Advice when composing your PLP for the preparatory programme in Business Engineering

Limit your number of credits

Don’t bite off more than you can chew! The limits mentioned in the PLP regulations are maximum limits. You are not obligated to enrol for 66/72/80 ECTS credits. You can enrol for less credits, but we advise you to check with the authorities if they impose minimum limits regarding residence permits, visa,…

If you are enrolled for a PLP it is probably because you did not pass all your courses in the previous academic year. Therefore, make sure that you don’t take up even more courses in the current academic year. Students always want to enrol for as many credits as possible at the start of the academic year. However, following more courses in order to try to graduate sooner, often has a reversed effect. Therefore, we usually advise students to spread the courses.

Check your learning account and study progress

A realistic and doable PLP is important for your learning account and study progress! Each course has a certain numbers of credits, each time you enrol for a course these credits are withdrawn from your learning account. If you pass an exam, you regain these credits. If you fail an exam, you lose these credits. The more difficult your PLP is, the bigger the chance that you will not pass all your courses and the more credits you will loose.

Students at UGent have to make sufficient study progress. Therefore the Education and Examination code contains regulations about study progress, this means that making insufficient study progress could have an influence on your enrolment in the next academic year. Please consult article 24 in the Education and Examination Code for more information

Spread your courses over both semesters

Each academic year consists of two semesters, spread your courses equally! When forming your PLP, please take into account an equal spread for each semester. This way you avoid having lots of courses in one semester while leaving none for the other.

Avoid class and exam overlap

Check the class schedules in the Course Catalogue and your exam schedule in Oasis. One of the greatest disadvantages in taking a PLP is the risk of class overlap and exam overlap. The more courses you combine from different standard learning tracks, the greater the chance of class and exam overlaps. Compare the class schedules of the standard learning track years you combine and check which courses you can take in your PLP. The general class schedule can be consulted via the Course Catalogue. For a PLP it is not unthinkable that two exams coincide, which is even more inconvenient. There is a chance that you may need to move certain courses directly to the second examination period (resit) and that you will only be able to use one exam opportunity. Should you find yourself in this situation, you should always choose to move the courses of the highest standard learning track and prioritise the courses of the lowest standard learning track.

Think about the formation of your PLP

Read the PLP regulations! You have to comply with the PLP regulations. Make sure that your PLP contains all the courses from the lowest standard track year (e.g. the preparatory course) before you start adding courses from the higher standard track year (e.g. the master’s programme). If you have to follow elective courses, you can consult the elective course list and regulations. Most importantly: consult the initial competences, you can find these in the course sheets in the Course Catalogue.

Next academic year

When forming your PLP for the current academic year, don't forget to think about the next academic year(s). The decisions that you make now, may have an influence on your programme in the future (your graduation year, the order in which you follow courses,...)

Always think about possible scenarios for the coming academic years, in order to avoid problems in the future.