The decretal threshold

The Flemish government wants students to think carefully about their choice of study and obtain their degree as soon as possible. Therefore, it has decided that from academic year 2023-2024, a number of rules will apply that aim to make students:

• think consciously about their choice of study
• allow them to change programmes sooner if they feel or notice that they have not chosen the right course
• register as much as possible in a model track or at least a sufficiently large study package
• sstop their chosen bachelor's programme if they have not passed the courses of their first registration after two years

The latter is what the government calls "the decretal threshold".

In your first academic year, the threshold rules have no real concrete consequences for you yet. What is important to keep in mind?

• Know that at the end of your first academic year, a ‘snapshot’ will be taken of your subject package. These courses form your threshold package.
• The aim is that you pass all these courses by the end of your second academic year at the latest. This means that you either:
  • obtained a credit (10/20 or more)
  • were able to aplly tolerance credit

Did you pass (or tolerate) all your courses at the end of your first year? Great! You have already met the threshold!

Have you not passed everything yet? Then the government will give you a second academic year to pass the courses for which you did not obtain a credit or tolerance.

Did you not manage to pass all the courses in your threshold package in your first academic year?

Then you are obligated to take up those courses you did not pass in your individual learning track in your second academic year. You cannot deregister for these courses during the academic year either. Of course, together with your study path coach, you can check which additional courses from the second phase you can also take up.

Bear in mind: the threshold rules require you to have passed all courses in your threshold package by the end of your second academic year. This means that you have passed or can apply tolerance for all the courses you did not pass at the end of your first academic year.

So in your second academic year, you really have to give priority to the courses from the first academic year that you are retaking.

In Odisee, students can choose at which point during their academic career they want to employ tolerances. This means that you can decide yourself whether or not to retake a minor fail grade (8 or 9/20) for a tolerable course, granted certain conditions are met.

For reaching the decretal threshold, tolerances will sometimes be applied automatically and you will not have to decide this yourself. This happens if you can pass the decretal threshold at the end of the first or second academic year by applying tolerance credits. You will be notified if this happens in your study progress file, where you can also consult your exam results.

Did you fail the remaining courses in your threshold package after the second academic year? Then the consequences are major, even if you only failed one course:

• You will be refused admission to the bachelor's programme you were registered in and you will therefore not be allowed to reregister in the same programme.
• This refusal applies in all Flemish university colleges for a period of 6 years.
• You will only be allowed to reregister earlier than those 6 years if you obtain another degree in higher education in the meantime.
• Would you like to register in another programme? Ask your study path coach what your options are.