Starting in the 2025-2026 academic year, the Bachelor in Psychology programme at the University of Twente will be offered bilingually : in English and in Dutch. This will make the programme the first bilingual UT study. The transformation is the answer to a changing need in society and the desire of students and employers.
This summer, the University Council agreed to the proposed change, which cleared the final obstacle. In practice, the addition of a Dutch language course programme at Psychology will not affect lectures: those will remain to be taught in English. Furthermore, the small-scale tutorials, work in project groups, and the associated tests will also be offered in Dutch for students who choose the Dutch course programme. As a result, two-thirds of the bachelor programme can be followed in Dutch. As everywhere in academia, specialist literature will largely be in English.
Why Dutch?
According to programme director Christina Bode, there are several reasons for the move towards a course programme in the Dutch language. ‘First of all, the department does not want to turn a blind eye to the political and social debate on balancing internationalisation within higher education. Our programme is at the heart of society and a bilingual programme offers many advantages. At the moment, we are the only academic psychology programme in the Netherlands that does not offer a Dutch course programme. The need to have a programme in Dutch does exist, however. For instance it would benefit students who would like to study psychology with a focus on the opportunities that technology has to offer, but also employers who would benefit from psychologist who master both English and Dutch. In addition, this year we started a specialisation programme in Dutch for psychology in mental health services. With the addition of the bilingual programme in regular psychology, there is a better connection between the two.'
Enrolment
Choosing to offer a Dutch course programme also has to do with expanding the intake of first-year students, according to Bode. Currently, there are around 165 first-year students, with no room for growth. But in order to keep everything running smoothly, remain able to offer all specialisations, and make the best use possible of the curriculum, we need to – more or less – double our student intake,' Bode says. Changing to a bilingual programme will involve inevitable changes to the programme and the people working in it. Bode: 'A number of our international lecturers will have to become proficient in Dutch. They stand behind this change and are motivated to develop their abilities in Dutch, which is encouraging'
Future-oriented psychologist
The Psychology programme at the University of Twente prepares students for the role of psychologists who are future-oriented. Not only do students learn the theories behind psychology, but also the practice, e.g. of how to use smart technologies such as health apps and virtual reality in order to introduce people to new situations and have them change their own behaviour. Among other things, students can gain valuable experience in the state-of-the-art lab at the Faculty of BMS, where knowledge is put into practice directly. Whether students opt for advanced training as a the programme to become a psychologist in mental health services, a career in business, or a position in government, the programme provides them with a firm foundation. Students are trained to work in international environments and multi-disciplinary teams. Thanks to the combination of psychological knowledge and practical experience that they will gain at the University of Twente, they will be able to come up with innovative and realistic solutions, which will give them a considerable head start on the labour market.
Application deadline
The Psychology programme has increased the number of available places for the numerus clausus to 450. The application deadline for programmes with a numerus clausus is 15 January.
