Grading & Assessment

Courses at Maastricht University usually consider a variation of elements in determining the final grade for a course.  This partly stems from the student-focused learning setting in which participation by students is essential; therefore most courses will take into account class participation. The weight attached to participation might vary from 10 to 30%.

Other partial grades might be given for things such a group presentation, case reports or an individually written paper. Of course, the final exam will usually be awarded the highest weight, although this might still vary between 50 and 80 percent of the final grade.

Furthermore, some elements might have a lower boundary; this usually applies to the grade for the final exam, which often should be at least a 5.0 or 5.5 in order to pass the course. Given the large variation between courses, the determination of the final grade should be explained in the course manual, and will usually be discussed in the opening lecture and/or first tutorial.

The ‘Dutch’ way of grading may be different than you’re used to and is fairly conservative. If you are graded with a mark, you can get a grade between 1 (bad) and 10 (very good). A 9 or a 10 are however given very rarely, as these are meant for exceptional cases.

Next to the substantial variation in the assessment methods used and the weights attached to them, there are also differences in the manner in which a course’s final examination is conducted. Most courses will have a final written exam. Some written exam consist only of multiple choice or true/?/false questions; others are completely comprised of open questions, but also a combination of open and closed questions is very well possible.

However, a number of courses do not have a written exam, but are usually concluded by writing a final paper, either individually or in small teams.

Information on the different forms of assessment should be given in the course manual. If you want to have an idea of these issues before choosing a course, you can visit the online course descriptions. (for more details see the resources, hints and tips section).


In case of a so-called facilitation, a small group of students is assigned to be facilitators for an entire tutorial meeting. Therefore, these students are responsible for the full two hours of the session. They will have to present, discuss and illustrate the literature of the meeting while involving and challenging the audience. It is important to note that this is encompasses more than being a ‘mere discussion leader’. The tutorial’s added value is the application of the literature. As such a sequential summary of the articles is not sufficient

During the meeting you should help the audience to understand and integrate literature. Questions you should ask yourself in developing this could be: What is the main message of each article? How do the articles relate to each other? Do they offer differing perspectives, do they contradict, do they complement? How does this session relate to previous sessions? How do the articles fit in the broader context of the knowledge you developed in your previous courses?