This is how you get into the HIGHSEA-programme

Every year, more students want to be accepted into the HIGHSEA programme than we have places for. This is one of the reasons why we organise an admissions process. We are not looking for the best or the smartest students. Rather, we are looking for those who have a strong interest in science. Those who are keen to understand really difficult contexts. Those who also know what it means to make a real effort. At HIGHSEA, there are students with an extended secondary school leaving certificate, those who come from a comprehensive school, those who have already failed school and those who have a "five" on their report card. And there are also those who come from a grammar school and had an average of "1.0" on their last report card.

The admissions process doesn't just look at how well you do at school! So give it a try!!!

How your school report is included in the admission procedure:
Together with the application form for the upper secondary school, you should submit a copy of your most recent school report. This is the report card that you will receive at the end of January of the year in which you wish to apply.
How are the points for the admission procedure calculated from the report card grades?

It's not difficult in the end: first you have to calculate the mean (or average) of all the grades on your report card. It doesn't matter which subject has a grade on your report card. They are simply all included in the calculation.

How does this work - calculate the average?
You simply add up all the marks and divide the total by the number of marks you have added up.
And so it goes on:
for an average certificate grade of 1.00 you get 33 1/3 points
for an average grade of 4.25 you get 0 points
You can enter these two points in a graph and connect them with a straight line. Now you can easily determine how many points you get for average grades between 1.0 and 4.25. Using the methods you know from maths lessons (gradient triangle, linear equation), you can of course also work out how many points you will get for your report card.

and.... how many points do you get for your certificate?

You don't need any school knowledge of biology or chemistry for the written test. In our tasks, we describe some facts and then ask questions about these facts. For tasks of this type "Recognising facts" you will receive a maximum of approx. 13 out of 33.3 points.

We definitely want to be sure that you have very basic numeracy and English skills. Both are important tools for us when we want to answer scientific questions. That's why the test includes a few exercises on the rule of three and calculating percentages. Please remember that you are not allowed to use a calculator in the test. It may also be a good idea to practise adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing in writing. If you solve all the maths problems correctly, you will receive approx. 12 out of 33.3 points.

We have also prepared an English section. It consists of some multiple-choice tasks and some tasks in which you have to write a few sentences of a free text. You can achieve around 8 out of 33.3 points from the English tasks.

From this you can see that it really pays off if you prepare a little for the maths tasks and the English section.

The interview should give you the opportunity to get to know us a little better. We would also like to get to know you better than is possible from a certificate or a test. For example, we would like to know how we can recognise that you are enthusiastic about science. It is also important for us to know how we can recognise that you are prepared to make an effort if necessary. We would like to ask you these and a few other questions in person. We will also conduct a small part of the interview in English. We want to find out whether you are prepared to use English as a means of communication. It is not important to us whether you can do this flawlessly.

You can also get a maximum of 33.3 points from the interview.

If you want to prepare for the interview, it's a good idea to browse the internet. There are lots of advice pages that describe what is appropriate in a job interview and what you should avoid.