Branches of study

At AHS Ostbelgien, Bachelor’s programmes at Level 6 of the national qualifications framework are offered in the following fields of study:

Health and Nursing Sciences 

The Bachelor’s degree programme in Health and Nursing Sciences qualifies students to carry out nursing duties in the various fields of the healthcare sector. The full-time programme comprises 240 ECTS credits and normally lasts 4 years (8 semesters). After completing the generalist Bachelor’s degree, students have the opportunity to specialise and obtain a professional title in various fields, as well as to enrol in a Master’s programme at universities of applied sciences and universities in Belgium and abroad.

Social Work 

Since the academic year 2024/2025, the Bachelor’s programme in Social Work has expanded the range of programmes offered at AHS Ostbelgien. This is a three-year (6 semesters, 180 ECTS) generalist and practice-oriented Bachelor’s programme with a focus on Social Work (inter alia in line with the Belgian degree programmes Assistant social), incorporating elements of social pedagogy from the Educator training programme, offering the possibility of targeted specialisation in specific areas and establishing links with (Euro)regional stakeholders. 

Educational Sciences 

The degree programmes in the Department of Educational Sciences at AHS Ostbelgien enable students to obtain teaching diplomas for nursery school and primary school. Since the academic year 2025/2026, a reformed programme has been introduced – the previous three-year Bachelor’s degree programme is being phased out.

The reformed programmes in Early Childhood Education and Primary Education each comprise 240 ECTS credits and normally last 4 years (8 semesters). They are designed as full-time programmes and conclude with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Financial and Administrative Sciences

In cooperation with the Zentrum für Aus- und Weiterbildung des Mittelstandes (ZAWM), AHS Ostbelgien organises dual Bachelor’s programmes in the department of Financial and Administrative Sciences within the German-speaking Community. The duration of each dual study programme is 3 years (6 semesters).

The programme is structured so that students attend theoretical instruction at ZAWM during one half of the week and receive practical training during the other half of the week as trainees or employees in a company related to their field of study. This in-company part of the training is credited towards the study achievements and entitles students to the corresponding ECTS credits (a total of 180 ECTS). Upon successful completion, students receive both the bachelor’s degree diploma and the Master craftsman’s degree at the same time.

The dual study programme currently exists in the following areas:

• Accounting

• Insurance broker

• Public- and Business-Administration

Admission requirements

Access to the Bachelor’s degree programmes is generally granted on the basis of a leaving certificate from the upper level of secondary education or an equivalent qualification. The selection and admission of students are the responsibility of AHS Ostbelgien or ZAWM; there is no state-imposed numerus clausus. With the exception of the Bachelor’s programme in Social Work, no maximum number of study places has been defined.

Recognition/dispensation, i.e. exemptions from equivalent courses already successfully completed, for the programmes primarily offered at AHS Ostbelgien must be requested in writing at the beginning of the academic year. For the dual study programmes in the field of Financial and Administrative Sciences, additional regulations apply in the ZAWM/IAWM study regulations.

The admission requirements for the individual programmes are as follows:

Bachelor Health and Nursing Sciences

For admission to the Bachelor’s degree programme in Health and Nursing Sciences, the student must fulfil the following conditions:

• Holder of a leaving certificate from the upper level of secondary education, or proof of higher education studies, or an equivalent qualification.

• Proof of German as a mother tongue or independent use of the German language (CEFR – level B2).

Bachelor Social Work

For admission to the Bachelor’s degree programme in Social Work, the student must fulfil the following conditions:

• Holder of a leaving certificate from the upper level of secondary education, or proof of higher education studies, or a qualification recognised as equivalent on the basis of or in accordance with a law, a decree, a European directive or an international convention.

• The student must provide an extract from the criminal record referred to in Article 596, paragraph 2, of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which is no more than three months old and contains no entry.

• The student must demonstrate thorough command of the German language. Proof may be provided by the certificates listed in Article 26 of the Decree of 19 April 2004 on the transmission and use of languages in education, including the leaving certificate from the upper level of full-time secondary education obtained in this language.

• The student must demonstrate sufficient command of the French language. Proof may be provided by the certificates listed in Article 26 §2 of the Decree of 19 April 2004 on the transmission and use of languages in education, as well as by the leaving certificate from the lower or upper level of secondary education issued by a secondary school in the German-speaking Community or by the examination board of the German-speaking Community for secondary education.

• At the time of enrolment, the student must submit a letter of motivation which, in addition to explaining their motivation for the programme and the intended profession, also outlines their previous social engagement. Social engagement is understood as an active voluntary or professional contribution to society and to community life, which should be supported by a certificate from the association, organisation or institution concerned.

Allocation of study places

• A maximum of 25 students are admitted per academic year.

• Verification of admission documents: Only candidates who have submitted all required documents on time (by 30 June) and in accordance with the requirements will be admitted to the further procedure for the allocation of study places.

• The analysis and evaluation of the letter of motivation and of the social engagement, as well as the allocation of study places, are carried out by AHS Ostbelgien.

• Information for candidates: All candidates will be informed in writing by AHS Ostbelgien by a specified deadline whether or not they have obtained a study place, or a place on the waiting list.

• The written acceptance of the study place by the candidate must take place by a specified deadline; otherwise the study place will be offered to the next candidate on the waiting list.

Educational Sciences

For admission to the Bachelor’s degree programmes “Early Childhood Education” and “Primary Education”, the student must fulfil the following conditions and submit the corresponding admission documents:

• Holder of a leaving certificate from the upper level of secondary education or, alternatively, proof of higher education studies or an equivalent qualification. The recognition of foreign certificates is carried out before enrolment at AHS Ostbelgien by the Ministry of the German-speaking Community.

• Proof of knowledge of French by means of a DELF certificate at level B1 (Early Childhood Education) or B2 (Primary Education).

• Successful completion of the admission procedure developed at AHS Ostbelgien. The admission procedure consists of the following elements:

  1. Online self-assessment procedure à followed by registration for the further admission procedure

  2. Test of cognitive and linguistic basic skills

  3. Personal interview in which motivation, presentation ability and communicative skills, as well as the ability to analyse situations, adopt perspectives and resolve conflicts, are assessed. 

Financial and Administrative Sciences

For admission to the dual study programmes in the field of Financial and Administrative Sciences, the student must fulfil the following conditions:

• Holder of a leaving certificate from the upper level of secondary education, or proof of higher education studies, or an equivalent qualification. 

• Signing of a traineeship contract or an employment contract before the beginning of the studies

Curriculum

Curriculum development is carried out autonomously by AHS Ostbelgien or by IAWM/ZAWM, taking into account the study and examination regulations of the German-speaking Community established by decree. The departments align their specific content with the legal requirements, quality standards and professional field requirements. Linguistic variations exist particularly in the Bachelor’s programme in Social Work, in which teaching is provided bilingually (German/French).

Teaching methods

At AHS Ostbelgien, teaching methods include lectures, seminars, exercises, project work, case studies and blended learning combined with a high proportion of practical training. The selection of teaching methods and learning materials is the responsibility of the teaching staff. Digital platforms such as Moodle and media library resources (books, audiovisual material, learning materials and models, etc.), which are provided free of charge to teachers and students, support the learning process.

Health and Nursing Sciences

The learning content is structured and planned on the basis of the domains and classifications of NANDA-I. With this concept, AHS Ostbelgien aims to enable students to develop a holistic approach to complex situations and to continuously expand the required competences. The course content builds progressively, beginning with a focus on basic nursing care in the first two years of study and being complemented in the following years by specialised knowledge and research work.

Within the training programmes, teaching at the higher education institution and clinical-practical instruction in various healthcare institutions within and outside the German-speaking Community of Belgium complement each other. There is also the possibility of completing a placement abroad. The practice of nursing skills is first trained on simulation mannequins in two in-house laboratories before the beginning of the clinical-practical instruction. Teaching is based on the concept of problem-oriented learning and mainly uses case studies.

The theoretical course content consists of a combination of nursing science, basic medical and biological sciences, foundations in the humanities and social sciences, and the professionally oriented integration of theory and practice.

Social Work

In addition to the teaching of theoretical foundations, the Social Work programme has a strong practical and professional orientation in order to support the development of professional competences. To this end, annual practical placements are combined with practical and action-oriented courses. A strong focus is placed on professional identity and self-reflection as well as on methods of social work/social pedagogy.

Educational Sciences

Within the Bachelor’s degree programmes “Early Childhood Education” and “Primary Education” in the Department of Educational Sciences, cross-disciplinary professional competences are developed. However, the strong practical orientation does not mean that teaching-related practical skills are practised without reflection. Rather, students learn to justify, support and further develop their actions on a theoretical basis:

• In various settings, students acquire relevant core competences and test their first teaching skills in a protected environment at AHS Ostbelgien or in primary schools/kindergartens, for example through the observation and analysis of model lessons, through the training of profession-specific competences or through micro-teaching. In this sense, these settings represent a reflective link between theory and practice.

• Through the work placements, students progressively take on the planning, implementation and reflection of teaching in the school environment throughout the programme, thereby developing professional practical competences. Students are supported before, during and after the placements by training supervisors in the primary schools as well as by lecturers from AHS Ostbelgien. Students document their experiences and progress in a portfolio so that the programme can be tailored to the individual teaching competences that still need to be developed by each student.

• Key cooperation partners in the practical professional training are the training supervisors. They guide, support and assess the students in the acquisition of their professional competences and assist them in planning, implementing and reflecting on learning activities and school or educational situations. In doing so, they make a significant contribution to preparing students to take responsibility for a nursery or primary school class.

Financial and Administrative Sciences 

In the dual study programmes in the field of Financial and Administrative Sciences (Accounting/Insurance Broker/Public and Business Administration), teaching methods consist of a combination of theoretical input and practical application. The following are used:

• Plenary, group, pair and individual work

• Lectures by instructors with active participation of the students

• Practical exercises based on case studies

• Classroom exercises and self-study

• Use of realistic business documents

• Research tasks and work on course materials

• Practice exercises with model solutions

• Preparation and presentation of talks

• Group discussions (e.g. pro and contra rounds)

• Self-reflection in group exercises

• Professionally relevant software programmes

In the Insurance Broker programme and in the Public and Business Administration programme, an interdisciplinary project is written and presented orally in the second semester of the second year of study. In addition, students in the Public and Business Administration programme complete a four-week foreign-language placement in a company or administration operating in another language during the second year of study. 

Progression of students

In order to obtain the  leaving certificate, all compulsory subjects must be passed in all programmes at AHS Ostbelgien. Where elective subjects exist, these may be replaced if they are not passed.

Academic progression is regulated in accordance with the General Examination Regulations of AHS Ostbelgien:

• Students must obtain 60 ECTS per academic year.

• No student may take the same examination more than twice during one academic year. Exception: the examination board grants conditional progression or an extended session.

• In principle, it is not permitted to take the same examination more than four times over a maximum of two academic years. In the case of conditional progression or an extended session, the same examination may be taken a maximum of six times.

• For courses that extend over the entire academic year, dispensation tests may be offered during the first examination session. Passed dispensation tests lead to an exemption from the tested content in the course examination. Failed or not taken dispensation tests are repeated as examinations during the first examination session. The second session may be extended until the last day of the autumn semester if the student receives conditional progression or an extended session. For a student in a programme whose standard period of study ends at the end of the autumn semester, the second session may be extended until the last day of the spring semester if an extended session is granted. 

Employability 

In all bachelor’s programmes, close integration between theory and practice is provided. All programmes include compulsory practical phases that facilitate the transition into the labour market. The dual study programmes provide direct access to employers through their integration into companies.

AHS Ostbelgien also offers career-entry coaching for graduates, supports them with applications and maintains cooperation with regional companies, administrations, schools and social institutions.

Student assessment

The organisation of student assessment lies at the level of the departments in accordance with the respective examination regulations. In all programmes, assessment is carried out through:

• Continuous assessments (tests, project work)

• Practical examinations

• Final module examinations

Practical achievements (placements, laboratory exercises, school placements) are assessed and documented both qualitatively and quantitatively.

Certification

• Authority responsible for certification: AHS Ostbelgien

• Definition of the content: see https://www.ahs-ostbelgien.be/ 

• Examination methods: written and oral examinations

• Institution awarding the diploma: AHS Ostbelgien

• Titles of the qualifications: 

  • Bachelor in Educational Sciences (Primary school teacher) 

  • Bachelor in Educational Sciences (Kindergarten teacher)

  • Bachelor in Health and Nursing Sciences (Nurse)

  • Bachelor in Financial and Administrative Sciences (Field of study: Accounting)

  • Bachelor in Financial and Administrative Sciences (Field of study: Banking/Insurance)

  • Bachelor in Financial and Administrative Sciences (Field of study: Public and Business Administration)

• Official recognition body: Ministry of the German-speaking Community