How to Apply to Universities in Europe by Country: Requirements, Deadlines and Portals
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Oct 08, 2026
Compares how to apply to university across 39 European countries, covering portals, deadlines, fees and language requirements that range from UCAS and Studielink to no central portal at all.
This hub collects how-to-apply guides for 39 European countries, from Albania to the United Kingdom, covering each country's application portal, main deadline, fee and language requirement. The table shows how widely these differ: the United Kingdom applies through UCAS with a 13 January 2027 deadline and a fee of £28.65 (single course) or £35.81 (two to five choices); Germany routes Numerus Clausus subjects through hochschulstart.de by 15 July and charges 75 EUR through Uni-assist for a first program; the Netherlands uses the Studielink national portal with deadlines of 1 May (general) and 15 January (numerus fixus); and Austria has no central portal, requiring direct application to each university by September 5.
Start with the application portal column to see whether a country centralizes admissions or requires applying directly to each university, then check the deadline and fee next to that, since both vary by program and by EU/non-EU status in several countries. A dash means the source guide does not state a figure for that country, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina's deadline and fee or Finland's deadline, not that one is zero. Each row links through to its full country guide, which lists the complete requirements and the sources behind every figure shown here.
Compare by country
| Country | Application portal | Main deadline | Application fee | Language requirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | U-Albania portal (public); direct to each private university | First round: July 30 to August 4, 2025-26 intake | — | IELTS, TOEFL or C1 Advanced for English-taught programmes |
| Austria | No central portal; apply direct to each university's admissions office | September 5 (winter semester); February 5 (summer semester) | No separate application fee for most programs | German proficiency required, or English for English-taught programs |
| Belgium | No central portal; apply direct via each institution's own portal | No fixed national deadline; varies by university and program | — | Dutch-taught: NT2 certificate or 1 year prior Dutch-medium schooling |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | No national portal; apply direct to each university/faculty | — | — | IELTS 6.0 or TOEFL 70-75 (bachelor/master); IELTS 6.5/TOEFL 80 (PhD) |
| Bulgaria | No national portal; apply direct to each university | NBU example: EU/EEA closes 11 Sep 2026; non-EU closes 31 Jul 2026 | — | — |
| Croatia | Postani student portal (Croatian-taught); direct to institution otherwise | Summer round: final deadline July 15, 2026 (autumn 2026 entry) | 60-300 EUR depending on institution and program | Proof of Croatian or English language proficiency required |
| Cyprus | No central portal; apply direct to each university | Public: single Sept intake, window opens in spring | Many universities charge no application fee for online submissions | IELTS or TOEFL (English-taught); Greek certificate (Greek-medium) |
| Czechia | No national portal; apply direct to each university/faculty | Czech-taught: Feb 28 or Mar 31; English-taught: Feb-Jul (varies) | 3,000 CZK administrative/recognition fee | Czech language certificate (Czech-taught) or English test score (English-taught) |
| Denmark | optagelse.dk national portal (bachelor's); direct to university for master's | 15 March, 12:00 noon (Quota 1 and Quota 2) | — | — |
| Estonia | DreamApply shared platform (for foreign applicants) | TalTech example: non-EU deadline 1 April 2026 | TalTech example: EUR 100 per applicant (up to 2 programmes) | IELTS or TOEFL for English-taught programmes |
| Finland | Studyinfo.fi (Opintopolku) national portal | — | 100 EUR (non-EU/EEA/Switzerland applicants only) | IELTS, TOEFL, or a Finnish/Swedish proficiency test |
| France | Parcoursup (Licence)/Mon Master (Master's) for EU; Etudes en France otherwise | Parcoursup: rank wishes by mid-March | No fee for Parcoursup/Mon Master (EU/EEA applicants) | DELF/DALF or TCF (French-taught); equivalent cert (English-taught) |
| Germany | hochschulstart.de (Numerus Clausus subjects) or direct to each university | 15 July (winter semester) | Uni-assist: 75 EUR first program, 30 EUR each additional; direct applications free | DSH, TestDaF, telc, Goethe-Institut (German-taught); IELTS or TOEFL (English-taught) |
| Greece | Ministry of Education's online application system | July 2 to July 9, 2026 (online); July 10, 2026 (postal) | — | Greek B2 or higher (Greek-taught); IELTS or TOEFL (English-taught) |
| Hungary | Felvi.hu (domestic) or direct to each university (international, English-taught) | 15 January 2026, 2pm CET (Stipendium Hungaricum) | EUR 150-200 (direct application) | English test (English-taught) or Hungarian test (Hungarian-taught) |
| Iceland | Direct to each university (e.g. Ugla at University of Iceland) | 1 February (international, autumn admission) | 20,000 ISK processing fee (non-EEA/EFTA) + registration fee | IELTS, TOEFL or PTE (if program taught in English) |
| Ireland | CAO (Central Applications Office) for undergraduate; direct for postgrad/some programs | 1 February (normal closing date) | €35 (early-bird) / €50 (normal) / €65 (late) | IELTS or TOEFL if previous education not in English |
| Italy | Universitaly (non-EU abroad) or direct to each university (EU/resident) | Typically spring (non-EU pre-enrollment, for autumn start) | — | CILS/CELI/PLIDA B2 (Italian-taught) or IELTS/TOEFL (English-taught) |
| Kosovo | Direct to each university/faculty | — | — | — |
| Latvia | Study in Latvia portal to choose, then apply directly to each university | — | 100 EUR (RSU; 30 EUR for Latvian citizens) | — |
| Lithuania | LAMA BPO (joint admission portal, bachelor's/short-cycle); direct for master's | July 23 (main round, bachelor's/short-cycle, 2026) | 150 EUR (Vytautas Magnus Univ example; waived for Ukrainians) | — |
| Luxembourg | Direct to University of Luxembourg (Uni.lu), only public university | End of April to mid-September (Bachelor) | No application fee; registration 400 EUR/semester (yr1), 200 EUR/semester (yr2+) | — |
| Malta | Direct to University of Malta (UM) online system | 15 September 2026, 14:00 (late deadline, October intake) | EUR 100-200 (qualifications from outside Malta) | UM's International Student English Test (ISET) or equivalent |
| Moldova | Direct to each university's international admissions office | April 1 to June 30 (Moldova State University main intake) | — | — |
| Montenegro | Direct to each faculty/university | Before October start of teaching | — | — |
| Netherlands | Studielink (national portal) | 1 May (general); 15 January (numerus fixus) | — | IELTS or TOEFL |
| North Macedonia | Direct to each university (annual konkurs) | First round Aug 18-19, 2026 (UKIM) | — | — |
| Norway | Samordna Opptak (bachelor's); direct to university (master's) | 15 April (bachelor's, Samordna Opptak) | — | IELTS, TOEFL, or equivalent (English-taught programs) |
| Poland | Direct to each university (no national portal) | As late as September (October intake) | — | — |
| Portugal | Concurso Nacional de Acesso (CNA), run by DGES | 20 July - 6 Aug 2026 (CNA general window) | — | — |
| Romania | Direct to each university (no national portal) | 15 Apr - 15 Sept 2025-26 (Politehnica Timisoara, non-EU) | 100 EUR (Politehnica Timisoara, non-EU) | — |
| Serbia | Direct to each faculty (no national portal) | 25-31 Aug 2026 (Belgrade Faculty of Medicine) | 140 EUR (Belgrade Faculty of Medicine, 2026-27) | — |
| Slovakia | Direct to each faculty (Portal VS lists programmes) | Jan-May (varies); medicine/dentistry Dec-Jan | A few tens of euros (processing fee) | IELTS or TOEFL |
| Slovenia | eVŠ national portal | 18 Feb - 18 Mar 2026 (first period) | — | — |
| Spain | Regional preinscripción portals (per autonomous community) | June-July (preinscripción, after exam results) | — | — |
| Sweden | universityadmissions.se | 15 January 2026 (round 1) | 900 SEK | — |
| Switzerland | direct to each university | — | — | IELTS/TOEFL for English-taught; B2/C1 certificate for German/French-taught |
| Turkey | direct to each university | — | — | English or Turkish language proficiency certificate |
| the United Kingdom | UCAS | 13 January 2027, 18:00 UK time | £28.65 (single course) or £35.81 (two to five choices) | — |
How to use this table
Each row summarises one guide in this series. The figures are the ones quoted in that guide when it was written, and a dash means the guide does not state that item. Open a guide for its sources, the full detail and its latest update date.