Equivalence and Recognition of Foreign Diplomas for Admission to the 1st Cycle

Students with a foreign access qualification must, in order to access the first year of the 1st cycle of studies (Bac 1), hold a secondary school graduation diploma recognized as equivalent to the Certificate of Higher Secondary Education (CESS) issued in the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles.

Students holding a foreign secondary education diploma must therefore submit a request for equivalence of their diploma or secondary school graduation certificate to the Equivalences Service of the Ministry of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles within the prescribed deadlines in order to access bachelor’s degree programs.

If you hold a foreign secondary diploma, please inquire with the Equivalences Service of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles to know the conditions for submitting an equivalence request.

Your equivalence request must be submitted by mid-July (July 14th) of each year to the Equivalences Service.

The complete equivalence file may also be submitted within 5 working days from the announcement of the admission exam results. This procedure is allowed by exception for students taking the admission exam.

IMPORTANT: It is strongly advised, if you do not have an address in Belgium, to provide the address of the Academy: 

ARBA-ESA, Student Secretariat 
144 rue du Midi 
1000 Brussels.

Chinese students must provide an APS certificate in addition to the equivalency.
All information on www.aps.org.cn

The fees for processing equivalency requests for the higher secondary education certificate amount to 200 euros. The payment instructions and the list of documents to be submitted with the request are available on the administration's website at the following address: 
www.equivalences.cfwb.be