EUNiCAS in Maastricht
Written in News & Updates on Saturday, 30 June 2012 15:48

At Maastricht University last week, as part of the Annual Conference of Cambridge Occupational Analysts (COA), Guy Flouch [Director of EUNiCAS] facilitated an information session between seven of the leading universities in the Netherlands and over 70 Careers Advisors from English schools.

The universities – Leiden, Delft, Eindhoven, Groningen, Erasmus Rotterdam, Tilburg & Maastricht itself – were able to clarify many of the concerns and misconceptions held by some of the careers advisers present. One message that was loud and clear from the universities was that they were only interested in good and motivated students, with a clear idea of why they wanted to study in the Netherlands. There was great interest in the explanation of the different philosophy underlying Dutch admission requirements, where student performance in Year 1 of their university programme is the deciding factor for success, rather than performance at A-Level. In fact, Dutch universities are prohibited by law from selecting students based exclusively on their grades at school [A-Levels].

Explaining the reasoning behind holding their annual conference in Maastricht, Tim Mainstone, COA’s schools’ liaison officer and conference organiser, explained that “We want to give careers advisers, heads of sixth forms and everyone involved in guiding and advising young people an opportunity to see at first-hand what studying abroad might be like,” explained “and to find out answers to the questions that students will be asking.”

The event was very well-received by participants, who had spent the previous day as guests of Maastricht University, viewing facilities and meeting British and Irish students already at the university. In reflecting on the event, Guy Flouch complemented both COA and the careers advisors for their vision in understanding the importance of the opportunities in Europe. “We are truly at the threshold of a new era in European transnational education. The quality of the education and the relevance of the qualifications to the global employment market will certainly give our students an important USP in their future job search”