Applicants seeking admission into the Master’s and Certificate programs at the National Defence College must meet the following admissions policy. Please note that the NDC does not have any other admission policy nor accepts any other admission guidelines or stipulation beyond what is approved by the College Council in this Student Handbook:

  • Hold at minimum a Bachelor’s degree with a minimum cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 3.0 out of 4.0, or equivalent. A Master’s degree or higher qualification granted through direct pathway is accepted. Direct pathway degrees do not require a Bachelor’s degree, (these degrees are usually granted in the UK, France and Australia). A Bachelor’s degree is equivalent to 120 credits as per the QFEmirates Qualification Framework.
  • The previous qualification must be attested by the UAE Ministry of Education (MOE) if the degree was issued by a licensed higher education institution in the UAE. If the qualification was obtained abroad, the candidate must obtain an equalization from the UAE MOE. Qualifications from HCT/UAEU/ZU do not need an MOE attestation.
  • All NDC applicants, regardless of their highest previous qualification, must submit TOEFL and IELTS test scores at their time of admission in August. English language test results older than two years at the time of admission are not accepted. To be eligible for the Master’s degree, candidates must attain a minimum TOEFL score of 550 (213 CBT, 79-120 iBT) or 6.0 IELTS. Participants who are English native speakers, who were born and also studied in a country whose native language is English such as US, UK, Canada and Australia, are exempt.
  • Accepted English test versions include the TOEFL local (paper-based) test, and the international (internet-based) test; and the IELTS academic and general tests. Tests must be administered by an approved test center such as AMIDEAST, British Council, and Centre of Excellence for Applied Research & Training (CERT), etc.

NDC Conditional Admission

The NDC has set conditional admission guidelines for Participants who have met all graduate College requirements except the English proficiency requirement.

There are no other conditional admission options at the NDC. English Language Proficiency: An applicant with less than the required IELTS score of 6.0 or 550 TOEFL scores, or its equivalent must achieve and submit to the College the required English language score by the end of the student’s first semester of study in the Master’s program. Participants who do not submit the required English test score will not be eligible for the Master’s degree.

Admission Required Documents for Submission to NDC

The following documents must be submitted and will be part of the Participant’s permanent record:
  • Copy of Bachelor’s degree.
  • Certification stamps by appropriate authorities with attestation or equalization from the UAE Ministry of Education.
  • Copy of Bachelor’s degree transcripts with overall CGPA scores.
  • TOEFL/ IELTS test results, with scores not older than two years at the time of enrollment (August).
  • Copy of updated Curriculum Vitae (CV).
  • Copy of highest degree achieved, including Master’s or Ph.D. with transcripts.
  • Copy of Passport.
  • Copy of Emirates ID.
It is not required to submit copies of secondary school records such as the high school certificate of completion. All the above documents must be submitted prior to the start of the academic year.