Academic policies and procedures
The Education and Examination Regulations (OER, short for Onderwijs- en Examenregelingen) describe the specific regulations for the programme. In the OER you find information for instance about your study programme and the graduation requirements.
In your first year of enrolment, you will receive two letters containing your personal study advice.
Before 1 February you will receive a preliminary study advice, which is based on your study results of the first period. This study advice is not binding. It acts as a warning in the case that your study progress is insufficient and offers you the opportunity to improve your academic performance.
The second letter will be sent at the end of the first study year and is a binding advice.
To receive a positive study advice at the end of the academic year 23-24, you must pass at least six courses in the first year of your study at U.S.E. This means 45 EC of the -in total- 60 EC. A negative binding study advice will be given, if you have not obtained enough study credits, i.e. 45 EC. Receiving such advice means that you will not be able to enrol for the Bachelor’s programme in Economics and Business Economics at Utrecht University for a period of four consecutive years. A binding study advice only applies to the Bachelor's degree programme in question at Utrecht University.
Hearings
In case U.S.E. intends to issue a negative binding study advice to you, you will be given the opportunity to be heard before the decision becomes final.
The hearings are however exclusively meant to address evident administrative mistakes or grave mitigating personal circumstances that you were unable to report before the study advice was first issued.
The hearings will take place on August 12 and 13. If you wish to be heard, the deadline to apply for a hearing is August 7. You can apply via Osiris Student, tab Cases (Policies and procedures > REBO USE: Registration hearing BSA).
After the hearings, the Director of Education will make a final decision.
Unforeseen circumstances
It is possible that a delay will occur in your academic progress due to unforeseen circumstances, such as a long period of illness, functional disorders or grave family circumstances. If you believe that these circumstances should be taken into consideration with respect to your study advice, you must contact the Study Advisors as soon as possible.
Please note! Credits attained from any exemptions you have been granted and from any interim tests you may have passed do not count towards calculating how many EC you have attained.
For the official regulations regarding the Binding Study Advice please refer to article 7.4 of the Education and Examination Regulations.
More information
Invigilator
At each examination invigilators are present. You can contact an invigilator for all your questions. You must follow the instructions of the invigilator. The teacher is only present for substantive questions. You ask the invigilator to call the teacher for you when you need them.
Start and end
After the first 30 minutes of the exam, it is no longer possible for latecomers to enter the exam hall. Students, who are already in the exam hall, do not leave until after the first 30 minutes of the exam. If the examiner is aware of extraordinary circumstances (e.g. train delays) which could lead to lateness, the examiner may decide to prolong the 30 minutes of late entry to an hour. In that case the time at which students are permitted to leave the hall will be consequently pushed back.
Legitimation
All students put their ID with a clear and recognizable photo on the table and the invigilator checks whether all the students who are taking the exam are on the list and ticks the name. With a combined retake exam it is especially important to check whether the students present are actually allowed to sit the exam.
Default rules
- Bags are to be placed on the floor and must remain closed for the duration of the exam.
- Coats must be hung in the wardrobe or folded up under the chair until the exam has been handed in.
- Mobile phones and other communication devices including wrist watches are only allowed when switched off and stored in a closed bag, with the exception of a non-programmable calculator with a mere numeric memory. It is only possible to alter the above-mentioned stipulations if explicitly stated on the front page of the exam.
Toilet
It is only possible to visit the toilet after the first 30 minutes of the exam with permission of the invigilator. The invigilator does not allow more than 1 student at a time to go to the toilet.
Scrap paper
At the start of the exam, the invigilator will hand out the test assignments and a certified piece of scrap paper. It is strictly forbidden to use any paper other than the exam paper and/or certified scrap paper.
Dictionary
Students have the right to use a dictionary and may bring this themselves (hardcopy only). The invigilator has the right to check the dictionary.
Calculators
See next grey dropdown box 'Calculators at U.S.E.'
Fraud
If the invigilator notices (attempted) fraudulent behaviour, they must notify the student in question as well as the examiner and confiscate the evidence. The student will be given the opportunity to finish their work. The further procedure for the examiner is as follows:
- The examiner must fill in an exam incident report as soon as possible
- The examiner must hand in the exam incident report and the confiscated evidence to the secretary to the Board of Examiners
The Board of Examiners will take further necessary actions.
Handing in the exam
When handing in the exam, make sure you have put your name, student number and signature on your work.
As proof of handing in the work you will receive a receipt (e.g. second front page).
The invigilator may exclude a student from further participation in the exam if the student cannot produce any ID, is using a mobile phone or other communication equipment, have such equipment switched on or if the student fails to comply with the instructions of the invigilator. Being excluded means that the student will receive a grade 1 for the exam.
The Education and Examination Regulations state that ‘being in possession of (i.e. having/carrying) tools and resources during tests, such as preprogrammed calculators…’ is not permitted.
In case you are explicitly allowed to use a non-programmable calculator during an exam, only one of the following models is permitted:
- Casio fx-82MS
- Casio fx-82NL
- Casio fx-83GT CW
- Texas Instruments TI30XB(S)
- Hewlett Packard HP10S+
You can inspect your marked exam upon request during twenty working days after the announcement of the result of a written test. In case your exam was on paper (not digitally), please contact Exam Support via email to request a copy of your work: examsupport.use@uu.nl.
More information (date, time and place) about the opportunity for you to discuss your work will be made available no later than the publication of the test results by the course coordinator.
If you did not pass an exam, it is possible to retake the exam under certain conditions.
If you have met the course’s effort requirements and your final grade is at least a (NON-rounded off) 4, then you are permitted to retake a Bachelor’s course exam. The effort requirements can be found in the Course Catalogue. In the information stated about these courses, under the caption “Effort Requirements”, you will find a description of what is minimally required.
- With a non-rounded off 4, you may take a replacement exam (RE). This exam comprises the whole of the study material, and in most cases you will take an entirely new exam or assignment. The grade for this retake exam will be your new final grade.
- With a non-rounded off 5, you can choose either a replacement exam (RE) or a supplementary exam (SR). In a supplementary exam, only the part of the first exam which you do not master, will be tested. If you pass the supplementary exam, your final grade will be a 6. If you do not pass the exam, your final grade will remain a 5.
Repeater regulation
When are you considered to be a repeater?
If you enrolled for a course, did not terminate your enrolment within two weeks of the commencement of the course and did not pass the course, you will be considered a ‘repeater’ in the following year.
What is meant by the Repeater regulation?
Repeater courses are a less intensive form of education: there are fewer contact hours and it is assumed that the students will prepare for exams and other tests more independently. The exact setup of the repeater course can differ per course.
It is possible that some courses have specific effort requirements, which the students must meet if they want to be eligible for supplementary and replacement examinations (SR/RE). If the course has no defined effort requirements and the final non-rounded off grade is at least a 4, then the repeater is entitled to SR/RE.
For assessment methods and effort requirements for repeaters: please read the information in the Course Catalogue.
Repeater courses in 2024-2025:
Course code | Course title |
ECB1IEBE | Introduction to Economics and Business Economics |
ECB1MI | Microeconomics, Institutions and Welfare |
ECB1STAT | Statistics |
ECB1MACR | Macroeconomics: European Perspective |
ECB1SO | Strategy and Organisation |
ECB2VMIE | Intermediate Microeconomics, Games and Behaviour |
ECB2METRIE | Econometrics |
Trade and Multinationals |
Based on classes followed elsewhere it is possible to request an exemption for a course or for credits. If you believe you are applicable for exemption, please submit your request via the OSIRIS Student. You can start a request by clicking on the tab CASE on the top left side, followed by my Cases and then choose the option Exemption Request. You will be able to upload all documents to support your request in Osiris Case. Ensure your pop-up blocker is switched off, otherwise you will not see a new window.
The official rules and regulations concerning exemptions are listed in the EER of the Bachelor (art. 5.13).
Illness
Are you ill and supposed to take an exam? In that case you need to send an email to (studyadvisor.use@uu.nl). Notify your course coordinator about your absence as well.
Send this mail before the start of the exam. If you do this too late it may mean that special arrangements cannot be made
On account of your illness, it is possible for you to receive a ruling for special arrangements concerning the (midterm or end term) exam you have missed.
The time, date and specifications of such exam arrangements are determined by the Board of Examiners in consultation with the course coordinator. These arrangements can only be provided for midterm and/or final exams.
Additional or substitute tests are excluded from these arrangements. When and if the special exam arrangements are at the same time as supplementary/replacement examinations, then there is no further retake opportunity.
If you encounter a delay in your academic progress due to your illness, you are to report this to the Study Advisor as soon as possible.
The validity of courses passed (in principle) is unlimited. Have you passed a test more than five years ago? Then the knowledge or skills may be out of date, in which case the Board of Examiners may impose an additional or alternative test for a course.
This implies only to final grades. The validity of partial grades (grades for a course that was not successfully completed) lapses after the academic year in which they were obtained.
If, despite the aforementioned arrangement, you are going to encounter problems concerning the validity of your final grades, please contact the Board of Examiners.
The complete text can be found in the Education and Examination Regulations (EER), art. 5.10.
For the changes in the courses of the current year please refer to the following page:
Following his or her registration, a student is entitled to certain provisions such as participation in a course of study, sitting examinations and the use of student facilities and study supervision. In addition, students must finance a number of things themselves, such as books and course materials. With regard to the students’ own contributions in addition to tuition fees, please read the Guidelines on extra contributions in addition to tuition fees.
The LEG faculty has an academic integrity counsellor. You can contact this counsellor for questions about conducting and assessing honest, concise, transparent and independent research. For questions about collaborating with integrity and transparency with (fellow) researchers and (fellow) students, you can also contact this counsellor. You can send Inge Claringbould an email to make an appointment: i.e.c.claringbould@uu.nl.
Students who are supervised by Inge Claringbould can choose to contact Sebastiaan Princen, USG’s integrity counsellor, for integrity related questions: S.B.M.Princen@uu.nl.
Your UU-grades abroad
To help foreign universities to interpret the value of our grades, UU publishes Grading Tables:
- a table for Bachelor’s courses and
- a table for Master’s courses.
The Grading Tables provide statistical distributions of grades awarded at Utrecht University. They show which percentage of all passing grades that were awarded in the three most recent academic years were (rounded-off) a 6.0, a 6.5, a 7.5, etc. The tables will be published on the International Diploma Supplement of all students who graduate after September 1st 2017.
In addition to the Grading Tables, UU also publishes a weighted average grade on the ten point scale on your International Diploma Supplement.
What do Grading Tables not show?
Grading Tables do not show whether you belong to the 10% (or any other percentage) of your class. The tables do not contain information about the average either, nor are they just about your fellow students.
The most recent Grading Tables (September 2020 – August 2023)
| Grade | Frequency |
|---|---|
| 6.0 | 17.69% |
| 6.5 | 16.83% |
| 7.0 | 20.11% |
| 7.5 | 19.47% |
| 8.0 | 14.31% |
| 8.5 | 7.50% |
| 9.0 | 3.02% |
| 9.5 | 0.85% |
| 10.0 | 0.22% |
| Grade | Frequency |
|---|---|
| 6.0 | 8.45% |
| 6.5 | 9.68% |
| 7.0 | 16.90% |
| 7.5 | 22.19% |
| 8.0 | 22.64% |
| 8.5 | 12.76% |
| 9.0 | 5.63% |
| 9.5 | 1.29% |
| 10.0 | 0.46% |
Grade Point Average substituted by Grading Tables
Until 1 September 2017, Utrecht University published a Grade Point Average (GPA) to provide help institutions abroad to interpret UU-grades. Many Anglo-Saxon universities use this four point scale to express their weighted average grade. The GPA always needs clarification. The standards according to which the GPA is calculated differ between (international) universities.
Utrecht University considers any form of academic dishonesty to be a very serious offense. Utrecht University expects each student to be familiar with and to observe the norms and values that ensure academic integrity.The most serious forms of deception that can impair this integrity are fraud and plagiarism. Plagiarism is a form of fraud and is defined as the wrongful appropriation of another author’s work without proper citation. See the further elaboration on what may be considered fraud or plagiarism.
If the university discovers a case of fraud or plagiarism, then the study programme’s Board of Examiners may implement sanctions on the offender. The most serious sanction that the Board of Examiners may implement is the submission of a request for expulsion to the Executive Board.
If you feel you have not been treated properly by someone employed by Utrecht University, or if you disagree with a decision that affects you personally, you can respond in a number of ways. You can submit a complaint, an objection or an appeal.
For the full details about the various procedures and which procedure is applicable for your situation, visit Complaints, objections and appeals.
Utrecht University processes a substantial volume of personal data. In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) the university is responsible for ensuring that personal data is processed properly. Also see the Privacy Statement on the Utrecht University website.