The BA courses at WdKA are organised in such a way to enable you to acquire the competences you will need in your future career such as attitude, knowledge, ability and skills. The competences in which WdKA trains its students are based on national and international agreements and focused on WdKA's own vision of education. In The Netherlands, the HBO-raad (Council for Higher Professional Education) has, in consultation with all the Dutch art academies, laid down the competences students are required to have after completing a course at this level. At WdKA, these competences match with what is expected of autonomous artists, designers and teachers starting their professional career in The Netherlands and other countries. The Dutch national agreements on competences correspond with the international standards for higher education - the so-called Dublin descriptors.

On the basis of the following general competence areas, WdKA has formulated specific competences for all its courses:
creative ability, ability to reflect critically, ability to develop and renew, organisational ability, communicative ability, perception of surroundings, ability to work with others, and (specifically for the Fine Art & Design Teacher Training course): pedagogical and didactic (artistic) abilities.

The way in which WdKA has incorporated and applied these competence areas in its courses is explained on WdKA's Intranet.

The competence areas always involve a combination of your ability and knowledge, and your personality and your career ambitions (‘what you can and know, what you are and want’). Not only creative genius, the related background knowledge and technical skills are important in this respect. Critical reflection of your own work and your perception of your (work) environment are vital aspects of studying at WdKA. In the job you do after you have completed your course, you will especially be required to continue to develop autonomously and to organise the practical, commercial and communicative aspects of your work.