The Senior University Examination Qualification (SUEQ), or in Dutch SKE, is a professional development programme for staff working at the programme level or higher.
It is aimed at those responsible for ensuring or maintaining the quality of assessment in higher education. The SUEQ supports participants in strengthening their vision, insight, and influence over how assessment quality is organised, executed, and improved. Certified participants are equipped to take a leading role in maintaining and raising assessment standards within faculties or institutional structures.
Programme Overview
The trajectory focuses on the organisational building blocks of quality assessment: from policy and vision to programme structure, procedures, roles, and responsibilities. You will analyse current practices, evaluate their coherence, and formulate realistic improvements. More information can be found in this brochure.
The programme is based on the national SKE guidelines but tailored to the UT context. Participants work on a personal in-depth project and reflect on their vision and role as a senior assessment professional. The trajectory includes practical assignments, coaching groups, peer feedback, and concludes with a public presentation and certification ceremony.
Time Investment & Format
Participating in the SUEQ requires a study load of approximately 100–120 hours. This includes time for practical assignments, coach group meetings, peer review, assessment interviews, and the final poster presentation.
The language of the programme is English, unless all participants speak Dutch.
Foundations of the SUEQ
Aim
The SUEQ trajectory is created in line with the national SKE guidelines in its objectives and intentions, albeit with a specific university focus and set-up.
The aim of this trajectory is to help you develop into a senior practitioner on assessment and examination. As SUEQ practitioner, you can formulate your vision on assessment, can understand the place and function of assessment within the study programme (faculty, institution) and you have the ability to oversee, influence and improve the care for and/or safeguarding of the quality of assessment at programme (or higher) level, thereby taking the specific context into account. This not only requires thorough knowledge of the parties involved and their respective roles and responsibilities and of rules and regulations, but also an attitude that can be described as pro-active, self-critical, sensitive for the relevant context and aimed at continuously further development.
Content
The SUEQ consists of 3 main parts: 
Activities
During this trajectory you will work on various practical assignments relevant for your situation, to develop your ability to think and work at the level intended by the SUEQ and required for your position. Cases and experiences of participants will be discussed at different moments in the programme. You will meet in coach groups, guided by a CELT coach, to discuss assignments, cases and questions in more detail. In duo’s you will provide and get peer feedback on your products. Developing your vision on assessment and reflecting on your own position, functioning and professional development, is also part of the programme. Extensive supportive documentation is available via the Canvas site.
Assessment
There are assignments for each module. At the end of each module, these assignments will be assessed and you will be asked to explain your findings in a (duo) interview, provide peer feedback and show your functioning at senior level. At the end of the trajectory, the results of your in-depth study, culminating in a targeted memorandum, your vision on assessment and your reflections on your position, functioning and development, will be assessed individually. You will also be invited to share the results of your individual in-depth study to a wider audience during a poster market, at which time certificates will also be festively awarded.
Learning Objectives
The SUEQ trajectory is created in line with the national SKE guidelines in its objectives and intentions, albeit with a specific university focus and set-up. It has its origins in a programme (1) of requirements for a basic and senior qualification (BEK/SKE) for those involved in examinations in higher (vocational) education that was set up in 2013 by an expert group commissioned by the Netherlands Association of Universities of Applied Sciences. The framework and guidelines that were created by an expert group , have been strongly embraced on national level, especially within higher professional education. In 2020, the original BKE/SKE guidelines were redefined and adjusted by a committee "Je ogen uitkijken" and presented in a new report. This time also in an English version (2).
For the UT SUEQ trajectory we have formulated the following leanring goals, based on the national goals. As a SEQ practitioner:
- You are aware of the assessment framework and different roles, tasks and responsibilities within the assessment organisation. You actively contribute to the reviewing and improvement of the assurance for or safeguarding of the quality of assessment within a programme (or broader) by analysing systematically current practices. You oversee the processes at play within the assessment organisation in their interrelationship and recognise stakes and needs of those involved. You can evaluate the quality of processes within the assessment organization, especially the parts for which you are responsible, and are able to identify problem areas and come up with substantiated ideas for improvement based on acquired expertise and insight into the context.
- You actively contribute to the reviewing and improvement of the assurance for or safeguarding of the quality of assessment within a programme (or broader) by coming up with substantiated advice on a specific problem or improvement area and by communicating this advice, including an implementation plan, convincingly and effectively to a relevant body or functionary and present your ideas to a broader audience within the UT community.
- You support and guide colleagues in the assessment process and evaluate the quality of assessments. You translate the results of evaluations of assessments into concrete recommendations for an examiner, based on acquired and demonstrable assessment expertise. You give advice on design and assessment issues. In doing so, you will constantly evaluate the function of the assessments and the context in which they are used.
- As a critical professional you are able to reflect on your personal functioning and you are focused on the further development of your own competence relating to assuring or safeguarding the quality of assessment on programme level (or higher) in line with your role, tasks and responsibilities. You are able to lead and/or initiate discussions on related topics with relevant stakeholders and colleagues.
(1) Sluysmans - verantwoord toetsen rapport.pdf
(2) Dutch: Verantwoordingsdocument-Kwaliteiten-van-de-toetsbekwame-hbo-docent.pdf
English: Assessment-literacy-Qualities-of-the-assessment-literate-UAS-teachers.pdf
Previous SUEQ Projects
Application & Admission
The SUEQ is intended for staff in higher education who are responsible for assuring or safeguarding assessment quality at curriculum level. This includes, for example, Examination Board members, programme directors, quality assurance officers, coordinators, and educational advisors.
Participants are expected to have basic knowledge of assessment, such as through a UTQ or BKE. If you do not meet this requirement, please contact the coordinators — supplementary learning during the trajectory may be possible.
The next SUEQ starts in September 2025. You can apply until 5 September 2025, please sign up here. You can find all the practical information in this handout.
