Language requirement and facilities

The language of instruction and examination is English for most of the courses at CUB, SLU and UBonn while the language of instruction and examination is either French at UCL or Spanish at UPC for most of the courses.  Since professors in these two latter institutions are fluent in English, examinations can be organised in English at the specific request of the international students.

Candidates from English speaking countries must provide an official letter from their university from which they graduated attesting that English is the media of instruction. All other candidates will have to provide evidence that they master English at a level corresponding to the minimum scores on one of the following tests. Please note that we have to receive an applicant's language certificate directly from the testing institutions in the case of the TOEFL test. So applicants should contact the TOEFL test center and have them send a copy to the AFEPA coordinating institution, the Catholic University of Louvain (Applicants have to mention to the testing institution the specific code for the Catholic University of Louvain, which is 8823. If an applicant choses to take the IELTS test, we can accept a certified copy of your test results.  The IELTS test result copy should clearly indicate the "test report form number", which will then enable us to contact the testing institution and verify the results.

We require the following minimum scores for the TOELF and IELTS results:

 

• Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL): at least 575 on the Paper-based Test (PBT) or 90 on the Internet-based Test (IBT).
• International English Language Testing System (IELTS): an overall band IELTS score of at least 6.5, and no section below 5.5.
• A test deemed equivalent by the AFEPA Management Board (if you want to submit test results oither than from TOEFL or IELTS please obtain our confirmation of the particular test prior to sending your application package.   

Candidates who choose to study at UCL and UPC also need to prove that their command of French and Spanish, respectively, is sufficient for them to participate in courses at these two institutions.  If French and Spanish are neither their mother tongue nor the language of their past study, it is advised that these candidates obtain the B1 threshold level of the Common European Framework of Reference, i.e., they can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc. For French, it corresponds to the DELF B1 level and for Spanish to the DELE “intermedio” level.

Learning support in local language is offered free of additional fees in all five partner institutions. This support is provided to facilitate the integration of the international students in study and local social life.  Language courses can be recognised for a maximum of 5 ECTS credits in the academic programme.