Getting a high score on the TU Delft Aerospace Engineering entrance exam does not automatically guarantee admission. Your final ranking depends on more than your performance in mathematics, physics and aerospace-related questions.
TU Delft combines academic performance with an assessment of academic aptitude to determine your position among other applicants. Understanding the difference between these components is important, particularly because a very strong exam result would most likely compensate for a weaker aptitude assessment, which is basically random if you ask me.
1. How is your ranking number determined?
Under TU Delft’s published selection regulations for the 2025–2026 intake, the final ranking is determined by two selection criteria:
| Selection criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Academic Aptitude | 40% |
| Academic Performance | 60% |
Academic Aptitude assesses characteristics associated with studying successfully at university. In the documented procedure, this includes a Study Motivation Test (SMT) and the MPT-Study personality assessment, which examines behaviour in study-related situations.
Academic Performance is assessed through the Selection Exam, covering mathematics, physics and material from the first year of Aerospace Engineering.
The results of these components are combined to establish a ranking among candidates. The weighting percentages do not mean that TU Delft simply adds together raw percentages from the tests.
2. Your ranking is relative to other applicants
One of the most important features of the selection procedure is that there is no universal entrance-exam score that guarantees admission.
Unlike an ordinary school examination, where achieving a predetermined grade may be sufficient to pass, TU Delft uses the selection results to distinguish candidates competing for a limited number of places.
For the 2025–2026 intake, Aerospace Engineering had 440 available places and approximately 3,400 applicants.
This does not mean that every applicant completed the entire procedure. Students may withdraw, miss compulsory assessments or fail to satisfy other requirements.
Your ranking number therefore depends on your performance relative to the other eligible candidates, rather than simply whether you achieved a particular percentage.
A score that is competitive in one admission cycle might correspond to a different ranking in another.
3. How are the mathematics and physics results assessed?
The mathematics and physics sections assess whether applicants have sufficient foundational knowledge to follow an engineering degree.
An important detail in TU Delft’s published selection documentation is that mathematics and physics results are treated categorically rather than necessarily being converted directly into a proportional contribution from every individual mark.
This means you should not assume that obtaining 80% in mathematics instead of 70% automatically produces a predictable increase in your final weighted score.
The exact score conversion and the performance of the other candidates matter.
For this reason, calculating your own likely ranking from raw practice-exam percentages is unreliable.
4. Does the motivation or personality assessment really matter?
Yes. Academic Aptitude represented 40% of the final ranking under the documented procedure.
The assessment is not simply a formality. It can materially change a candidate’s overall ranking, even when their Selection Exam result is strong.
A real example illustrates this.
In July 2026, the Dutch Council of State published a judgment concerning an applicant who challenged their TU Delft Aerospace Engineering ranking for the 2025–2026 intake.
According to the judgment, the applicant had performed above average on the academic performance assessment but below average on the academic aptitude tests. Their final ranking number was 881, outside the programme’s 440 available places.
The case demonstrates that a slightly above-average academic performance alone is not sufficient to guarantee admission.
It also confirmed that TU Delft uses an external assessment organisation, NOA, to help develop and evaluate the aptitude tests.
5. Do school grades, extracurricular activities or motivation letters count?
Under the published 2025–2026 procedure, previous school grades and extracurricular activities were not used directly to calculate the ranking number.
The selection was based on the specified assessments, rather than on a general evaluation of each applicant’s CV.
Similarly, the compulsory self-reflection undertaken during the matching phase was not graded and did not contribute to the ranking.
This distinction matters:
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Matching phase: Compulsory activities intended to help students understand the programme and assess their own suitability.
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Selection phase: Graded assessments used to establish the final ranking.
Completing the matching phase was necessary to proceed, even though its assignments did not contribute points to the ranking.
Eligibility requirements and the completion of mandatory activities remain separate from the final ranking calculation.
6. What ranking number do you need to get accepted?
For the documented intake with 440 available places, candidates within the initial capacity could receive an offer, provided they met the remaining admission requirements.
However, ranking outside the initial 440 did not automatically mean that admission was impossible.
When applicants decline or do not accept their offers within the required period, places can become available to candidates further down the ranking.
For example, a candidate ranked 510 might subsequently receive an offer if sufficient places become available. This is only an illustration, not a prediction of how far the ranking will move.
The actual number reached varies by admission cycle. Historical ranking movements should never be treated as a guaranteed admission threshold.
7. Can you calculate your own ranking in advance?
Not reliably.
Even knowing that Academic Aptitude contributes 40% and Academic Performance contributes 60% is insufficient to calculate a ranking number.
You would also need the official scoring transformations, the treatment of individual test components and the distribution of scores among the other candidates.
For instance, two candidates might achieve similar percentages on the academic exam yet receive noticeably different overall rankings because of their aptitude assessments.
Equally, two students with similar overall assessment results could be separated by relatively small score differences in a competitive cohort.
The safest interpretation is that practice-exam percentages are useful for tracking your preparation, not for predicting a precise ranking number.
8. What happens after the ranking numbers are released?
Candidates normally receive their ranking number through Studielink on 15 April.
Those offered a place must accept it within the specified deadline, generally two weeks. If an offer is not accepted, the place can be released to another candidate.
If your ranking is outside the initial capacity, continue monitoring Studielink and your email for subsequent offers.
Receiving an offer also does not remove the need to satisfy the programme’s formal admission and enrolment requirements.
9. How should the ranking system affect your preparation?
The most useful approach is to distinguish between the two selection criteria.
For Academic Aptitude, read the official instructions carefully and complete the assessments truthfully. There is no verified public answer key that guarantees a particular result.
For Academic Performance, preparation is much more concrete. TU Delft publishes the required mathematics and physics knowledge, allowing candidates to identify the exact concepts they need to master.
Focus on three areas:
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Mathematics: Build speed and accuracy in algebra, calculus, functions, trigonometry, geometry and vectors.
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Physics: Develop confidence in mechanics, electricity, magnetism, waves and physical modelling.
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First-Year Aerospace Engineering Topics: Study the official material provided for your admission cycle rather than relying exclusively on previous years’ content.
At DelftPractice, our preparation materials focus on helping candidates understand the underlying mathematics and physics, practise applying that knowledge and become comfortable solving problems under time pressure.
Final takeaway
The TU Delft Aerospace Engineering ranking system is not simply a list ordered by entrance-exam grades.
Under the documented selection procedure, academic aptitude accounts for 40% and academic performance for 60%. The resulting ranking determines which candidates receive offers within the programme’s limited capacity.
Because scores are relative and the full scoring methodology is not publicly disclosed, there is no reliable way to translate a particular practice-exam percentage into a guaranteed ranking number.
The best preparation strategy is to understand the selection process, complete every mandatory assessment and build strong, test-ready knowledge of the published academic syllabus.
