Last week the Dutch government approved the proposed new Bachelor-Master structure for 'Hogescholen' (higher vocational training) and universities in the Netherlands. This means that from 2004 students who have successfully completed three years of a basic university programme and graduates of a hogeschool can call themselves Bachelors. For the Master's degree one then has to complete another year usually at university, but hogescholen can also offer master's degrees.
In last year's Bologna declaration it was agreed among a large number of European countries to adopt the Anglo-Saxon bachelor-master structure. This will make it considerably easier for European students to do part of their degree abroad.
The full proposals still have to be approved by parliament.
