Exam Regulations

The following regulations apply to exams at the Academie voor Coaching en Counselling (ACC).

Article 1. Examination board

  1. The examination board consists of at least the following officials:
  • Exam coordinator (chairman)
  • Study coordinator
  • Teacher of the training programme
  1. The examination board is responsible for the objective and expert assessment of a student’s fulfilment of the training programme requirements.
  2. If an appeal is made to the examination board on a matter concerning the chairman, the management of the ACC will appoint another temporary chairman.
  3. The examination board is responsible for:
  • Determining the exam regulations
  • Guaranteeing the quality and organisation of exams and resits
  • Establishing guidelines and instructions for ACC exams and resits
  • Issuing diplomas, certificates and proof of participation

Article 2. The exam

  1. The examination of the training programmes consists of theoretical and practical components. These components can be tested by means of a portfolio, a theoretical exam, a written teacher’s assessment and a practical exam. In the introductory chapter of the programme, the exact exam requirements for that particular training programme are listed.
  2. The exact time and dates of the exams can be found in the class schedule.
  3. The portfolio will be turned in to the teacher by the student. The theoretical exam is a written exam. The teacher’s assessment will be handed out to the student on the final class day before the practical exam. The practical exam consists of a coaching session with a practice client/fellow student.

Article 3. Exam standards

  1. The written teacher’s assessment will be marked ‘sufficient’ or ‘insufficient’. The student needs a positive trainer statement (‘sufficient’) to be allowed to participate in the practical part of the exam. The provisional predicate of the teacher’s assessment will be communicated to the students at the latest two class days before the end of the training. For training programmes shorter than 6 days, the teacher’s assessment will be given no later than the penultimate day of class. In case of an ‘insufficient’ mark, the teacher will indicate the points of improvement to the student and will discuss what the student should do to receive a positive teacher’s assessment before the end of the training programme. If the predicate is still insufficient on the last day of class, the teacher will again indicate points of improvement. The student will be given a maximum of 10 months to work on those points and to demonstrate the improvement, to be allowed to take part in the practical exam.
  2. The theoretical part of the exam (and resit) is assessed by an examiner on the basis of a set framework.
  3. Theoretical exams are marked between 0 and 10. If exams consist of multiple parts, then each part must be rated at least with a score of 6 (which means 60% is correct) to pass the exam. Scores between 5.5 and 5.9 will not be rounded up to a 6. Scores above 6 will be rounded to 1 decimal place.
  4. The practical exam will be assessed as ‘sufficient’ or ‘insufficient’.
  5. The practical exam will be assessed by an examiner. If necessary, teachers from other programmes can be used as examiners.
  6. The portfolio will be assessed as sufficient or insufficient. The student will be given one opportunity to revise the portfolio, should there be any points of improvement given by the teacher. The revised portfolio must be submitted to the teacher within two weeks after receiving the teacher’s feedback.
  7. For the training programme Coaching and Counselling Year 1, the portfolio is turned in to the teacher no later than 6 weeks after the last day of class. The teacher will assess the portfolio within 4 weeks of submission. The teacher will inform the student via email whether the portfolio has been assessed as sufficient or insufficient.
  8. For the training programme Coaching and Counselling Year 2, the portfolio is handed in to the teacher no later than 3 months after the last day of class. The teacher will assess the portfolio within 6 weeks of submission. An oral examination is part of the completion of the portfolio. During this meeting, the teacher will inform the student whether the portfolio has been assessed as sufficient or insufficient.
  9. If there are any doubts about whether or not the standards have been met, one member of the examination board will always be consulted.

Article 4. Exam admission requirements and diploma

  1. The candidate may take the exam if they:
  • Have paid all tuition fees in full;
  • Have met the minimum attendance requirement of 90%;
  • Have received a teacher’s assessment with the predicament ‘sufficient’.
  1. To be eligible for the training programme diploma, the candidate must:
  • Have been awarded at least a score of 6 for the theoretical part of the exam or resit;
  • Have received a teacher’s assessment with the predicament ‘sufficient’.
  • Have received a ‘sufficient’ for the portfolio;
  • Have received a ‘sufficient’ for the practical exam;
  • Have paid all tuition fees in full;
  • Have met the minimum attendance requirement of 90%, excluding the exam day.

Article 5. Registration and participation

  1. After registering for the training programme, students are automatically signed up as candidates for the exam on the already determined exam day. The student does not need to register for the exam separately.
  2. The exam must be taken in the same academic year as the one in which the training programme was followed. Sitting the exam at a later date is only possible with the exam board’s permission. Permission can be refused if the training programme has been changed in such a way that successful completion of the exam is no longer possible.
  3. If the student/candidate is unable to attend on the determined exam day, they can submit a request to the study coordinator to take an exam at a different location and date by sending an email to info@counselling.nl.
  4. This request to take an exam at a different location and date can be refused if the group is full at said location and on said date. In that case, the candidate can take the exam on the determined resit day in the same academic year in which the training programme was followed. The costs for this are stated on the ACC website, where the training programme information can be found.
  5. If the exam has not been passed with a sufficient result, a resit can be taken. The candidate may resit the exam once.

Article 6. Resit

Theoretical/practical exam:

  1. If the standards of the theoretical and/or practical exam are not met, the student will automatically be registered by the ACC for the re-examination which will take place on the set re-examination date of the training programme.
  2. The candidate may take one resit. If the required exam standards are not met, the candidate can request a meeting with their teacher. In this meeting, the teacher assesses whether it is worth taking a resit. The candidate is to submit the request for a meeting with the teacher to the examination board by sending an email to info@counselling.nl.
  3. The exam must be taken in the same academic year in which the training programme was followed. Sitting the exam at a later date is only possible with the exam board’s permission. Permission can be refused if the training programme has been changed in such a way that successful completion of the exam is no longer possible.

Portfolio:

  1. If the deadline for submitting a portfolio is not met by the student, a one-time (substantiated) postponement may be requested for a maximum of the original deadline again, with a maximum of 3 months (see Article 3 of these regulations).
  2. Postponement is requested by the student prior to the expiration of the deadline in writing (email) to the teacher, with a copy of the email to the ACC head office, at info@counselling.nl. Granting of the postponement request is entirely at the discretion of the ACC.
  3. If an extension has been requested in time (before the deadline) and this request has been granted by the ACC, the student will have a one-time free of charge opportunity to submit the portfolio by the new deadline. If this deadline is also not met, the student can request one more postponement, but this second postponement will be considered a retake, which means that re-examination fees will apply (see Article 7 of these regulations). The re-examination fees can be found on the ACC-website counselling.nl. The portfolio will not be reviewed by the teacher until the re-examination fees have been paid.
  4. If the student has not requested an extension prior to the expiration of the deadline, the portfolio component will be considered ‘not passed’. Only a one-time retake will apply in this case. The student will have 14 days after the expired deadline to still apply for postponement. This postponement immediately counts as a retake, which means that re-examination fees will apply (see Article 7 of these regulations). The re-examination fees can be found on the ACC-website counselling.nl. The portfolio will not be reviewed by the teacher until the re-examination fees have been paid.
  5. If the deadline for a retake is not met (in any of the above cases), the student has failed the portfolio component and the right to a diploma is forfeited. The student is then only entitled to a certificate of participation, which will state what components of the training programme have and have not been successfully completed.

Article 7. Examination fees

  1. The examination fees for the first exam are included in the training programme fees, provided that the candidate takes the exam on the set exam days.
  2. The resit comes at an additional cost. These costs are published on the ACC website together with the training programme information.
  3. If the first exam is taken on a resit day, the costs for a resit will be charged.

Article 8. Exam results

  1. The result of each examination component is determined by the teacher, under the supervision of the examination board.
  2. The official result is the one sent in writing by the teacher/examination board to the candidate.

Article 9. Written exam review

  1. Students can only review written exams if the exam or resit standards have not been met.
  2. To this end, the candidate is to submit a request to the examination board by sending an email to info@counselling.nl.
  3. Written exams and resits can only be reviewed by appointment at the ACC’s visiting address.
  4. The candidate may not make a copy of the written exam or resit but is permitted to take notes.
  5. Exams and resits are not made public and remain the property of the ACC.
  6. The ACC keeps written exams and resits for 5 years.

Article 10. Denial of the right to participate

  1. The examination board can deny a candidate their right to sit the exam/resit if:
  • The conditions in Article 3 and Article 4 of these regulations have not all been met;
  • It turns out that the candidate has cheated in an exam or resit;
  • The examiner concludes that the candidate is preventing other candidates from being able to do their best in an exam/resit.

Article 11. Appeals

  1. The candidate can appeal against an examination board decision about the exam/resit.
  2. The appeal must be submitted to the examination board within 5 days of the publication of the exam results by sending an email to info@counselling.nl.
  3. The appeal should be addressed to the examination board and must at least mention the name of the training programme, the exam/resit date and the reasons for the appeal.

Article 12. Final decision

In cases not covered by these examination regulations, the ACC management team shall make the decision.

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