Course load, timeslots and calendar

Course Load

Utrecht University uses the European Credit Transfer System or ECTS. 1 EC equals 28 hours of study. Most courses at the Faculty of Humanities are worth 7.5 EC, which is 210 hours of study. You are required to take 30 EC per semester.

Academic Year (60 EC)

Semester 1 (30 EC): September - January

block 1 (15 EC)
  • Course 1 (7.5 EC)
  • Course 2 (7.5 EC)
block 2 (15 EC)
  • Course 3 (7.5 EC)
  • Course 4 (7.5 EC)

Semester 2 (30 EC): February - August

Block 3 (15 EC)
  • Course 5 (7.5 EC)
  • Course 6 (7.5 EC)
Block 4 (15 EC)
  • Course 7 (7.5 EC)
  • Course 8 (7.5 EC)

Course levels

The level of each course is indicated in the course description.

  • Level 1: Bachelor Introductory (broad introduction to the subject)
  • Level 2: Bachelor Elaborating (exploring aspects of the subject, current debates, specific methods and techniques)
  • Level 3: Bachelor Advanced (integration/synthesis, formation of theories based on research results)
  • Level M: Master level (only accessible for Master's students with approval from the course coordinator)
Time slot model

Schedules & time slots

An academic year consists of 2 semesters divided into 4 blocks:

  • Semester 1 consists of block 1 and 2
  • Semester 2 consists of blocks 3 and 4

When attending more than 1 course in a block, make sure to choose courses that fall into different time slots, to prevent your lectures, workgroups or exams from being at the same time. It is not possible to take more than one course in a block in the same time slot. Please refer to OSIRIS to see which time slot a course is assigned to.

Global overview time slots

Broadly speaking, the time slots are classified as follows:

A: Monday morning, Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday morning
B: Tuesday morning, Thursday afternoon
C: Monday afternoon, Tuesday afternoon, Thursday morning
D: Wednesday afternoon, Friday
E: Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Thursday night

See below for a more detailed specification. 

Time slot model exams

The exam time slot model

If an exam is scheduled outside the regular course schedule, it can be scheduled according to the exam time slot model. The times are different from the course times, but are roughly the same:

A: Monday morning, Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday morning
B: Tuesday morning, Thursday afternoon
C: Monday afternoon, Tuesday afternoon, Thursday morning
D: Wednesday afternoon, Friday
E: Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Thursday night

Academic year calendar

The academic calendar of the Humanities faculty shows exactly how the academic year is organised. Different dates may apply to courses/educational activities that are (partly) provided by other faculties. So keep a close eye on this!
» printable version academic year calendar 2023-2024 (pdf)

Explanation

  • Non-teaching Days: no classes, tests and resits scheduled.
    Group or individual arrangements can be made if so agreed upon by both the student and the teacher, e.g. handing in an assignment, doing a resit or receiving feedback.
  • Reflection weekno classes and tests scheduled.
    Students and teachers are available for resits, reflection, feedback, tutoraat and information events. 
  • Christmas break: no classes, tests and resits. 
    Students do not have to be available for teaching or study activities. 
  • Summer break: no classes, tests and resits scheduled.
    Group or individual arrangements can be made if so agreed upon by both the student and the teacher, e.g. handing in an assignment, doing a resit or receiving feedback.