Study information

The academic year is divided into two terms (semesters). Each semester consists of two blocks of classes and exams. Mostly two courses will be taught in each block: one course of 10 ECTS and one course of 5 ECTS. The 2nd year course Research Seminar and the 3rd year course Research Colloquium (Bachelor's thesis) are the exceptions: they run for two blocks.

Each block consists of six weeks of classes, one study week and three weeks of examinations. The 3rd week of exams usually offers the resits of the courses of the previous block.

The first semester usually starts on the first Monday in September. The current academic year calendars - including scheduled holidays - can be found here.

An examination period without classes follows each term. Written and oral examinations are used to assess students’ comprehension of lectures and required reading. Most examinations are written examinations, which are conducted digitally in the main Exam Hall of the University of Groningen. In some cases, a course is assessed by way of paper or a combination of a paper and a (written) examination.

The duration of a written examination is two to three hours. An oral examination normally takes one hour.

In the case of seminars, performance is assessed and grades are given on the basis of papers, presentations, quality of participation in group discussions, and other assignments.

The Dutch grading system is using a 1 to 10 grading scale in which 10 is the highest grade, 6 the minimum pass grade, and 1 the lowest grade. However, the grade 10 is rarely awarded. The scale used translates as follows:

Absolute grading system

In the Netherlands, grades are given on an absolute basis. Results of exams will hardly ever be adjusted to a curve, because we do not use a comparative system for grading.

All assessments are graded in full marks. The only exceptions to this are the Bachelor's thesis and seminars. These can be graded in half grades. The grade 6.0 is considered to be a pass grade in this respect. For all other assessments only full marks are given.

Distinctions

The distinction Cum Laude is awarded, when a degree programme is completed with an average grade of at least 8.0 or higher, including a Bachelor’s thesis marked 8.0 or higher.The distinction Summa Cum Laude is awarded, when a degree programme is completed with an average grade of at least 9.0 or higher, including a Bachelor’s thesis marked 9.0 or higher.

In order to be granted the distinctions Cum Laude or Summa Cum Laude, students are not allowed to resit an examination or score a six on one of the examinations.

All University of Groningen students will receive a so-called 'Binding Study Advice' (BSA) at the end of their first year. There are three types of advices you can receive, which have different consequences:

Tuition fees for students depend on their country of origin (EU/EEA or non-EU/EEA). Fees are indexed each year by the Dutch government.

The tuition fee does not include costs of travel, living, accommodation, insurance, books and readers.

Current tuition fees for the University of Groningen can be seen here.

For scholarship possibilities you can best check the University of Groningen Grantfinder. The Grantfinder offers prospective students a scholarship database in which to enter their nationality and study details, and then initiate a search in which the database will list the scholarships that they are eligible to apply for.

The Grantfinder only lists scholarships the University of Groningen is aware of and therefore is by no means a limitative list of available scholarships.

Unfortunately only a very limited number of scholarships exist for bachelor students.