After two cancelled exchange semesters, English Language and Culture student Julia Vosmeijer is going to study in England for the upcoming semester. For Vox, she is taking part in a letter exchange, discussing her experiences in the UK with Holly Hartley – an English Literature exchange student from the University of Exeter who came to Nijmegen for her own exchange.

Dear Holly,

Exam season is officially upon us! My first essay deadline is on Halloween, and I believe that’s even spookier than the holiday itself. But for now, I’m still just as confused by the British grading system as you are by the Dutch one. I expected the A to F grading, but instead, they use 1.1s and 1.2s. I still haven’t fully figured out how these scores translate to the Dutch ones.

I agree with you that it’s hard to improve in the Dutch system, especially when it comes to assignments like essays. It’s near impossible to get a perfect score, even if you fulfill all the requirements. The 7.3 you got for your essay is quite a good score for an essay in the Netherlands, but it might translate to a relatively lower score in the UK. My highest grade for an essay was probably an 8.5. That only happened because of two factors playing in my favour: I immensely enjoyed writing it while having a very good grasp of what the teacher wanted. I do, however, feel like I’ve improved a lot: I cringe whenever I reread my old essays and do get why some professors gave me a 7 or lower.

So far, I was also surprised by the comparatively smaller amount of workload for my modules. I’m taking one module for 15 ECs, and I only have to hand in two essays of about 2,000 words. That’s nothing compared to the six essays I had to write for a module of 5 ECs at Radboud in my third year. That is not to say that I expect the next semester to be a walk in the park – but it definitely is a new experience having to focus on a ‘mere’ two essays for that many credits.

I wish you the best of luck for this exam season. But if you find yourself in a state of stress that even cups of tea can’t solve, I recommend paying a visit to the botanic gardens in Nijmegen. It’s a bike ride away from the city centre, but it’s completely worth it – especially when you need to calm yourself a bit. For now, don’t be too hard on yourself and remember to enjoy your time here – strict grading or not.

Write to you soon,
Julia

Read Holly’s last letter to Julia here.