USER-GRADUATE Education The quality of Dutch higher education is amongst the best in the world. Education at VU Amsterdam is struc- tured according to the Bachelor s and Master s system. In general, the teaching style can be described as student-centred; we stimulate students to develop their own opinion through independent and creative thinking. This means that teaching is conducted in small seminars where interaction is the norm rather than the exception. At VU Amsterdam students are encouraged to engage with their professors in a discussion.

clock Academic year The academic year starts in the first week of September and is divided into two semesters. At VU Amsterdam, each semester consists of three periods of 8+8+4 weeks. Examinations are held at the end of each semester (January and June), or at the end of the eight- or four-week period. You are registered as a student from 1 September until 31 August.

The Dutch education system

6.0 or more stands for pass , a grade of less than 6.0 for fail . Grades 1 through to 4 are very rarely given, and the same is true for grades 9 and 10.

Star Grading culture Grading practice in the Netherlands can differ from how grades are award- ed in other countries. When the 1 through to 10 scale was officially introduced back in the late 19th cen- tury, it was decided that a 10 should only be awarded in cases of absolute perfection. A 9 was considered to be only a slightly less impossible goal to reach. With the advent of multiple choice testing and yes/no answers to questions, 10 s and 9 s actually came within reach of ambitious students. To this day, however, these grades are still very rarely awarded in oral exami- nations or open question testing, such as essays, presentations, project reports or dissertations.

ABACUS Credits At VU Amsterdam, credits are list- ed according to the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). The ECTS credit system is based on study work- load, which includes contact hours, time spent completing papers, assign- ments and preparing for examinations. In this system, 1 ECTS credit point represents 28 hours of study (including class attendance). A full-time student is expected to earn 60 ECTS credits in one academic year, and 30 ECTS credits in one semester.

Medal Dutch grading system When you come to the Netherlands to study you will probably expect that many things are different than in your home country. The grading system may also not be the same as what you are used to. In the Netherlands, the traditional grading scale is from 1 through to 10, where 1 is the lowest and 10 the highest grade. A grade of

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