Grading

Higher education institutions in Belgium operate a fully fledged credit system based on ECTS (European Credit Transfer System).

The curriculum of a degree program is therefore conceived as a set of courses and each course stands for minimum 3 ECTS credits (with a maximum of 12 courses per 60 ECTS credits). One credit represents 25 to 30 hours of a student's workload.

Exams are graded on a 20 point scale , or - in specific cases - on a pass/fail scale. A student with a score of at least 10/20 (or a passing mark) obtains a credit for that course, with the number of ECTS-points associated with the course. Every student is entitled to two examination opportunities per course per academic year.

A student is awarded a bachelor's or master's degree after having obtained the credits of all the courses in the curriculum of the program.

Degree Recognition

You have obtained a certificate of higher education abroad. Would you like to work or to register with a Belgian university or college in order to complete your education?

The NARIC Centres (National Academic Recognition and Information Centers), created at the initiative of the European Committee, provide information about a study in the countries of the European Union. These centers work with the European ENIC network (European Network of National Information Centers) established by the Council of Europe and UNESCO. There is a national centre for each country:

NARIC Centre of the French Community (in French)
NARIC Centre of the Flemish Community (in Dutch)

Belgium introduced the Bologna Declaration in September 2004. This reform should make it easier to recognize qualifications obtained within the European Union.

Here you can find the conditions of admission to higher education in the Flemish Community for holders of a foreign qualification (in Dutch).

International Programs

At some Belgian universities one can obtain a double diploma when the university has a partnership with another university. You then get two diplomas for one study program.

An example: The Belgian HEC Management School in Ulg (BE) has a partnership with the Leipzig Graduate School of Management (HHL). There is a certain study program (Master in Business Administration) that leads to a double diploma; you take courses in Belgium and in Germany, and after completion of the program you receive a diploma from each of the universities: one Belgian, and one German (for the same study program).

Information are available at the universities' websites or (for German-Belgian courses only) here .