UCLouvain (Université catholique de Louvain) is Belgium’s highest-ranked French-speaking university. It shares its history with KU Leuven, which goes back to 1425, but became a separate university after the old University of Louvain split along language lines in 1968, and it built a new town, Louvain-la-Neuve, around its main campus. It also has campuses in Brussels, Mons, Charleroi and Tournai. In the QS World University Rankings 2027, published in June 2026, it was 196th in the world and the third-highest-ranked university in Belgium. It’s known for engineering, economics and management, the life sciences, medicine, philosophy and theology.
Most of UCLouvain’s bachelor’s programmes are taught in French, but it offers more than 30 master’s programmes that you can take entirely in English. Here are 10 things you can do to give yourself the best chance, based on UCLouvain’s own guidance and official Belgian and EU information.
1. Choose a master’s programme in English, or study in French
For 2026-27, UCLouvain listed 32 master’s programmes that can be taken entirely in English, in fields such as economics, econometrics, management, business engineering, European studies, a wide range of engineering specialisations (including computer, data science, electrical, mechanical, civil and energy engineering), computer science, physics, chemistry, biology and linguistics. At bachelor’s level, only Business Engineering at the Saint-Louis Bruxelles campus can be taken fully in English, alongside several bilingual French-English bachelor’s programmes. Its other programmes are taught in French, so you’d need good French. UCLouvain: master’s courses in English.
2. Apply by 31 March if you need a visa
If you’re not an EU national and need a visa to come to Belgium, UCLouvain’s application deadline is 31 March; for 2026 entry it was 31 March 2026, so expect a similar date for 2027 and check the deadlines page when you apply. EU nationals, nationals of Norway, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Switzerland and Iceland, and non-EU nationals already living in Belgium have until mid-September. Your faculty assesses your application according to its own timetable, so apply early. UCLouvain: application deadlines.
3. Get your school diploma recognised for a bachelor’s
If you want to study for a bachelor’s and your secondary school diploma is from outside the EU, you need an equivalence decision from the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, the authority for French-speaking education in Belgium, and you must include it in your application. The International Baccalaureate and the European Baccalaureate are accepted without an equivalence. The equivalence process takes time, so start it well before you apply.
4. Check for entrance exams and quotas
Some bachelor’s programmes in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation have extra hurdles. To study medicine or dentistry, you must pass the entrance exam organised by ARES, the federation’s higher education academy, and be ranked high enough. Civil engineering (ingénieur civil) bachelor’s programmes require a special admission exam in mathematics, and programmes such as medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine and physiotherapy limit the number of non-resident students. These exams and programmes are in French.
5. Prove your English
English-taught programmes ask you to prove your English, usually with IELTS Academic, TOEFL iBT or a Cambridge English qualification, although applicants who studied in English in certain countries may be exempt. Minimum scores are set by each programme, so check yours, and book your test early so your results are ready when you apply. Practise with our free IELTS and TOEFL practice tests. For French-taught programmes, you’ll need to prove your French instead.
6. Prepare a strong master’s application
For a master’s programme, you need a bachelor’s degree that matches the programme’s admission requirements, which each faculty sets. Check these on the programme’s page in UCLouvain’s course catalogue, upload your diplomas, transcripts and any translations, and write a clear motivation letter explaining why you’ve chosen the programme. Some programmes, especially in management and economics, may ask for a GMAT or GRE score. See our 50 sample SOPs and free GMAT practice tests.
7. Understand the fees
Since the 2026-27 academic year, the full tuition fee at universities in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (Belgium’s French-speaking universities) has been €1,194 a year, up from €835, following a reform adopted on 5 June 2026. Most students who aren’t nationals of an EU country pay an extra €4,175 on top, so €5,369 a year in total. Nationals of the countries listed in Annexes 1 to 3 of the ARES circular, and some other groups such as students with Belgian student status, are exempt from the extra fee. You pay a €50 deposit by 31 October and the rest of your fee by 1 February. Students with low household incomes can apply to the federation for a reduced fee or exemption by 31 October. UCLouvain: tuition fee reform.
8. Look for scholarships
UCLouvain and its faculties offer some scholarships for international students, such as excellence scholarships for master’s students at the Louvain School of Engineering. Students from some developing countries can apply for ARES scholarships for training programmes in Belgium, and Wallonie-Bruxelles International (WBI) scholarship holders don’t pay the extra €4,175 fee. Check the deadlines early, as many close months before the course starts.
9. Apply for your student visa early
EU/EEA and Swiss citizens don’t need a visa, but they must register with their local town hall within a few months of arriving. If you’re from outside the EU/EEA, you need a long-stay student visa (type D) from the Belgian embassy or consulate in your country, which you apply for once UCLouvain has sent your letter of admission or enrolment. You must prove that you can support yourself: for the 2026-27 academic year the minimum is €1,062 a month, which you can show with a blocked account holding twelve months’ worth (€12,744), a scholarship certificate or a sponsor’s formal undertaking (Annex 32). Processing can take three months or more in summer, so apply as soon as you’re admitted, and don’t enter Belgium on a short-stay Schengen visa, because it can’t be converted. After you arrive, you register at your town hall to get your residence card. EU Immigration Portal: studying in Belgium.
10. Plan for work during and after your studies
International students can work up to 20 hours a week during term, with no limit in the official school holidays, as long as the work doesn’t interfere with their studies. Many part-time jobs need Dutch or French, so don’t count on them to pay your tuition or living costs. After you graduate, non-EU students can apply for an orientation year: a 12-month residence permit with full access to the labour market, so you can look for work or set up a business. You must apply while your student residence permit is still valid. UCLouvain’s career services can help you find internships and thesis projects with companies. EU Immigration Portal: studying in Belgium.
Applying for a PhD at UCLouvain?
To start a PhD at UCLouvain, you first need a supervisor who agrees to take you on, and many doctoral researchers are funded through paid positions or grants such as those from the FNRS, Belgium’s French-speaking research fund. See our 50 sample SOPs and free GRE practice tests.
Be ambitious, but apply to a balanced list
Apply to more than one university to give yourself options. Read our guides to KU Leuven, Ghent University, the University of Antwerp and ULB. Our guide to studying in Belgium explains how the Belgian system works, and our free study abroad assessment can help you build a shortlist.
Information was taken from UCLouvain’s official admissions, programme and fee pages, Belgian and EU government sources and the QS World University Rankings 2027, and checked in October 2026. Admissions rules, deadlines, fees and immigration rules can change, so always confirm the details on UCLouvain’s admissions website before you apply. StudyAbroadMarket is not affiliated with UCLouvain.