The Swiss don’t make the grade to study in English in Holland, according to Dutch Universities today!

Today, the Commission for the Code of Conduct for International Students in the Netherlands, that represents Dutch Universities, offering degree courses to international students, issued a list of countries and relevant high-school diplomas that could be given exemption of the IELTS / TOEFL requirement for study in English, in the Netherlands! Although Germany and Austria both scored well – Switzerland was left out, together with the French and Spanish.

Unsurprisingly, Nuffic, who was responsible for the comparison of school leaver English language levels in the EU and EER, gave diplomas from the Benelux full marks, and the Scandinavian countries were also included.

Thousands of German students study at Universities in the Netherlands, making them the largest group of international students, followed by the Chinese. All Chinese students are required to not only have an IELTS 6 or TOEFl equivalent score to study in Holland, but also a special “Neso Certificate” – something that only they are required to have.

Interestingly, although the IELTS level required is set at IELTS 6 for International Students, the EU countries only needed to prove a level of IELTS 4-5 (CFER level B1)!!

- A Misunderstanding or creative bookkeeping?

This means that the Swiss high school graduates have been determined to only have a level:

 “basic competence is limited to familiar situations. Has frequent problems in understanding and expression. Is not able to use complex language

Or at best: “has partial command of the language, coping with overall meaning in most situations, though is likely to make many mistakes. Should be able to handle basic communication in own field.”

More information? – www.internationalstudy.nl

The full list of IELTS - exempted EU countries is as follows:

WUP 5/6/2014

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