Academic Calendar
The academic year of the CHE starts September 1 and finishes the next year at August 31. The calendar year has four periods of academic activity, which end before the summer holiday in the month of July. During the summer holiday no formal instruction is given. At the end of August, students can catch up on the work that has yet to be completed and resit for exams. During each academic period of ten weeks, students visit classes the first six to seven weeks. The remaining weeks are used for other types of educational activities, including preparing for exams. In the ECTS-guides detailed information is provided on the academic calendar of the CHE in general and the Departments in particular.
Modules & Credits
Modules
According to the Law on Higher Education, all Dutch institutes for higher education have a modular system. Each module represents a number of credits corresponding to a certain workload. The workload is measured in hours. Most modules have a workload of 40 hours of total study time, roughly one week of work. Each module of 40 hours represents 1 credit. In one academic year, a student will have to pass 42 credits or 1680 total hours of study time. Since almost all programs in Dutch higher education have a 4-year structure, a student will have to gain and pass 168 credits (42 credits x 4) for his/her total degree programme.
Credits
Credits are awarded only when the educational module has been completed and when all required examinations have been passed successfully. Some courses are double or triple the basic module of 40 hours study time. In that case a student will receive 2 (80 hours), 3 (120 hours) or more credits for her/his work. Students will also receive credits for their accomplished internships, student-teaching programmes, etc. In general about 25 % of the total programme requires some form of practical work by students. Credits are not to be confused with grading (please see below).
Course-structure & Grading
Course-structure
Most modules require the attendance of classes. A module then consists of several hours of classroom teaching or work and a number of hours of self-study. In many modules, self-study is structured by so called study tasks (for example, library work), mini-training and assessment. Students receive detailed printed requirements per module (called 'blokboeken' in Dutch).
Grading at the CHE
10: excellent
9: very good
8: good
7: satisfactory (above average)
6: pass
1-5 failure
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