Belgium is a small country at the heart of Europe. Its neighbors are the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. Its climate is mild, but the weather is mostly cloudy and gloomy.
At the same time, Belgium is one of the most important countries on the continent, because its capital city, Brussels, is also the capital of the European Union. Therefore, the fact that there are three official languages in Belgium – Dutch, French, and German – should not surprise you.
However, almost everybody in Belgium speaks English as a first or second language. Therefore, the Belgian universities offer numerous bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. programs in English. To get admitted to such a program, however, you should demonstrate a certain level of proficiency in the English language.
Minimum IELTS Band Requirements for Belgian Universities
1. KU Leuven
The Catholic University of Leuven, commonly known as KU Leuven, is a research university in the Dutch-speaking town of Leuven. It came into existence in 1972, following a rift between the Dutch-speaking and French-speaking communities in the town.
As a result, the bilingual Catholic University of Leuven split into two “sister” universities. Since then, KU Leuven has established itself as one of the best universities in the world. Today, it has more than 58,000 students trained in three large academic conglomerates. Each academic group consists of different faculties and departments.
2. Ghent University
Ghent University was established in 1817 by King William I of the Netherlands. It is the first Dutch-speaking university in Belgium and one of the oldest higher education providers in the country. UGent, as this university is known for short, has more than 45,000 students studying in 11 major faculties with more than 130 different departments.
Currently, Ghent University offers only one undergraduate program in English – the Bachelor of Science in Social Sciences. By contrast, each of the university’s faculties offers more than 10 master’s programs in English. To enroll in the programs at this university in Belgium, you need at least an IELTS Band of 7.0.
3. University of Antwerp
At the University of Antwerp, most of the master’s and Ph.D. programs are taught in English. It only offers one bachelor’s program with English as the principal language of instruction.
With more than 20,000 students, the University of Antwerp is the third-largest university in the Belgian province of Flanders. The university has a total of nine faculties, but it’s most famous for the Faculty of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical, and Veterinary Sciences. The University of Antwerp now offers seven different master’s programs in the field of Biomedical Sciences that are taught in English.
4. Vrije Universiteit Brussel
The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) is the Dutch-speaking sister university of Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB). The university came into existence following the split of the Université libre de Bruxelles in 1970. VUB’s founding father is Pierre-Théodore Verhaegen, a lawyer from Brussels. His dream was to establish a university governed by the principles of academic freedom.
Today, the institution is a medium-sized university in Belgium with about 16,000 students who study in eight major faculties, where the principal language of instruction is Dutch. Interestingly, this university offers only three English-taught bachelor’s programs: Social Sciences, Linguistics and Literary Studies, and Business Economics.
5. University of Liège
The University of Liège is the largest and most prestigious university in Belgium’s French-speaking province of Wallonia. It was established in 1817 and currently has about 24,500 students. There also are about 4,500 overseas students, most of them coming from the French-speaking parts of the world. The Bachelor of Science in Computer Science is one of the few undergraduate programs offered in English and French.
From the IELTS scores quoted above, it can be concluded that universities in Belgium are quite strict and selective about language requirements for their English-taught programs. Five of the seven higher education providers we selected require applicants to produce a minimum IELTS score of 6.5 out of 9.0. The University of Liège appears to be the least selective of them with an average IELTS band requirement of 5.5 – 6.5.
We hope this article on IELTS Band Requirements at Universities in Belgium was helpful! If you are interested in studying in Europe, make sure to check out our Study in Belgium and Available Programs for International Students pages for more informative articles.
