FAQ
NB: If your question is not answered here, you may find the information elsewhere on this website. Otherwise, please contact us at apply@rietveldacademie.nl
Q: What do I need to do to apply?
A: Make a consultation appointment (through this website), or, if you reside outside the Netherlands and are unable to attend a consultation at our academy, submit your portfolio. To make sure that you are properly informed, please read all the information about the admission procedure on the website carefully.
Q: I am not from the Netherlands. Is it still possible to apply?
A: Yes, in principle candidates from all over the world can study at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, provided that they have sufficient prior education, sufficient command of the Dutch and/or English language, and successfully completed our admission procedure. All information on the admission procedure can be found on this website.
Q: I am currently enrolled in VMBO (preparatory secondary vocational education) and would like to go straight to the Rietveld rather than enrolling in MBO (senior secondary vocational education) first. Is this possible?
A: No, in order to enrol in the HBO (higher professional education) programme at the Rietveld Academie, you must have at a high school diploma which at least equals the equivalent of the Dutch HAVO (senior general secondary education) or MBO4 diploma.
Q: When can I enter directly into a later year? I have already studied at an art academy. Do I still have to take the entrance examination?
A: Yes. If you have successfully completed at least one year of studies at an art academy at university level in one of the countries below, you can e-mail proof of this in JPEG or PDF format to apply@rietveldacademie.nl to apply for an application form for the entrance examination. In that case you can skip the 1st admission round (assessment of portfolio during consultation or after submission) and attend the entrance examination in April. This applies to the following countries: The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Great Britain.
Q: I do not have a portfolio yet. Can I still be admitted?
A: If you have not created any visual work yet, there is really no point in applying for our admission procedure. We expect candidates to at least have developed visual skills/talents in various media. It is comparable to a candidate wishing to study piano at a conservatory. If you cannot play the piano at all, you will not be admitted there either.
Q: I am currently in my final year of secondary school. Can I apply already?
A: Yes, you can. Our regular admission consultations run from November to mid February. You can schedule an appointment for the admission consultation through this website. If you make it through the consultation, you may take the entrance examination in March. If you pass the entrance examination, you will be admitted to the new academic year before the summer holidays. NB: You can only start studying at the Rietveld Academie if you have actually obtained your secondary school diploma before the start of the new academic year.
Q: Do I need to choose a special subject package or subject cluster to prepare for the Gerrit Rietveld Academie?
A: No. Our educational entry requirement is at least HAVO (senior general secondary education) or MBO (senior secondary vocational education) qualifications at level four. There are no specific requirements with regard to the subject cluster or subject package.
Q: Will my MBO4 (senior secondary vocational education) diploma allow me to enter into a later year or receive compensation for certain courses?
A: In principle, you can only skip the foundation year and enter directly into a later year if you have spent at least one year studying at another art academy/university. Entering into a later year does not mean that you can skip certain subjects in that year because you have already taken them. You have to take the full curriculum.
Q: What can I do to prepare for the admission procedure of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie?
A: It is important that you build a portfolio containing a wide variety of visual and/or design work. It is also important that you show your work in a variety of media, such as drawings, sketches, paintings, photographs, graphics work, 3-D work, design work, etc.. If you have not worked much with other media yet, and only take photographs for example, there is a good chance that you will NOT be admitted, because your portfolio is too one-sided. It is also important that do not only show work you have done for assignments (in secondary school for example). We would like to see that you have also developed or experimented with your own ideas. So make sure that you show as much of your own work as possible, in a variety of media. It is also good to keep up to date on what is happening in the area of contemporary visual art & design. Visit museums and exhibitions to find out what today’s artists and designers are doing. Find out what studying at the Rietveld Academy entails and whether that is actually what you’re looking for. Visit our open day on the last Friday in January and make sure you have read and looked at all the information on the website (including work by students of all the different departments). This will help you prepare thoroughly for the admission procedure.
Q: I live outside the Netherlands but would prefer to attend the admission consultation. Do I still have to send in my portfolio?
A: No. If you make a consultation appointment, you can bring your portfolio along to the consultation and do not need to submit your portfolio in advance in that case. Only candidates who are unable to attend the consultation should submit their portfolio for assessment instead.
Q: Do I need to apply through Studielink or through the Gerrit Rietveld Academie?
A: Initially, candidates should register for the admission consultation through our website or by submitting a portfolio for assessment. At a later stage registration through Studielink is required but we will inform you about that at another moment.
Q: Can I also enter halfway through the academic year?
A: No. All students are admitted before 1 September and commence their studies on 1 September. We start the admission consultations 10 months before the commencement of the new academic year, and complete all the regular admission rounds before the summer holiday. So you should register for our admission procedure well in advance.
Q: Can I apply for admission to multiple study programmes?
A: In the first academic year, all students attend the same study programme in the Basic Year. Students only choose the department they wish to continue their studies in at the end of the first year. Candidates wishing to apply to enter into a later year must choose one specific study programme/specialisation/department to which they wish to apply.
Q: When are the entrance examinations and how long do they take?
A: The entrance examinations for the fulltime foundation year are held in March and there is an extra round in April every year. The entrance exams for the DOGtime program are scheduled in April, with an extra round in May. Entrance examinations for higher course year candidates will be scheduled in May. The entrance examinations themselves take 20 to 40 minutes, but you should allow for 2-3 hours in total, including waiting and setting up and taking down your presentation.
Q: What is the success rate?
A: This varies per year. Of the total of 1000-1100 candidates who apply for our admission procedure each year, approximately 25% are admitted, depending on the number of places available in each department that year.
Q: What is the length of a university of applied sciences (HBO) programme at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie?
A: A full-time bachelor program takes 4 years. All students atttend the same program during the Basic Year, the first bachelor year of study, and at the end of that first year they choose the department in which they wish to continue their studies in the second year. They will then spend three years studying in that department before they graduate.
Q: Can I study part-time at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie?
A: Yes. In addition to its extensive full-time program, the Gerrit Rietveld Academie offers a smaller part-time program. The full-time program takes a total of 4 years. The part-time DOGtime program takes 5 years, because the foundation phase takes 2 years instead of 1 year. After that you can spend 3 years studying Fine Arts or Multimedia Design part-time before graduation or you can transfer to a regular full-time program and spend another 3 years studying before graduating. More information on DOGtime can be found elsewhere on this website.
Q: What are the costs associated with the study programme?
A: That depends on the department in which you are studying. During the Foundation Year the costs are lower than the costs in later years. Allow for at least € 800 - € 1100 in additional costs per year for course materials and excursions, in addition to the annual tuition fees.
Q: Do you have a campus with rooms for students?
A: No, the Rietveld Academie does not have a campus, and it is therefore not possible to obtain a room through the academy. Students must find their own accommodation in Amsterdam or the vicinity. Student accommodation is provided by www.studentenwoningweb.nl. You should register well in advance due to long waiting lists.
Q: Can I apply for a student grant or loan for the study programme?
A: From academic year 2015-2016 all student grants become loans, which means you have to repay. For specific questions, see: www.duo.nl. Students from EU countries can also apply for student loans under certain conditions. NB: You will not be eligible for student loans for the Preparatory Course, the Orientation Year or the part-time programme (DOGtime).
Q: Can I obtain a scholarship from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie?
A: The Rietveld Academie can grant 5 scholarships of € 5.000 to first year Bachelor students from outside the EU. All candidates taking part in the application process will receive an email with a scholarship application form around March 27. For further information please read the pdf ‘Holland Scholarship’ on this page. Candidates for the Master programmes can contact nancy@sandberg.nl for further information. Candidates who do not qualify for this scholarship programme, will have to apply for a scholarship (in their home country) by themselves. Please note: the grant will only be issued for the first year of the study!
Q: Are the classes taught in Dutch or in English?
A: In principle, the classes in the bachelor’s program are taught in English, depending on the students and lecturers present. So foreign students do not necessarily have to be able to speak Dutch before starting the programme. Of course this would be useful for students planning to stay in the Netherlands for a longer period of time, but English will often suffice.
Q: What is the average age of students at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie?
A: The average age of students starting the Basic Year is approximately 21.
Q: How many foreign students are enrolled at the Academie?
A: In the current year approximately 63% of our students comes from outside the Netherlands.
Q: Is an IELTS certificate required?
A: An Academic IELTS certificate with a minimum overall band score of 6,0, with at least 6.0 for Speaking is required, unless candidates received a European high school diploma which allows them to participate in HBO-education (with English as exam subject) or are native speakers. A TOEFL certificate is not accepted because speaking is not tested. NOTE: you have to provide your IELTS certificate before participating in the entrance exam!
Q: What facilities does the Rietveld Academie have to offer?
A: There are a number of general workshops (wood, metal, computers, graphics, CAD-CAM) and a number of departmental workshops. See our website for more information.
Q: Can I join classes for one day?
A: No. Unfortunately it is not possible to organize tours and it is important that our current students will not be disturbed during their classes.
Q: Why is the legal tuition fee at de Rietveld Academie higher than other fees?
A: The Minister of Education granted de Rietveld Academie the distinctive feature of 'small-scale and intensive education'. This means that we are allowed to ask for higher tuition fees in order to keep our education small-scale and intensive.