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As a RSM Master student you can find the conditions to graduate (summa) cum laude in Article 7.3, Paragraph 2 of the Rules & Guidelines pre-experience MSc degree programmes 2023-2024. Please note that you can find the Rules & Guidelines for the part-time Master in Management on our Dutch webpage Examenreglementen.

In the table below we have summarized the differences between the classification ‘cum laude’ and ‘summa cum laude’ for the RSM pre-experience Master programmes:   

*The ‘Grade Point Average’ (GPA) is the weighted average grade for all the Master courses (including the thesis trajectory) under the Dutch grading system. This only concerns the final grade for each course and thus not the partial grades. The final grade per course is rounded off to one decimal for the GPA calculation (a 5.45 will be rounded to a 5.5 for instance).

**For cum laude no more than one examination or test (i.e., an officially recorded grade – including pass/fail assessments – in Osiris) may have been taken more than once. For summa cum laude zero examinations or tests may have been taken more than once. Only the thesis proposal is excluded from this rule, so if you have to re-sit the thesis proposal then this does not count as a re-sit with respect to the (summa) cum laude regulation. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

I have failed my thesis and need to take the thesis re-sit in August to complete the thesis. Will this count as a re-sit?

Yes, this will count as a re-sit. Only the thesis proposal is excluded from the rule of maximum allowed number of re-sits (maximum one for cum laude and zero for summa cum laude). A re-sit for the thesis proposal does not have any consequences for the (summa) cum laude classification. 

Do grades that I have obtained for a Master Free Elective (MFE) outside RSM or for an International Exchange also count towards my GPA?

The result obtained for a Master Free Elective at a Dutch university counts towards the calculation of your GPA because a grade will be registered in Osiris. However, results obtained for a Master Free Elective or Exchange at a foreign university are registered in Osiris with a ‘pass’ (or ‘fail’) and therefore do not count towards your GPA.

I cannot or do not want to participate in the regular written test or assignment of a course and am planning to do only the re-sit. Does this then count as a first attempt or as a re-sit with respect to the (summa) cum laude regulation?

Only if a grade result, including pass/fail assessments, is officially recorded in Osiris this will be considered an official test attempt. If you don’t participate in the regular written test or assignment for a course a No Show (NO) will be registered in Osiris. In that case, participation in the test or assignment in the resit round counts as a first attempt and therefore not as a resit with regard to the (summa) cum laude regulation. For more information about the results in Osiris see the article Explanation Osiris grades. Please note that you always must check beforehand in the Course Manual of the course concerned whether it is allowed to do only the re-sit, because in some courses you are only allowed to participate in the re-sit when you have also done the first regular written test or assignment.

I want to improve my GPA. Can I re-sit an examination of a course that I have already passed to achieve a higher grade? And which result will then count: the highest grade or the last obtained grade?

It is possible to retake a written test that you have already passed within the same Academic Year if a re-sit opportunity has been scheduled in the official exam timetable. As long as you have not yet passed all courses of the Master degree programme you can also try to improve your grade in a following Academic Year, but in that case you have to redo the whole course – including all tests and assignments. In both cases the highest-grade counts. Please note that this does count as a re-sit with respect to the (summa)cum laude regulation!
For more information see Article 4.1 paragraph 6 of the TER pre-experience MSc degree programmes 2023 – 2024.

I want to re-sit a written test or assignment that I have already passed to obtain a higher grade. Does this count as a re-sit with respect to the (summa) cum laude regulation? 

Yes, if you want to re-sit an already obtained written test this also counts as a re-sit with respect to the (summa) cum laude regulation. This also applies to other types of tests, such as an assignment, presentation, or oral exam. An improvement option usually doesn’t count as a re-sit unless the result (grade or pass/fail) for the improvement option is officially recorded in Osiris.   

Does an exempted course also count towards the GPA?

RSM policy is that in our Master and pre-Master programmes no exemptions are granted. The only exception is for students who are following a second RSM Master programme, and who can apply for exemption for the Your Future Career* (BMMEYFC, 1 EC) course if they have already passed this course in their first RSM Master programme. If you have received an exemption for the Your Future Career course an EXEMPT will be registered in Osiris instead of a grade. This means that the result of this course does not count towards your GPA. Once granted an exemption cannot be withdrawn. 

*This also applies to the courses Personal Career Narrative BM04GBS (1 EC) and Building My Career BM20MIM (1 EC).

Does the resit of an examination that is assessed with a pass/fail also count as a re-sit with respect to the (summa) cum laude regulation? 

Yes, also examinations that are assessed with a ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ instead of a grade count towards the maximum number of re-sits that are allowed for the (summa) cum laude classification, for example examinations taken as part of an international exchange programme at a foreign university. 

I am registered for an (elective) course, but I haven’t yet have made any tests or assignments for this course. If I unregister for this course does this then count as a first attempt?

This does not count as a first attempt if you didn’t participate in any test or assignment for this (elective) course. However, if you did participate in any test or assignment for this course for which an official result for this test or assignment is registered in Osiris, then this does count as a first attempt for the (summa) cum laude classification.