Following a course and final assessment

This page will tell you all you need to know about following a course and the final assessment, so you will know what to expect when you register for a course.

Course locations

Our courses are taught in the buildings of the University of Groningen – mainly in the city centre, although some courses take place at the Zernike campus. In addition, we also teach online courses. The teaching location of each course is indicated in our web shop.

Where is my class?

We will send you an email with information about the classroom where you will have lessons as soon as the locations are announced to us, which is one week before the start of the course. Below is a list of all possible course locations and their address details.

Following online courses

Our online courses are taught via Kultura Classroom. ▸Take a look at our virtual classroom!

Online learning environment

We use the online learning environment Brightspace for our courses. On this platform, you will find all the information you need to follow the course, such as the course programme and your homework.

You will receive the login details for Brightspace before the start of the course. Take a look at this Brightspace help page if you have any questions about the use of the platform or if you are experiencing problems with logging in.

Course material

We will indicate for each course whether you need any course material and, if so, how to buy this. Some books are available from the Language Centre. You can buy all other books yourself in an online or physical bookshop.

Group size

Our courses are taught in small groups, so we can ensure that everyone receives sufficient personal feedback. The maximum number of students varies per course, between 8 and 18.

Final assessment

At the end of the course, the teacher will give you a recommendation for a follow-up course. If you have passed the attendance requirement, you will also receive a certificate of participation. The attendance requirement is 85% for civic integration Dutch courses and 75% for all other courses.

The certificate of participation is not a recognized certificate because we do not administer official examinations. If you need an official assessment of your language proficiency level, you can take a test at our Testing Unit. If you pass this test, you will receive a recognized certificate.

Follow-up advice

• If you passed your course, you will probably be advised to continue on to a follow-up course at a higher level.

• If your results were good to very good, you will probably be advised to continue on to a follow-up course at a higher level. In addition, if you follow a Dutch course, you may be granted permission to participate in an intensive course in January or in the summer. This requires a special advice. UG students, PhD students and postdocs will always be admitted to intensive courses at the recommended level.

• If you failed your course, the teacher may recommend that you repeat the same level or transfer to a different institution. The latter case may occur if the teacher feels that our methods do not match your way of learning a language. Our teachers can give you advice to make sure you are in the right place.

ECTS and PE points

You will not automatically earn ECTS or PE/CPD (permanente educatie/continuous professional development) points. However, you can submit a request to your own Board of Examiners to have ECTS credit points awarded for your course, or to your employer for PE points. If you do so for ECTS, you should assume that a student workload of 28 contact hours in our courses is equivalent to 1 ECTS.