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International Relations BA

Eötvös Loránd University (Faculty of Social Sciences) · Budapest, Hungary

100% taught in EnglishApply direct to the university, not the CAOInterviewEntrance interviewRolling roundsLow EU fee
Duration3 years
StartsAutumn 2027
EntryInterview
Deadline (EU)31 May 2027
EU fee (latest published)€2,400 / yr

About the course

A three-year (180 ECTS), English-taught BA covering international politics, security studies, EU politics, ethnic conflict, global justice and human rights. First year is introductory courses, followed by a wide range of elective seminars.

Entry requirements for Irish students

  • ELTE asks for a secondary school-leaving certificate and your records from the last two years of school. It publishes no Leaving Certificate grade or points conversion, and there is no CAO-style points ranking. Hungarian universities decide for themselves whether to accept the Leaving Cert, so confirm with ELTE admissions that your Leaving Cert results (plus your 5th and 6th year reports) will be accepted.
  • Admission depends on your documents (school results and a motivation letter of 1,500 to 4,000 characters in English) plus an online oral entrance exam. A panel of a professor, a lecturer and a student tests your general knowledge of the subject and your interest in it. If you fail the oral exam, your application is rejected. The recommended reading is Baylis, Smith and Owens, The Globalization of World Politics.
  • English: B2 level is required (for example IELTS 5.5, TOEFL iBT 46-59 or Cambridge English Scale 162). The portal also accepts proof that you completed your previous education entirely in English, or your English can be assessed in the interview, so an Irish-educated applicant should not normally need a separate test. Confirm this with admissions.

How to apply

  1. Prepare documentsGather your secondary school certificate (Leaving Cert results), your 5th and 6th year school reports, a valid passport copy, and an English motivation letter of 1,500 to 4,000 characters.
  2. Apply online earlyApply on apply.elte.hu and pay the non-refundable fee. It is EUR 100 from 1 Oct 2026 to 15 Jan 2027, then rises to EUR 150 and finally EUR 200 for the 5 to 31 May 2027 round.
  3. Sit the online oral examOnce your round closes, ELTE emails you a time for the online interview. Read Baylis, Smith and Owens, The Globalization of World Politics, beforehand.
  4. Accept and enrolIf you pass, accept your offer and pay the tuition fee (EUR 1,200 per semester for EU students on the latest figures). Studies begin on 1 September.
Deadline for Irish/EU applicants: ELTE uses rolling application rounds, and the application fee rises in later rounds. The portal lists these periods: 1 Oct to 15 Nov 2026, 20 Nov 2026 to 15 Jan 2027, 20 Jan to 30 Apr 2027, and a last call from 5 to 31 May 2027. At each round’s close, applicants with a complete file are invited to an online oral entrance exam. The previous cycle’s final deadline was 31 May 2026. Applying early costs less and makes places more likely..

Costs

  • EU/EEA students pay EUR 1,200 per semester (about EUR 2,400 a year); an older faculty page describes this as EUR 950 tuition plus a EUR 250 English-curriculum development fee each semester. Non-EU students pay EUR 2,700 per semester, which is the figure the application portal shows. There is also a one-off, non-refundable application fee: for the 2026/27 cycle it is EUR 100 if you apply from 1 Oct 2026 to 15 Jan 2027, EUR 150 from 20 Jan to 30 Apr 2027, and EUR 200 from 5 to 31 May 2027. Confirm the 2027/28 tuition fee with ELTE.
There is no points race: the deciding step is an online oral interview, and failing it means rejection, so prepare with the recommended textbook. Apply in an early round, because the application fee rises from EUR 100 to EUR 200 and there are at most 50 places.

At a glance

CountryHungary
CityBudapest
LanguageEnglish
Apply viaUniversity online portal (apply.elte.hu)
PlacesMinimum 10, maximum 50 new students
EntryInterview
Programme page ↗Application portal ↗← Back to all European courses

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Checked against the official ELTE website in September 2026 (2027 entry). The application rounds and fees for 2026/27 are published, but the tuition fee shown may be from the 2026 cycle. Confirm the 2027/28 fee with ELTE. Always confirm details with the university before applying.