During the application process, applicants are asked to indicate their top 12 preference of the CEMS partner school(s) they would like to attend for exchange. The listing is done when filling in the Online Application Form (OLAF). When receiving an offer of admission for the IM/CEMS programme, you will also be informed of the exchange destination and semester you have been allocated.
Exchange slots per school, however, are limited. This means that students applying for popular destinations may not be selected for their first choice, but instead for their second, third, or other preferred school. Applicants with higher grades and interview results will have better chances for selection for their preferred destination. Therefore a specific exchange destination should not be your main reason for choosing the IM/CEMS programme.
In addition, the following guidelines will be followed:
It's preferred that external (non-RSM) applicants spend the fall semester at RSM, to allow these students to experience student life at RSM and in Rotterdam first, prior to going on exchange.
Information on the CEMS partner schools can be found on www.cems.org.
Entry: Minimum required level upon admission (oral & written) | Exit: Required level upon graduation (oral & written) | |
English | C1 | C1 |
Second language (mothertongue or any other language) | B1 | B2 |
Third language (mothertongue or any other language) | A2 | B1 |
If you only meet the entry requirement upon starting this master, you will need to take additional language courses during the IM/CEMS programme to meet the required exit level before graduation.
When applying for the IM/CEMS programme, you will fill in the RSM Online Application Form. In this form you will be asked to indicate how you want to prove your proficiency in English and your second and third languages. You will also be asked to submit documentation such as academic transcripts or language course certificates as proof.
All proof must be submitted by the 31st of January.
In order to guarantee the required minimum level of English proficiency, you must be able to show proof of proficiency on at least C1 level (according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Language - CEFR). English proficiency can be proven in different ways:
NOTE: This form of proof is accepted for admission by RSM, but may not be accepted towards the CEMS Exit requirements. Applicants accepted to the programme using this form of English proof, may be required to obtain additional form of proof during the master.
You can use your bachelor degree as proof of english proficiency if:
If it is not mentioned on the diploma, or on the website of the university that the programme is taught in English, an official statement provided by the university is required.
You can use your master degree as proof of English proficiency if:
If it is not mentioned on the diploma, or on the website of the university that the programme is taught completely in the English language, an official statement provided by the university is required.
RSM accepts English course/test results at C1 level (CEFR) taken at any accredited university of applied science or research university within the EU/EEA*. All aspects of the language must have been included in the test (reading, writing, listening and speaking skills).
Online tests, such as the OLS (Online Linguistics Support for Erasmus+) or Oxford Online Placement test are NOT accepted.
Accepted forms of proof for the application:
You must be able to provide a copy of your test/ course result in your application. Accepted forms of proof are:
The Language & Training Centre (LTC) of Erasmus University, Rotterdam offers intake tests throughout the year, which will determine your current level of proficiency, as well as English courses from September onwards.
Current RSM BA students are strongly recommended to consider the BA English courses in trimester 7 as this option is (eventually) free of charge.
The accepted RSM courses are:
*This form of proof is accepted for admission by RSM, but may not be accepted towards the CEMS Exit requirements. Applicants accepted to the programme using this form of English proof, may be required to obtain additional form of proof during the master.
NOTE: This form of proof is accepted for admission by RSM, but may not be accepted towards the CEMS Exit requirements. Applicants accepted to the programme using this form of English proof, may be required to obtain additional form of proof during the master.
Standardized tests accepted by RSM:
IELTS: Academic test minimum overall score of 7.0 and minimum sub scores 6.5.
TOEFL (iBT) & TOEFL iBT® Special Home Edition: minimum overall score 100 with minimum sub scores of 22 for reading, listening. 23 speaking and for writing 24.
Please note that the ITP TOEFL test is not accepted as it does not test the speaking abilities of the candidate. RSM does however temporarily accept the TOEFL ITP® Plus for China. Students who have taken this test, will be required to take a additional verbal test via the Erasmus University Language & Training Center.
Cambridge English test with a minimum overall level of C1 and subscores of 180 for all parts of the test (reading, writing, listening, speaking). Accepted forms of test are:
| Test type | Reading | Writing | Listening | Speaking | Overall |
| Cambridge | 180 | 180 | 180 | 180 | 180 |
| IELTS | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 7.0 |
| TOEFL iBT | 22 | 24 | 22 | 23 | 100 |
General guidelines:
Verification & Validity
Always upload a copy of your score report in your application.
Officially the CEMS does not allow standardized test results to be older than 2 years. You can submit an application to CEMS at RSM with a Cambridge or IELTS test result that is more than 2 years old. However, you should be prepared to take a new test in case your CEMS exchange university requires a test is less than 2 years old
Intake tests and courses are offered by The Erasmus University Language & Training Centre (LTC) throughout the year. You can always participate in a Language test at the EUR LTC on their regularly scheduled test dates at your own cost. You can check for the next possible test date on their website. Please note that the ITP TOEFL test offered by the EUR LTC is not accepted as it does not test the speaking abilities of the candidate.
Who is this test for: This test is mainly aimed at students from Dutch educational institutions (HBO/WO) who are facing financial need and are not able to pay for a regularly scheduled test.
Test dates and times: The tests will only be offered on two specific moments of the year:
Registering for the test: You can register for the test when applying to RSM and filling in the Online Application Form (OLAF). You must submit your application for the programme of your choice at least three weeks before the date of the test you want to participate in. The RSM Admissions Office will then evaluate your application, and if you meet the other minimum requirements, we will register you for the test with the EUR LTC.
Prepare for the test: We advise you to sufficiently prepare for this test in advance. In the past years only 30% of test takers achieved the required C1 level.
Taking the test: On both dates the writing part of the test takes place in the morning and the verbal part in the afternoon. Therefore you need to be available throughout the day of the test.
Results of the test: After the test you will receive an overview of your results, but you will not receive an official language certificate. RSM will only accept your results if the minimum obtained overall level as well as individual components meet the C1 requirement. The test results are only valid for your application for RSM. The results of the 1st test will be available by mid January. The results of the 2nd test will be available in the beginning of May. Keep this in mind especially when applying for the programmes with a maximum capacity. If you fail to achieve a C1 level result, you can retake the test at your own cost.
Personal circumstances: Students with dyslexia or other personal circumstances can request for additional time to take the test. It’s required to notify the LTC by e-mail before the test date about any personal circumstances. In the email you should include your dyslexia statement or any other relevant statements.
Costs & cancellation: You can only take the test once free of charge. It is not possible to re-schedule the test due to illness or any other reason. If you cancel the test after the final list of test takers has been sent to the Language & Training Center, you will be charged the costs of the test!
NOTE: This form of proof is accepted for admission by RSM, but may not be accepted towards the CEMS Exit requirements. Applicants accepted to the programme using this form of English proof, may be required to obtain additional form of proof during the master.
Any language is accepted as your second and third language with the following exceptions:
You must submit sufficient proof of your proficiency by the application deadline of 31 January in the Online Application Form (OLAF).
Test results from Commercial language tests accredited for CEMS
Formal proof of a Commercial language course at a CEMS accredited cultural institute
You can use your high school or university studies as language proof. For example if your mother tongue is Dutch, and you completed your high school or bachelor studies in Dutch, this is sufficient proof.
The language of instruction should be evident based on the documents you upload in your application. If this is not the case, please add additional documentation regarding the language of instruction.
*RSM accepts some forms of proof for entry that are NOT accepted as evidence for the CEMS exit requirements. Assessment tests from the Language & Training Centre (LTC) at Erasmus University, as well as LTC course certificates, are accepted by RSM for entry to the programme, but not necessarily by CEMS upon completion of the master.
Language courses taken as a part of your secondary education can only be used as proof for the Third language, but only if they were taken until the last year of study or were a part of your final exams.
For example: If your entire secondary education was in Dutch, but you also studied French and took this a part of your final high school (VWO) exams, you can use this as proof of French proficiency at A2 level at the time of application.
This form of proof is only accepted by RSM upon admission and considered to be comparable to A2 level, but it is not accepted towards the CEMS exit requirement.
When filling in your application form, upload a copy of the final transcript of your secondary education as proof.
The following periods of validity apply for accredited language certificates and exams. The reference date for these periods of validity is the first day of the beginning of the programme (1 September, 2022):
Example: in order for a student to be able to use an accredited B2 language certificate towards CEMS graduation, that certificate may not be older than 5 years calculating from the first day of the start of the IM/CEMS programme.
All language proof must be included in your application by the deadline – 31 January. Exemptions on this are not possible.
Submit your application early – this way the RSM admissions office can notify you if any documents are missing or insufficient. Applications can be submitted from 1 October onwards.
Contact a university language center (such as the EUR Language & Training Centre) to check wether they can give you an intake test to determine your current level.
In a few cases it may happen you wish to choose a language, which cannot be proven by an accredited language institution, simply because these institutions or exams are not available. This means that you cannot use this language for your application.
For example, if your secondary or university education was completely taught in Hindi, then you can claim Hindi as your third language. But if you did not have secondary or university education in Hindi, you cannot claim this language as your third language, because there are no accepted methods of proving your level. A passport alone is not proof of proficiency of a language.
You must always show sufficient proof for your language proficiency with a course certificate or previous education.
The entry and exit requirements for English are nearly identical. In order to qualify for the exit requirements for the second language and third you may need to improve the language level with which you entered the programme (e.g. B1 -> B2).
Certain tests (such as intake tests and university language centre placement tests) are accepted by RSM for entry, but are NOT accepted by CEMS for exit. Therefore in some cases you may need to take a course or a higher-level exam simply to provide formal evidence that you meet the CEMS exit requirement.
Important note about the third language: Officially, students may meet the third language CEMS exit requirement in the form of a "CEMS-accredited elementary-level language course." RSM also abides by the same rule, bearing in mind that CEMS defines an "elementary level" as A1, A2, and B1. As RSM requires proficiency at A2 level for the third language upon admission, we require a minimum B1 oral and written level for the third language towards CEMS graduation.
Please refer to the table below for full details on acceptable forms of language evidence for CEMS exit requirements:
Language | CEMS exit requirement | Evidence accepted |
English | C1 (oral&written) | Entry requirement, successful completion of the compulsory Business Communication Skill Seminar (BCSS) during Term 1, and successful completion of the MSc International Management home degree |
Second language | B2 (oral&written) |
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Third language | B1 (oral&written) |
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