for access to a master programme);
- Be authentic and certified as far as that is 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 of the study programme to which you are applying, e.g., for application to a master programme related to professional activities undertaken in the fields that correspond to the diploma domains (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 your file is complete, it 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 eligible (pertinent 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 modalities 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 to 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 in case you are admitted.