Do you have a degree from a country outside Belgium? Do you want to know if you need an equivalency? Please read about the procedure you must follow to apply for an equivalency for the tier of studies in which you are looking to enrol.

For a bachelor-level programme

Equivalency of a secondary school diploma


An equivalency of a secondary school diploma is required for any enrolment in a bachelor programme if you hold a foreign secondary school diploma other than the Baccalauréat delivered by a European school or the international baccalaureate of Geneva.

How to apply for this equivalency?

The Wallonia-Brussels Federation equivalency office has sole competence to deliver secondary school diploma equivalencies.
Your application for an equivalency must be sent by July 15.

SPECIAL PROVISIONS 2020:
Applicants who have obtained their secondary diploma at the end of 2019-2020 are granted additional time. The request for equivalence can be made until September 14, 2020.
This deposit method is only intended for applicants who complete their secondary studies at the end of the 2019/2020 year whose studies were followed in a member country of the European Union and who are not yet in possession of their diploma.


You may apply to enrol at ULB even if you have not yet received your equivalency, but will be required to provide it during the academic year, by December 1.

For a master-level programme (except the ‘agrégation’ programme)

If you wish to enrol in a master, advanced master, or a teacher training certificate programme and have completed a higher education programme abroad, the admission board will determine whether your previous studies are comparable to the programme to which you are applying.
If the admission board agrees that your foreign degree is equivalent to at least 180 credits, no formal equivalency will be necessary for you to enrol in a master-level programme (unless you wish to apply for the ‘agrégation’).

For the ‘agrégation’ programme

An equivalency of an academic or higher education degree
An equivalency of an academic or higher education degree is required only for students applying to the ‘agrégation’ programme.
The equivalency required to enrol in the ‘agrégation’ programme must be obtained from the Wallonia-Brussels Federation equivalency office.

Updated on August 6, 2020