Which Dutch Bachelor's Programs Now Cap English-Taught Spots

Why some Dutch bachelor's programs now split their intake

Dutch universities now separate a bachelor's program into an English-taught track and a Dutch-taught track, each with its own cap under the numerus fixus selection system. The split lets a university limit international, English-track enrollment while keeping the Dutch track open to as many Dutch-speaking applicants as it wants. About eleven bachelor's programs used a track-specific cap for the first time for 2026-27 admission, and the number is set to grow as the Internationalisation in Balance Act debate continues.

For a Canadian applicant, the English track is your main route into a Dutch bachelor's degree, since full Dutch-medium study needs a level of fluency most Canadian high school graduates do not have. A cap on that track means the seats you qualify for shrink even when a program's total intake grows.

TU Delft: Computer Science and Engineering

TU Delft admitted 590 new bachelor's students for 2026-27, split into 345 English-track seats and 245 bilingual Dutch-English track seats. If you hold a foreign diploma, you apply to the English track only, unless you meet the Dutch language requirements for the bilingual track.

Selection ranks applicants on a mathematics test and a systematic reasoning test. The top 210 English-track scorers and top 150 bilingual-track scorers enter a priority category, and the rest go into lottery categories below them.

Registration through Studielink opened October 1, 2025 and closed January 15, 2026 for the September 2026 start, and later intakes follow the same October to January window.

How the lottery selection works

Once TU Delft ranks every applicant by the mathematics and reasoning test scores, it sorts each track into three categories. Category 1 holds the highest scorers and admits them without a lottery draw.

Categories 2 and 3 hold everyone else, ranked by score inside each category, and a weighted lottery decides who moves up into an open seat as higher-ranked applicants withdraw or decline offers elsewhere. A strong test score still helps outside Category 1, since it sets your position inside your lottery category.

Hanze University of Applied Sciences: Physiotherapy

Hanze, in Groningen, caps its English-taught physiotherapy bachelor's at 75 students while leaving the Dutch-taught track uncapped. If your Dutch is not strong enough for the Dutch track, apply early and expect competition for the smaller English-track cohort.

Why a track split changes your odds

A track-specific cap changes who you compete against. Before a program splits its intake, an international applicant to a bilingual or English-medium degree competes against every applicant to that program, regardless of track.

After the split, you compete only against other applicants inside your own track. A small, in-demand English track is often harder to enter than the total program size suggests, even in a year when the combined program grows.

What else changes for your application at a split-track program

Most English tracks still require a separate English proficiency score, such as IELTS or TOEFL, alongside any subject-specific admission test and your Canadian high school transcript. Ask the admissions office whether your diploma needs a separate equivalency check, and register through Studielink before you submit documents to the individual university's own portal, since Dutch numerus fixus programs run both systems side by side rather than one replacing the other.

Where else to watch for this

Fields that already run numerus fixus selection, including medicine, psychology, artificial intelligence, international business administration, and international relations, are the most likely to add a track-specific split as more universities respond to the same policy pressure. If medicine is your target and a Dutch numerus fixus track feels too competitive, English-taught medicine in Malta or Cyprus runs its own separate admissions process. Exact caps differ by school and change most years, so check the program's admission page directly rather than relying on last year's numbers.

At Erasmus University Rotterdam , numerus fixus programs for the 2025-26 cycle included Criminology at 170 places, Medicine at 400, International Business Administration at 750, Psychology together with the International Bachelor Psychology at 600 combined, International Bachelor Economics and Business Economics at 700, Clinical Technology at 120, and Nanobiology at 120. Erasmus has not published a track-specific English versus Dutch split for these programs the way TU Delft and Hanze have.

At VU Amsterdam , Psychology runs as an English-taught numerus fixus program, while Criminology, Medicine (Geneeskunde), and Dentistry (Tandheelkunde) stay Dutch-taught only. A Canadian applicant needs English only for the Psychology route at VU, and the other three stay closed to you without Dutch fluency regardless of any cap.

Why more programs are likely to add this split

The compromise the Dutch government reached on the Internationalisation in Balance Act leaves room for exactly this kind of targeted cap instead of forcing a program back to Dutch entirely. A university facing pressure over international enrollment numbers offers a track split as a middle path, keeping its English-taught reputation while limiting how many seats go through that track. Expect more programs, especially in medicine, psychology, and business fields that already run numerus fixus limits, to adopt the same model as the amended legislation moves through Parliament in late 2026.

If you are a Canadian high school student a year or two away from applying, build flexibility into your shortlist. A track split at your first-choice program is not guaranteed to hold the same numbers next year, so keep at least one alternative program or university in mind that does not depend on winning a small English-track lottery. That could mean widening your search to English-taught programs in Germany as a backup.

How to check before you apply

• Search the program name plus numerus fixus on the university website

• Look for a stated split between English-taught, bilingual, and Dutch-taught places

• Confirm which tracks accept a foreign diploma, since most restrict international applicants to the English or bilingual track

• Register through Studielink starting October 1 for a September start the following year

• Submit your complete file, including any required admission test, by the January 15 deadline