Admission requirements - MSc Food Safety

Interested in the master's programme Food Safety? Find out whether your knowledge and skills match the entry level of the programme.

This page describes the previous knowledge and skills required for admission to the Food Safety programme specifically. For an overview of all the programme specific requirements you can download this document.

For the additional general admission requirements of Wageningen University & Research, application deadlines and the application procedure, visit How to apply for a master's programme?

Are you interested in the programme, but not sure whether your background matches the stated requirements? Feel free to contact us.

Admission requirements

Required knowledge and skills

Purpose and reason for the admission requirements

The admission requirements for Food Safety are defined in such a way that the students should be able to successfully complete at least one of the specializations of the master's programme Food Safety within two years. In order to comply this multidisciplinary programme, the student needs to have sufficient academic knowledge and skills in the area of food sciences related to food safety or law and regulatory affairs. This is to ensure that the student has got a solid basis for the more advanced studies in the master's programme, because the master's Food Safety programme builds further upon this knowledge.

The criterion used for admission is

a WUR BSc degree in Food Technology, Nutrition and Health, or equivalent.

The norm for this equivalence is

An assessment of the student's expertise in three or more of the following topics:

  • Food Sciences (food engineering, food chemistry, food microbiology, food quality and safety, gastronomy, and/or dairy science)
  • Nutrition (dietetics)
  • Pharmacy
  • Veterinary sciences
  • Biology (microbiology, toxicology)

Or in the following topic:

  • Law

Not all topics mentioned need to be mastered at the same level; they will be weighed by the Admission Board per individual application.

Method of assessment whether this norm is met

  • Transcript of records displaying the content of previous course subjects and project work;
  • Curriculum vitae displaying relevant work, internship and/or project experience on an academic level in a relevant field if applicable.

Scores attributed by the Admission Board

Admitted / not admitted / admitted under condition obtaining the BSc or MSc degree / not admitted with offer of pre-master

Compensation of knowledge gaps

The Admission Board may allow and/or suggest compensation of knowledge gaps by:

  • a GPA≥7.0* for the previous education for small discrepancies as new knowledge is sufficiently easily acquired;
  • a GPA≥7.0* and an individual pre-master's programme for larger discrepancies that can be compensated in ≤30 ECTS and one year of study.

*Check the general admissions page for the International credentials evaluation guide for international equivalencies to a Dutch GPA>7.0. This guide includes compensating factors for a slightly lower GPA the Admission Board may include in their judgement.

Contact us through the contact button above to discuss the possibilities of a pre-master or how to mitigate knowledge gaps if you are still in the process of obtaining your degree.

Find out more about enrolment and fees of a pre-master's programme.

Additional context for admission

Admissible study programmes

Graduates from study programmes that may meet the knowledge requirements for Food Safety are for example: Dairy Science & Technology, Dietetics, European Studies, Food Engineering, Food Quality & Safety, Food Science (& Technology), Gastronomical Sciences, Law, Microbiology, Nutrition, Pharmacy, Toxicology, and Veterinary Sciences.

Study programmes with knowledge gaps

Study programmes whose students often have to follow additional courses during the previous study programme or a pre-master to fulfil the knowledge requirements are for example: Animal Sciences, Biotechnology, Chemical Engineering, Culinary Sciences, Environmental Health, Food Design, Laboratory Sciences, Logistics Managements, Post-Harvest Technology, and Public Health.

Students from the BSc 'Voedingsmiddelentechnologie' of the HAS University of Applied Sciences may be directly admissible. The terms of their admissibility is presented during the annual on-site information session.