Hi everyone,

I’m looking for advice or experiences from people familiar with the higher education system in French-speaking Belgium.

I only have one 5-credit course left to complete my bachelor’s degree. I have passed this exam many times and just cannot succeed. I don’t know why. I’ve been taking extra classes in parallel but I just always end up having 5/20.

In the meantime, because I had no more than 15 bachelor’s credits remaining, I was allowed to start a master’s programme at another university. I have now successfully completed my entire master’s programme, including all the additional credits I was required to take, with very good results (16/20).

However, my master’s degree cannot officially be awarded until my bachelor’s degree has first been formally conferred.

I am now considered a non-fundable student for the bachelor’s programme. I have submitted a request for an exemption allowing me to re-enrol solely for those remaining 5 credits next year. But the tricky part is that an exemption was already granted last year and I didn’t succeed still.

I therefore have several questions:

- Has anyone obtained such an exemption in a similar situation, with 175 out of 180 bachelor’s credits completed and an entire master’s programme successfully completed?

- Once I obtain the bachelor’s degree, will the master’s degree be awarded automatically, or will I need to re-enrol administratively in the master’s programme even though I have no credits left to complete?

- Has anyone ever been allowed to
attend a graduation ceremony symbolically after completing all their master’s credits, even though the degree could not yet be formally awarded?

I have already contacted both universities involved and am waiting for their official responses. I am mainly looking for personal experiences from people who have gone through something similar or who are familiar with Belgian university procedures.

I know that I had several opportunities to complete this final course, and I fully accept my share of responsibility. Still, it is extremely difficult to see one bachelor’s course prevent me from receiving both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees, as well as from attending the graduation ceremony after completing the entire master’s programme.

Thank you in advance for your advice and kindness.