How to Get Into a University in Luxembourg as a Foreign Student

Fee figures: catalogue of 6 October 2026.

Luxembourg has one public university, the University of Luxembourg (uni.lu), plus a few small private institutions. There is no national entrance exam and no central application portal. You apply to each institution directly, and the university selects students on the quality of the application file. Our catalogue lists 33 bachelor programmes at 4 institutions.

What the University of Luxembourg asks for

Three things decide whether your file is eligible at all:

• A completed secondary school diploma. Applicants from outside the EU must already hold the diploma or at least a certificate of achievement when they apply.
• An equivalence of that diploma. Any diploma not issued by the Luxembourg Ministry of Education needs a recognition from that ministry. This covers the International Baccalaureate, A-levels, IGCSE and every foreign national diploma. The recognition is not handled by the university, and uni.lu says it usually takes at least six weeks. See how the equivalence works.
• Proof of the required level in every teaching language. Many programmes are multilingual, and the programme page lists a CEFR level for each language. You need a certificate for all of them by the deadline. See the language rules in the English-taught guide.

After that, a selection committee for the programme reviews complete and eligible files. Some programmes add a cover letter or other documents. For medicine, the programme page says selection rests on school grades, with science subjects weighing most, and there is no entry exam.

Two deadline tracks

The deadlines depend on your status, and the difference is large.

• Non-EU applicants without a Luxembourg residence permit had one window for every programme in the 2026 intake: 1 February to 24 March 2026. Their file must be complete at the deadline, including the diploma and its equivalence. Incomplete applications are rejected.
• EU, EEA and Swiss applicants, and non-EU citizens with a Luxembourg residence permit, had programme-specific closing dates. For 2026 these fell between late April and mid-July. They can apply before they hold the diploma or the equivalence and receive a conditional admission letter, with the missing documents due by 15 November of the first semester.

There is only one intake a year, in September. For the 2027/28 year, uni.lu says applications open on 1 February 2027. The 2027 closing dates were not yet published at the time of checking, so the 2026 dates are a guide to the pattern, not a promise.

The application itself

1. Choose the programme. You can apply to a maximum of three programmes in one period, and a submitted application cannot be modified or deleted.
2. Prepare the documents: ID, photo, diploma, grade transcripts for the last three years of secondary school, the equivalence if needed, a language certificate for each teaching language, and a translation of anything not in English, French or German.
3. Create an account on the admission portal and upload everything. Files are limited to 5 MB each.
4. Pay the 100 euro application fee per application. It is non-refundable and fee waivers are not possible, but 100 euros are deducted from the first semester fee of admitted students who enrol.
5. Press the button to send the file. Paying the fee does not submit it.

The possible outcomes are admission, conditional admission, a place on a waiting list, or rejection. Non-EU students then deal with the residence procedure, covered in the student visa guide. Enrolment cannot be deferred: if you do not finalise it, you start again next year under the rules then in force.

Private institutions work differently

LUNEX, which teaches health and sport programmes in Differdange, and the Luxembourg School of Business admit students through their own procedures. LUNEX invites applicants to an application day with a test, and based on the result either admits them directly or sends them to a foundation programme first. The Luxembourg School of Business reviews documents and holds an online interview. Their deadlines and tuition differ from uni.lu, as the cost guide shows.

Where to look next

Browse all 33 programmes in Luxembourg by city and field.

Official sources

• University of Luxembourg: admission criteria
• University of Luxembourg: applying for admission
• LUNEX: private university for health, exercise and sports
• Luxembourg School of Business: private business school

Always check current information on the official website of the university before you apply.