Understanding university terminology

What is an academic term? 

At the university, the academic year is divided into three terms (“quadrimestres”), often abbreviated in French to Q1, Q2 and Q3.

The first term, Q1, runs from mid-September to the end of January. The second runs from the beginning of February to the end of June.

These first two terms are divided into 13 or 14 weeks (“semaines”) of classes; these weeks are often referred to as S1, S2, S3, and so on. They end with an exam preparation period and exam session. The third term starts in July and finishes in September. If you have passed your annual block of classes, you will be on holiday! If your results in January and June are not good enough, an additional session, which starts in mid-August, provides a second chance to pass annual block of classes.

What is a “blocus”?

The “blocus”, or exam preparation period, refers to the two to three weeks, without classes, devoted to exam preparation at the end of the first and second terms.

There are three degree courses.

First comes the bachelor's degree course, equivalent to 180 credits, spread over three years. Next comes the master's degree course of 60 credits, 120 credits or 180 credits, depending on the field of your choice. Once you have your master’s degree, you can either enter the work force or continue your education with a specialised master's degree course, a PhD or a teaching degree course.

What is an annual block?

Unlike secondary education, at university we no longer speak of a year of study but rather of an annual block. This is in fact a chronological breakdown of a study programme. The bachelor's course is made up of three annual blocks and the master's course, in the majority of cases, of two annual blocks. 

What is a course unit?

An annual block is divided into several course units, more commonly known as classes. Each course unit (the French initialism is “UE”) corresponds to a subject that can be taught in a variety of ways: theory and lectures, practical work, internship, dissertation, final project, and so on. A course unit is worth a value in ECTS credits. A student who validates a course unit acquires all the credits allocated to that course unit.

A credit is an estimate of the amount of time devoted to a course unit.

One term is equal to 30 credits and you are expected to work approximately 40 hours a week (slightly more or less depending on your prior knowledge).

For example, a six-credit course corresponds to eight hours of work each week. Roughly half of this will be divided between lectures, lab hours, practical work, etc. But the other half will be studying on your own time (reading, learning, practising, memorising, doing work on your own or in a group, etc.).

What is a PAE?

At university, the system of years of study has been replaced by a system of accumulating credits. At the start of each academic year, you must draw up your annual student programme (French initialism: PAE). In other words, you list all the course units you will be taking during the year. In the vast majority of cases, your PAE will be equivalent to 60 credits, and you will draw it up in collaboration with your faculty!

At UCLouvain, the bachelor’s course generally consists of two parts:

• a “major”, which corresponds to the course you have chosen and the degree title (150 credits);
• a “minor”, which gives you the opportunity to integrate another discipline into your course (30 credits).

Thus the minor is an option, depending on your bachelor’s course. It represents a coherent set of course units taken during annual blocks one and two. Please note that not all faculties offer a minor, and some bachelor's courses do not include a minor!

The advantage of a minor is that it can confer eligibility to apply for a master's course in a different field from the one you planned to pursue after earning your bachelor’s degree . Other minors do not confer eligibility to apply to master's course in another field but rather deepen or complement your education. They may also be designed to apply your course to other disciplines or to social issues.

During the second term of the first annual block, UCLouvain offers information sessions to help you plan the rest of your course and choose your minor.

uclouvain.be/mineures

A bachelor's degree course is designed with progression in mind. It is therefore obvious that for certain course units in the third annual block, your professors will base themselves on your knowledge of a course unit in the second annual block. And that second annual block course unit will be based on the validation of a first annual block course unit. You will therefore have understood that access to certain course units is conditional on the successful completion of course units from a previous year. These are known as prerequisite course units.

And a corequisite?

Let's say you fail a first annual block course unit that is considered a prerequisite for a second annual block course unit. In certain exceptional cases, your faculty may accept that you take second annual block course unit at the same time as you retake the first annual block course unit you failed. For example, this happens when the first annual block course unit is in the first term (Q1) and the second annual block course unit is in the second term (Q2). These course units are then said to become corequisites.

What is an Erasmus exchange?

The Erasmus programme gives you the opportunity to gain international experience. You can study abroad at an Erasmus university, i.e. a European university that is part of the Erasmus+ programme and with which your faculty has signed an exchange agreement. This will also enable you to develop your knowledge of foreign languages and cultures. What's more, to help you finance your trip, the programme will award you a study mobility grant.

And the Mercator programme?

This is a programme that allows you to go to the four corners of the world, i.e. to universities outside the European Union with which UCLouvain has exchange agreements. At UCLouvain, we call these exchanges outside the European Union Mercator exchanges.

When can I do the Erasmus or Mercator programme?

It depends on your university and your academic performance. Generally speaking, mobility opportunities are available at the end of the bachelor’s course or, more generally, at master's level. But it’s really specific to each university, so find out as much as you can so you don't miss out on any information!

Now all you have to do is set out on an adventure and discover the world!

To pass your annual block, you will need to validate 60 credits. You will validate your year by obtaining a minimum of 10/20 for each of the course units in your annual block programme.

“R” = “Réussite” (Pass), which means that you have validated your 60 credits and can continue your course.

“ADP” = “Admis à poursuivre” (Admitted to continue), which means that you have not acquired all the credits for your first annual block or your bachelor's course. However, this allows you to take course units in the following year's annual block. Please note that some class units, known as prerequisites, require you to have passed a course unit in a previous year!

“NR” = “Non réussi” (Failed), which means you have not validated all the credits in your annual programme. You will therefore have to re-enrol to repeat the failed courses or, if necessary, choose a different course.

At the end of your bachelor’s or and master's course, you will be awarded a degree that reflects your average: “avec la plus grande distinction” (“with first class honours”), “grande distinction” (“second class honours”), “distinction” (“honours”), “satisfaction” (“merit”), or “réussite” (“pass”).

➔ If this isn't clear to you, don't hesitate to ask your faculty to understand your results!

This is a special status for students with a specific profile, giving them access to special arrangements in their university course. The aim is to support and encourage students with particular needs to continue their studies at university. The status is granted by experts who examine the relevance of applications.

If you think you could benefit from this status, apply now!

Before taking your first steps as a student at UCLouvain, you must choose your studies and complete your enrolment form.
There are five steps to follow once you have enrolled online. We also recommend that you visit the First steps page.

Step 1: Activate your online account

Like all students, you have a UCLouvain online account. The very first step in your life as a student is to activate this account to access online services.

Step 2: Log in to your UCLouvain email address 

All messages sent by your faculty, teachers and administrative services will now arrive at your UCLouvain email address. It is therefore essential to check your mailbox. Your email address is automatically created within 24 hours of activating your online account.

Step 3: Personalise your virtual office

Click uclouvain.be to learn about your virtual office. Customise the widgets according to your preferences: email, schedule, news, Moodle, “valves” (“bulletin boards”), etc.

Step 4: Request your access card

This magnetic card will be useful for accessing libraries, classrooms, car parks, etc. Send us your forward-facing identity photograph on a white background, so that we can make your access card. This photograph will be used throughout your time at UCLouvain, including for your student card. It takes several days to make your access card, so remember to do this before the start of the academic year. The card will be sent to the postal address given on your enrolment form.

Step 5: Check your schedule

Before the start of the academic year, check your class schedule regularly to find out about any faculty welcome sessions, class schedules, and any schedule or location changes. 

If you need more information, each faculty organises a welcome session where you can learn more and ask any questions you may have.

Agrégation de l'enseignement secondaire (AESS)

A 30-credit course leading to the AESS (“Secondary School Teacher Certification”). This qualification is specifically aimed at the pedagogical training of future teachers in upper secondary education. Its content is strictly defined by decree and includes theory-based course units and practical internships.

Annual block

Chronological breakdown of a 60-credit study programme. A programme of study consists of one or more annual blocks of 60 credits each. The annual block is used to draw up schedules for learning activities and exams.

Annual student programme (French initialism: PAE)

A coherent set of course units, approved by the exam board, in which a student enrols regularly for an academic year and during which he or she takes part in activities, sits exams and is evaluated by the exam board.

Bachelor

An academic degree awarded on completion of at least 180 credits of undergraduate studies, normally divided into three annual blocks.  It confers eligibility to pursue the corresponding master's course and, depending on the programme and subject to prerequisites, confers eligibility to pursue other master's courses.

Bridging course

A bridging course is an academic process enabling a student to pursue studies in another curriculum or another type of study. Bridging courses organised by the French Community of Belgium offer higher education students the possibility of redirecting their studies or extending them to courses other than those they initially chose. They provide greater mobility, an additional chance of success, personal fulfilment and an optimal foundation for professional life. This is an automatic process in that it authorises the Haute École or university to enrol a student in the corresponding course, established by the legal texts, once the student has completed the bridging course in question. This process applies both to students who have completed their studies in the French Community and to those who, having completed all or part of their studies abroad, benefit from a total or partial equivalency awarded in the French Community.

Certificat d'aptitude pédagogique approprié à l'enseignement supérieur (CAPAES)

The CAPAES (“Higher Education Teaching Certificate”) is a teaching qualification required for permanent appointment to higher education teaching posts in the Belgian Hautes Ecoles (for so-called “long” and “short” courses). It applies to teachers with practical training, and assistant teachers and lecturers working in these higher education institutions. CAPAES meets the requirements of the 2002 and 2006 CAPAES decrees and subsequent administrative directives.

Certificate and attestation

Certificat destiné aux étudiant·es inscrit·es à titre principal à un programme de 3e cycle dans une université étrangère et effectuant, dans le cadre de ce programme, un ou plusieurs séjours de recherche et/ou de formation complémentaire à l'UCLouvain.

Certificat et attestation

A document attesting to participation in or successful completion of a course and the possible awarding of associated credits, without conferring an academic degree. It is possible to earn a “university certificate” after successfully completing a course consisting of a set of course units forming a coherent programme of study from a pedagogical point of view, with a minimum of 10 credits and subject to assessment and deliberation by an exam board. In this case, the certificate will state the number of validated credits and their level (bachelor or master). The certificate meets the same eligibility criteria as studies leading to academic degrees. When the course of study is of short duration and/or is not organised in accordance with the rules and requirements of studies leading to academic degrees, an “attestation” (of successful completion or participation) is issued.

Class

Classes, which are an important part of the student's work and require regular attendance, are organised in the form of lectures in auditoriums, as well as work in small groups on projects to be carried out or problems to be solved, practical work, laboratory exercises, individual work, seminars, course internships, and memorisation.

Course unit

Learning activity or set of learning activities in a study programme that are grouped together because they pursue common objectives and constitute a pedagogical whole in terms of learning outcomes. If there is only one learning activity, it covers the notion of a course unit.

Credit

The credit is a numerical value expressing the student's total workload, taking into account all the activities required to prepare for the course unit and assimilate the material (attendance, library research, laboratory exercises, individual work, etc.). For each course unit passed, the exam board awards the student a number of credits. From one year to the next, students earn a series of credits that they can use in the rest of their university career, depending on their programme. In the French-speaking Community of Belgium, one credit corresponds to 30 hours of learning activities. A year of study, estimated at 1,800 hours of work, therefore corresponds to 60 credits.

Daytime schedule

Classes are held mainly from Monday to Friday between 8am and 7pm and Saturday between 8am and 1pm. 

Degree course

Studies leading to an academic degree. Higher education is organised into three degree course levels. The bachelor's degree is awarded on completion of the bachelor’s course (level 6 of the francophone certification framework, or CFC), the master's degree is awarded on completion of the master’s course (CFC level 7) and the PhD is awarded on completion of the PhD course (CFC level 7).

European Credit Transfer System (ECTS)

Thanks to the credit transfer system put in place in all Bologna signatory countries, student marks can be exchanged between universities. The institution that awards the final degree recognises the accumulated credits –at its own or another institution – during the course of study, according to the specifications of the course units taken and their integration into the new programme. The concept of geographical mobility and exchange is broadened, and a university course can be started in one institution and completed in another, without the student losing any prior learning credit.

Focus

As decreed by the French Community of Belgium, a focus is a coherent set of course units representing 30 credits of a master's programme of at least 120 credits leading to complementary specialised expertise attested to by a distinct academic degree. A (120-credit) master's degree must necessarily offer one or more focuses (research, teaching or professional), and each student must choose one. The title of the focus is included on the diploma.

Internship

Specific work placement activity carried out in collaboration with socio-professional entities related to the student's field of study.

Learning activity

Course unit component comprising:

• education organised by the university (including lectures, instructor-led exercises, practical work, laboratory work, seminars, creative exercises and workshop research, excursions, tours and internships);
• individual or group activities (including preparation, assignments, information searches, final year project, career path and job search activities);
• study, self-study and personal enrichment activities.

Learning outcomes

A statement of what the student should know, understand and be able to achieve at the end of a validated learning process, programme or course unit. Learning outcomes are defined in terms of knowledge, aptitudes and skills.
 

Major

At UCLouvain, the major constitutes the largest part of the bachelor's programme. Its volume and theme make it a necessary and sufficient whole to provide the education corresponding to the title of the degree. It comprises 150 credits, spread over the three annual blocks of the bachelor's course.

Master

Degree awarded on completion of at least 60 credits or, if the course has a focus, at least 120 credits. Eligibility to pursue a master’s is conferred on completion of at least 180 credits . The 120-credit master's degree, divided into two yearly blocks, includes the writing of a dissertation, greater depth, and specialisation. There are three types of master's degree, depending on whether the student is destined for a specific profession, research or teaching.

Minor

At UCLouvain, the minor is an additional “track” that students can choose from among the minors offered by their faculty or other faculties, depending on their programme, from their second year of study. The minor comprises 30 credits, spread over the second and third annual blocks of the bachelor's course. A minor allows students to broaden their range of knowledge by discovering another discipline; to deepen their knowledge of the major discipline; or to become more aware of a societal issue. In some cases, it may also confer eligibility to apply for master's degrees in a field other than that of the bachelor’s course.

Mobility programme (Erasmus, Mercator)

Mobility programmes enable students to study abroad during their UCLouvain studies (end of bachelor's or master's course) for a period of three months to one year. The aim is to improve their knowledge in their field through contact with another culture and to consider their university studies from a different angle. The European Erasmus programme is the main instrument of mobility policy within Europe. Since 2001, it has been supplemented by a programme specific to UCLouvain (the Mercator programme) financed by its own resources. This enables students to spend time in American or Asian universities. These mobility programmes provide financial aid, proportionate to family resources, to offset the specific costs of mobility.

PhD

The academic degree of doctor, earned after acquiring 180 credits leading to a master’s degree or equivalent and the defence of a thesis. 
 

Recognition of prior learning (French initialism: VAE)

Recognition of prior learning (VAE) is a way of acquiring eligibility to apply for higher education programmes (bachelor's, master's, university certificate) for people who do not have the required qualifications but can provide evidence of significant professional and/or personal experience. Working adults who do not meet the admission requirements for the course may apply for VAE. Applicants must have worked for at least five years in an occupation related to the envisaged course. Years of higher education may only be taken into account at the rate of one year per 60 earned credits but may not exceed two years. Applicants must pass an assessment test (entrance exam, admission file, defence of a paper, etc.), at the end of which the exam board assesses the candidate's prior learning and determines whether he or she has sufficient skills and knowledge to successfully complete the course. The relevant French Community of Belgium decree provides for an exemption process at the time of validation of the student's annual programme based on the recognition of knowledge and skills acquired through professional and personal experience. This process is independent of the admission process.

Remedial activity

An activity to help students succeed that is not part of a study programme. Its aim is to make up for any shortcomings students may have or to help them pursue or resume a programme of study with a better chance of success. Remedial activities are not counted as credits in a programme of study and are therefore not included in the student's course load.

Research certificate 

Certificate intended for students enrolled in a postgraduate programme at a university abroad and who, as part of this programme, spend one or more periods of research and/or further education at UCLouvain.

Specialised master 

This is a specialised professional qualification that complements a previous master's degree and is designed either to confer authorisation to practice certain professions (notaries, health, etc.), to meet the need for collaborative education, or to provide access to the recognised skills of research teams. Under the general conditions laid down by the academic authorities, students who meet the admission requirements for a master’s course and hold a master’s degree or equivalent, in or outside the French Community of Belgium, or who have acquired skills valued by the exam board for at a minimum of 300 credits, are eligible to pursue an specialised master’s course.

Staggered schedule

Classes are held Monday to Friday between 5pm and 10pm and Saturday between 8am and 9pm.

Study programme 

A study programme defines all the course units and educational activities corresponding to a given degree course. Each programme is drawn up on the basis of objectives, i.e. the body of knowledge and skills that future graduates should have acquired by the end of their course.

Teacher

Any person appointed in accordance with the rules and procedures in force at the university to deliver a course unit or learning activity.

Track

By French Community of Belgium decree, a track (French: “option”) is a set of course units, representing 15 to 30 credits, and constituting a coherent whole (a theme treated from different disciplinary angles, a range of course units covering the same speciality, etc.) described by a title. For bachelor's courses, UCLouvain offers tracks in the form of minors (30 credits). Most master’s courses offer various tracks, often in addition to the focuses.