Application and admission

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You can apply for this course through Studielink. First, please read the admission process for the AD Interior Designer below and find general admission information for ArtEZ here. Once you've applied, you'll receive a confirmation email from ArtEZ Student Affairs. After that, the course will provide you with further details regarding the admission process

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Important dates and deadlines

• Admission option 1: The entrance exam will take place on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Submit your portfolio no later than Tuesday, April 2, 2024. 
• Admission option 2: The entrance exam will take place on Friday, May 31, 2024. Submit your portfolio no later than Tuesday, May 21, 2024.
• Admission option 3: The entrance exam will take place on Friday, June 21, 2024. Submit your portfolio no later than Tuesday, June 4, 2024.

Interior Designer admission criteria

• Intermediate vocational training (level 4) or a foreign equivalent level of education, or lateral entry candidates with a Higher vocational training diploma.
• International students must meet certain language requirements criteria.
• Portfolio with your own work and home assignments set by us.
• Assignments carried out at the academy during admissions.
• Positive assessment of portfolio and entrance examination.

All our study programmes have language requirements. You will need to prove your language proficiency by handing in a certificate stating your level. The level for Interior Designer is:

• B2, before 31 August. If you need a residence permit to study at ArtEZ, the delivery deadline is 31 May.

Check exemptions and language courses.

As part of the admission exam, we assess your chances of success in the course. 

We test:

• Your creative ability: Your ability to express yourself visually, to work from perception, and conceptual work. You have insight into and a sense of colour, form and material. Your work expresses individuality and originality.
• Your ability to communicate: You are communicative, share your fascination and inspiration and demonstrate your decisiveness and discipline.
• Your ability for critical reflection: You have an investigative and experimental mindset, interest in art and culture and a focused interest in the profession.

You are active, make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into, carry out what you want to research and what inspires you. You ensure you can talk about your work, without merely explaining it. You can share information about what it’s based on, how it was created, why you use specific techniques.

Portfolio and home assignment

It is important that you have also created three-dimensional work: In addition to drawings, paintings, photographic series, animations, website, there should also be furniture items, clothing or objects, for example. If you have completed a level 4 intermediate vocation training course in the creative field, we also advise bringing along examples of your own work (drafts, drawings, etc.) in addition to work you made as part of your course. If you completed a creative subject in your Higher general secondary school or pre-university education, it is also good to bring along your own work.

Sketching by hand is an important part of this course. Therefore, in preparation for your admission, start making a three-dimensional drawing (from observation) every day, in a sketchbook for example.

Further, it is important that you immerse yourself in contemporary culture, that you regularly go and look at contemporary art exhibitions in museums, galleries and artist-run initiatives. Examine and read Dutch and foreign art and design magazines regularly: MetropolisM, Kunstbeeld, Frame, DAMn, Dezeen. You should also read the newspaper art supplements, in particular the Cultural Supplement from the NRC Handelsblad, Trouw, and the Volkskrant.

Upon registration via Studielink, select a date for your interview. You will then receive information about the admission, the corresponding home assignments and the questionnaire (CV) by mail. You can upload your portfolio and your letter of motivation in the questionnaire.

Entrance examination

The admission test consists of two parts:

Round 1

1. When applying in Studielink, you pick a date for the interview. After you have applied for the course, you get an e-mail with a link to a questionnaire that you must complete.

2. When you have completed the questionnaire and sent it back, you can download the homework assignments. You can get started on them yourself. Take photos of your homework assignments.

3. Putting together your portfolio The portfolio (max. 10 Mb.) can consist of drawings, paintings, photo series, animations, websites, furniture, clothes and posters. Also add pictures of the homework assignments. Above all, show the process that led to your design. Make a selection and present it in an organised and structured manner. We prefer work that you have created at your own initiative. It can be two-dimensional or three-dimensional, but it must demonstrate a sense of space.

4. Motivation letter
- What is your most important reason for wanting to become a designer?
- Why do you want to study at ArtEZ in particular?

5. E-mail documentation
E-mail your motivation letter and portfolio (along with the photos of the homework assignments) to: ToelatingenArtDesign.Zwolle@ArtEZ.nl During your interview, we will look at the completed questionnaire, the homework assignments, the portfolio and the motivation letter and we would like to hear your narrative regarding the work you have brought with you.

6. Assessment of your portfolio (including the homework assignments) Within a few weeks, you will receive the assessment of your portfolio. If your assessment is positive, you will receive an invitation for round 2 on the specified examination day. You will also be informed in the event of a negative assessment.

Round 2

The examination day consists of the following components:

1. On the examination day, you will work on two assignments; an observation assignment and creating a three-dimensional piece.

2. Interview with the admissions committee consisting of lecturers and students of IN_architecture. You will explain your portfolio and talk about your work. Bring the first drafts and designs with you; they provide a good insight into the creative process. Adopt an active attitude, be sure you know where you are going when you say something, communicate what you want to explore and what inspires you. Be sure that you can talk about your work without merely explaining it. Say something about the background, how the work originated, why you used particular techniques.

3. During the interview, you will show your portfolio and the scale model of the house plus the material studies for the homework assignments (so bring the model and materials with you).

4. You can collect your work at 16:00.

5. The admissions committee that interviews you will advise the board of examiners whether or not you should be admitted. You will receive the result by letter.