Study programme

The two-year SEC programme includes courses, professional traineeships and research, worth a total of 120 credits (EC) in the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). The core courses (for all SEC students) are taught in English. The same applies to courses belonging to the Research and Development track. The Teacher Degree track is taught in Dutch. 

Apart from the core courses (which are the same for all students) and electives, your programme will include the courses that belong to your track. The SEC programme consists of several components. The exact composition partly depends on your starting date and your qualifications. Read more about the study programmes of both tracks below. 

Research and Development track

In the Research and Development track, you can follow a programme designed to teach you all about science communication and education without the final aim of becoming a teacher in secondary education. There are two internships: the product development internship, which you will complete at an organisation or company related to science communication, and the secondary education internship, which will take place at a Dutch secondary school. You will also take six mandatory courses, including Issues and Theories in SEC, Designing Science Education for Formal and Informal Settings, and Communicating Science with the Public. The track will also include a research line, with the courses Research Methods and Research Proposal and a 30-credit research project. In addition, you will have 25 ECTS for free electives. 

Choose your study programme: 

Teacher Degree track

The Teacher Degree track will prepare you for a job as a skilled science and/or mathematics teacher, with grounded knowledge about national and international topical issues in science & mathematics education, pedagogical approaches that are particularly effective for teaching science and/or mathematics, and research in science and mathematics education and its contribution to the educational field. The programme will include two school internships, in which you will practice your teacher skills, as well as a set of courses about educational design, methods relevant for performing research in educational contexts, issues and theories relevant for science and mathematics education, and science communication with a general public. You will also take 15 ECTS in elective courses, which you can use to customise the track according to your preferences. The track will end with a research project worth 30 ECTS, in which you will carry out your own formulated research study, under the guidance of experienced supervisors. 

Choose your study programme: 

Teaching practice through pre-service or in-service?

During the so-called educatieve module and the eerstegraads module, you will take the practical courses Professional in de Praktijk 1 (PiP1) and Professional in de Praktijk 2 (PiP2), respectively. During these courses, you will spend a large part of the week (at least six half-days during PiP1 and four during PiP2) at your practicum school (via an internship or a job). 

You can read more information about the pre-service and in-service variants in the brochure [in Dutch]. 

We apply a deadline for the student's choice of one of the variants, due to the number of internships needed. The exact date will be listed in the attachment to the conditional admission decision you will receive through the Master Admissions office team. 

Do you already have a first or second-degree qualification (limited or otherwise)?

Have you already completed an educational minor within your Bachelor's programme in the same school subject as the Master's programme? That means you have a limited second-degree qualification (for vmbo and the lower years of havo and vwo). This will take six months off your Master’s programme (full-time). You can also choose to use that time to deepen your knowledge.

Candidates holding the following qualifications may also claim some exemptions (provided that they also hold a university Bachelor's and Master's degree): a second-degree qualification in another school subject, a first-degree qualification in another school subject obtained through a university teacher training programme or a first-degree qualification in another school subject obtained through a Bachelor's degree programme.