Universities of applied sciences (‘hbo’ in Dutch) graduates who wish to pursue a pre-master's program – a mandatory gap year before starting a university master's program – at TU/e ​​have been required to pass a math test ever since 2021. This is to ensure that they have a sufficient level of math proficiency to compete with students transferring from university bachelor's programs.

The test was not implemented university-wide at the time: the Built Environment and Industrial Design departments decided against it because brushing up on math skills is part of their pre-master's programs.

Hoop

After five years, the math test for students from universities of applied sciences will now be abolished. "The university evaluated the test, and the results varied between departments," says Ines Lopez Arteaga, dean of the Bachelor College, which also includes the pre-master's programs.

"Some departments see the test as an unnecessary hoop for students to jump through. Some students there coming from universities of applied sciences already have a higher level of mathematics than required." This is the case, for example, at Applied Physics.

Deterrent

"The departments decided to abolish the test because it turned out to have relatively little impact on the academic success of the pre-master's programs in those departments," says spokesperson Ivo Jongsma.

And yet, the test does have a deterrent effect: part of the decline in the intake of students from universities of applied sciences can be explained by it. Incidentally, there has been an increase in enrollments for the pre-master's programs over the past two years.

Upcoming year

The requirement will be abolished at the departments of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Technology, and Applied Physics as of the upcoming academic year, 2026/2027. Chemical Engineering & Chemistry will follow a year later.

At Mathematics & Computer Science, monitoring entry levels remains important, but the faculty follows its own path in this regard. The Industrial & Applied Mathematics pre-master's program has stricter than average mathematics requirements, and students from universities of applied sciences are assessed on an individual basis to determine whether they meet these requirements.

The bar

"Abolishing the test doesn't mean we're lowering the bar," Jongsma warns. "The requirements students must meet in the pre-master's program remain unchanged, as does the entry level for the master's program."

Prospective students can continue to take the math test voluntarily. TU/e ​​strongly recommends this, so they can start the pre-master's program well-prepared.

Information

How will TU/e ​​ensure that pre-master's students have the right entry level without the math test? The university is committed to providing good information in advance: clarifying the differences between studying at a university of applied sciences (hbo) versus a research university.

Besides this, these students will receive additional support. The university also examines the pre-master's programs to see whether they meet the needs of university graduates to successfully complete a university master's degree.

This article was translated using AI-assisted tools and reviewed by an editor

Update 12/19/2025: The headline and lead have been clarified to indicate that this concerns only some pre-master’s programs, not all pre-master’s programs.