FAQ BSA

The BSA applies to all students who are enrolled in a Bachelor’s degree programme for the first time. Therefore if you switch to a new degree programme or if you follow a second degree programme at TU Delft, the BSA will apply to that new programme.

If you have enrolled for two different degree programmes at TU Delft, then each of these programmes will be subject to its own BSA

The BSA also applies to students who have been granted a postponement of the BSA in a previous academic year, and are re-enrolled in the bachelor's program for which the postponement was granted.

The minimum number of credits you need to attain is 45 EC of the 60 EC from the first year programme. The credits have to be earned within the current academic year; credits obtained in previous academic years do not count.

If you received a postponement of the BSA in a previous academic year and you are re-enrolled this academic year for the bachelor's programme for which the postponement of BSA had been granted, you must obtain at least 45 EC from the first academic year, in addition to the obtained EC from a previous academic year, or you must obtain all remaining credits from the first academic year this academic year.

Formal recommendations are issued at following moments during the first year: in March, at the beginning of August and at the end of August. Based on the results of the first semester you will receive the recommendation in March. The recommendation at the beginning of August is based on the results of the entire first academic year, including any resits taken in July.

If you obtained at least 45 EC at the beginning of August, you will immediately receive a final positive recommendation. If this is not the case, you will receive a proposed (negative) recommendation. 

The final recommendation issued at the end of August is a binding and definite recommendation. It is based on the results of the entire first academic year, including the resits taken in July, and indicates whether or not you have satisfied the requirements of the BSA. The BSA will be issued by 31 August at the latest. 

The criteria on which the letters of recommendation are based can be found under BSA criteria. 

If you are a first-year student and you have not received a recommendation, please contact the Study Programme Administration of your programme instantly. You should always state your name and student number.

If you are not a first-year student and you have received a recommendation, please contact the Study Programme Administratio (SPA) of your programme. SPA will verify the details of your enrolment. If it appears that you are not correctly enrolled, you will have to change this yourself via Studielink. If you have any further questions about enrolment and termination of enrolment, you can enquire at the Student Administration.

If the number of credits stated in the recommendation is incorrect, you should first check in MyTUDelft which courses you have passed in the current academic year. If you think that the information is incorrect, please contact the Study Programme Administration of your programme.

Remember that the calculation is based on the results per semester. So carefully check which results or partial results were obtained in which semester before contacting the Study Programme Administration.

All Bachelor's degree programmes at TU Delft have a mentor system under which first-year students are assigned to mentor groups. If you have questions about your degree programme or studying at TU Delft, your mentor is a good first point of contact. If you have other questions, for example, concerning personal circumstances that might slow down your academic progress, you should contact the academic counsellor of your degree programme as soon as possible.

TU Delft also organises various workshops and training courses on study skills, such as stress management, constructive thinking and studying with dyslexia. For more information, visit the Career & Counselling Centre website.

The implementation of the BSA takes personal circumstances into account, as defined in the Higher Education and Research Act (WHW). These personal circumstances are upheld if it can reasonably be assumed that the student in question would have achieved the necessary number of credits had the circumstances not been present. Personal circumstances do not however automatically lead to postponement of the BSA.

Please note: It is important that you report any special personal circumstances to your academic counsellor as soon as possible. This is important for registration, and so that the academic counsellor can discuss with you how to minimise the impact of these circumstances on your academic performance. Examples of personal circumstances are illness, exceptional family circumstances, pregnancy and functional limitation, such as chronic illness, ADHD or physical disability.

You can find more information on the postponement of the BSA page.

The implementation of the BSA takes personal circumstances into account, as defined in the Higher Education and Research Act (WHW). These personal circumstances include functional limitations, such as chronic illness, ADHD or physical disability. It is important that you report any personal circumstances or disabilities as soon as possible or as soon as they occur to the academic counsellor so that they can register this information properly and discuss with you whether supervision or referral is necessary and how to minimise the impact of these circumstances on your academic performance. A disability does not, however, automatically lead to postponement of the BSA.

You can find more information on the postponement of the BSA page.

That depends. If you have already attained credits for equivalent courses in another degree programme, you can apply for an exemption for these courses with the Board of Examiners of your new study. If the Board of Examiners approves your application, the following rule applies to exemptions in relation to the BSA:

1. The credits for the activities that entitle you to an exemption can count towards your BSA requirements if you participated in these during the academic year to which the BSA applies (for example, if you switched programmes during an academic year).
2. The credits for the activities that entitle you to an exemption cannot count towards your BSA requirements if you participated in these during the academic year preceding the year to which the BSA applies (for example, if you switched programmes at the end of an academic year).

No distinction is made between a main and an additional degree programme or a first and second degree programme. If you have enrolled in two degree programmes, a binding recommendation will apply to both programmes. You will receive a BSA twice, one for each of your studies. You should consult with your academic counsellor about what would be a sensible approach to your studies.

First year students will not receive a BSA if you discontinue your studies before 1 February. You may therefore enroll for the same degree programme next academic year. Once again you have to earn a minimum of 45 EC to receive a positive BSA. Please beware: when you will start at the same bachelor programme, EC obtained the previous year will not be included in the BSA results. In case you have obtained more than 15 EC in the previous year, you will have to obtain all remaining credits of your first year of study.

If you terminate your enrolment after 1 February you will receive a BSA.

In case you received postponement for the BSA in an earlier academic year but are enrolled again this academic year and terminate your study (before or after February 1), you will receive a definitive negative recommendation. This is because you fail to meet the requirement that you must obtain a minimum of 45 EC in the academic year in which you make use of the postponement.

If you terminate your studies before 1 February, you can re-enrol the next academic year. You switch to the programme that applies to the new academic year. You must also obtain a minimum of 45 EC in this academic year in order to be allowed to continue your studies, and the results of the previous academic year will not count towards the BSA. If you obtained more than 15 EC in the year in which you terminated your studies, you must obtain all the remaining EC in order to receive a positive BSA. 

If you re-enrol on the programme after four years, you will switch to the programme that applies for the new academic year. Once again, you must meet the requirements for the BSA. You must therefore obtain a minimum of 45 EC in order to be allowed to continue your studies, and previously obtained results will not count towards the recommendation. 

If - in the year in which you received the negative recommendation - you obtained more than 15 EC and the degree programme has remained unchanged, you must obtain all the remaining EC from the first academic year in order to receive a positive recommendation.

If the degree programme has changed and you obtained EC points in the academic year in which you received a negative recommendation, you may qualify for exemptions for courses on the new programme. These exemptions do not count towards the BSA.

If you terminate your studies in the academic year in which you make use of the postponement, you will receive a definitive negative recommendation. This is because you fail to meet the requirement that you must obtain a minimum of 45 EC in the academic year in which you make use of the postponement.

If you received a postponement of the binding study recommendation last academic year, you will receive a recommendation at the beginning of August with the number of EC of first-year courses, obtained in the current academic year. At the end of August, you will receive a definitive final recommendation.

If you find that you have earned a minimum of 45 EC, you must immediately inform the Study Program Administration of your study program. After verification, postponement will be converted into a definitive positive binding study recommendation.

In every letter of advice you receive, it is indicated up to and including the result date that the EC were counted for that BSA recommendation. Please note: it is possible that a teacher has processed a result in MyTUDelft after the calculation of the BSA has taken place. So check carefully whether this is the case with you if you see that the number of EC in the letter is lower than you see in MyTUDelft. You can see the processing date (in MyTUDelft "mutation date") under the heading Results.

From academic year 2022-2023, there are no special measures due to COVID-19 and the standard is 45 EC.

In the academic year 2021-2022, we still had to deal with restrictive measures due to the corona crisis, with all its consequences for students. Therefore, for academic year 2021-2022, TU Delft had decided to lower the BSA standard.

For the 2020-2021 academic year, it had been decided nationally to lower the BSA standard to accommodate students due to the impact of the ongoing restrictions due to COVID-19. Last year, TU Delft decided to lower the BSA standard for the 2020-2021 academic year on a one-time basis

For the academic year 2019-2020, a change in the implementation of the BSA scheme was in effect because of the COVID-19 outbreak