Preparatory year

The Preparatory year is meant for people of up to 25 years of age. It is a preparatory study programme for the university of applied sciences bachelor program in Fine Arts and Design at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie. After the final presentation in April 2018, prep year students who successfully completed the Preparatory year, can enter into the Basic Year, the first bachelor course year of the bachelor’s degree programme of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, but only if they have obtained a high school diploma giving entrance into bachelor education. Classes are in English, 50% of the prep year students are from outside of the Netherlands. NOTE: The Preparatory year is not subsidized by Dutch government, which means that prep year students are not eligible for Dutch study grants.

The Preparatory Year is preceded by an admission interview with a tutor during which you present a selection of your visual work, and the outcome of home assignments. The work you bring along may consist of sketches, doodles, photographs, videos or three-dimensional work – in short, anything that provides information on your visual capacities.

The Preparatory Year 2017 starts with an introduction on a Wednesday after mid-September 2017.

Course fee 2017: € 1,908.-
Duration: 25 weeks of 3 to 4 sessions a week
Admission interviews on:    
- May 31 (obligatory for all non-EU/EEA applicants!) & June 21, 2017    

Required classes
Wednesday: Fine Art; 10.00–13.00 
Thursday: Design; 18.30–21.30
Friday: Theory or Drawing or excursions; 14.00–17.00

Six Monday mornings (extra drawing classes): 09.30 - 12.30.
Six Thursday afternoons (instructions wood, graphics & digital workshops): 14.00 - 17.00.
One Friday morning (instruction metal workshop): 10.00 - 13.00.    
Three Wednesday afternoons introductions to Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign.

NOTE: The workshops of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie: wood, metal, graphics, 3D and digital workshop, are accessible for prep year students by appointment, during opening hours.

Application form 2017-2018
DEADLINE: 1 May 2017!

For visual information and FAQ: the bilingual public Facebook page of the Preparatory Year.

Residence permit

Students from all non-EU/EEA countries are OBLIGED to apply for a residence permit through the International Office of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie to study in our Preparatory Year.

Did you know that non-EU/EEA students accepted for the Prep Year of 2016-2017 had to have almost €13,000 on their bank account to apply for their residence permit? For more information, read here

The Preparatory year is a serious preparatory study programme for the bachelor programmes in Fine Arts or Design at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, and is aimed at learning how to react independently to assignments and reflect on your work with lecturers and fellow students, within the course programme. Classes are taught by professional artists and designers and study hours amount to a total of 13 hours weekly. The course programme consists of classes in fine arts, 3D & 2D design and getting acquainted with various media. A theory programme is offered, and in the spring prep year students participate in the Studium Generale theory programme. There will be regular visits to exhibitions and museums, and an excursion in November.

There will be evaluations twice a year: one in December/January and a final presentation mid April. Following the final evaluation, prep year students who attended all classes and completed the Preparatory year successfully can directly enter into the Basic Year, the first year of study of the bachelor’s degree programmes of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, but only if they have obtained a high school diploma giving entrance into a bachelor programme.
The Preparatory year offers elaborate information about national and international bachelor art programmes. Discourses about the eventual choice of studies of prep year students will be held in March and April.