Incoming exchange students

Are you interested in an exchange programme at the University of Twente? Welcome! In this and the subsequent pages, you will find all relevant information regarding an exchange period at the UT.

Before you start reading about the contents of the exchange programmes, please familiarise yourself with our educational system and exchange opportunities, below.

The University of Twente has exchange agreements with international universities facilitating student exchange. Please note that student exchange coursework is only possible if your home institution is an official partner of the University of Twente. Contact your home university’s international student services to check whether your home institution has an exchange agreement with the UT. A placement could be possible even if your home university is not a partner; please continue reading here to find out more about this. For a complete overview see our brochure below.

Educational system

At the UT a full academic year is divided into two semesters (1 & 2), and each semester into two blocks (A & B):

	Block	Nominal study load (# ECTS credits)	Period (for the exact begin and end dates go to the academic year!)
1^st / Fall semester	1A	15	Mid Aug-Nov ^(*)
1^st / Fall semester	1B	15	Nov-Feb
2^nd / Spring semester	2A	15	Feb-Apr ^(**)
2^nd / Spring semester	2B	15	Apr-Jul ^(***)
Summer	3	variable	variable

^(*)This period includes an introduction week in August (‘Kick-In’). You are expected to attend these and will be informed about the contents and duration of this activity after you are accepted by us as an exchange student.

^(**) This period includes a (brief) introduction at the beginning of February (‘Kick-In’).

^(***) Do note that re-sits (especially for the MSc courses) are regularly scheduled outside the actual block in which the course is offered. The re-sit periods are also indicated in the academic year.

Bachelor level
Our bachelor programmes are composed of so-called modules. Each module has a study load of 15 ECTS credits, this means that per block you can be registered for one module at a time. It is not possible to register for only a part of a BSc module (e.g. for less than 15 ECTS credits).

Bachelor programmes take three years; in the description of the exchange programmes the level of the modules is indicated with:

B1  1^st year
B2   2^nd year
B3   3^rd year

Master level
The master programmes are composed of courses. Per course the number of ECTS credits varies between 1 and 10 ECTS credits. The vast majority of MSc courses have a study load of 5 ECTS credits.

Most of our courses are taught within one block, but some of the courses are taught during a whole semester (blocks 1A+1B, or blocks 2A+2B) and some are even taught from semester 1 into semester 2 (blocks 1B+2A). This, and a lot of other information, can all be found in our course catalogue.

Master programmes take 1 or 2 years; the course level is indicated with‘M’.

Dutch grading system and grading table per programme

Dutch grading system
In the Netherlands, you can get a grade between 1 and 10 - 1 being the lowest, and 10 being the highest. But that's not all: a 10 is hardly ever given, as you will have to perform better than the lecturer to get one. See below the grading table per programme.

Exchange opportunities
The University of Twente offers multiple exchange opportunities:
- Course exchange
  o Exchange study packages (ESP)
  An ESP is a balanced, coherent, well-structured and self-contained set of modules (BSc level) or courses (MSc level). Most of the ESPs are composed for one semester (30 ECTS credits), some of the ESPs are composed for one block only (15 ECTS credits). Two different types of ESP are offered:
  - interdisciplinary packages, open to students from very diverse backgrounds
  - education-specific packages, defined per educational programme
  o Individually composed course list
- Research assignment (e.g. placement)
- A combination of both
- CuriousU Summer School
  Discover new disciplines, interact with international participants and give your personal and professional development a boost by joining one of the 18 summer courses offered by the University of Twente.

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