Frequently Asked Questions

Thomas More consists of two different official instances, each of which has a different Erasmus code. The Erasmus code you will need will depend on the campus you will be studying at:

Thomas More Mechelen-Antwerpen: B MECHELE14

Campus Antwerp, De Nayer (Sint-Katelijne-Waver) and Mechelen

Thomas More Kempen: B GEEL07

Campus Lier, Geel, Vorselaar and Turnhout

Students from partner universities where both schools have signed and Inter-Institutional Agreement (IIA) or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) obtain a waiver of this tuition fee.
This means that if Thomas More has an agreement with your home university, you won’t have to pay tuition fees at Thomas More during your exchange, since you pay them at your home university.

Not sure if our universities have an agreement already? Please check with your home university first.
 

In order to join our exchange programmes you need to first get nominated. If your nomination gets accepted, you will receive the application procedure via email.

When is the nomination deadline?

• Autumn semester (and whole academic year) - 1st of May
• Spring semester - 15th of October

When is the application deadline?

• Autumn semester (and whole academic year) - 15th of May
• Spring semester - 31st of October
   

After you have submitted your application, the International Office will process it and contact you asap.
If you have been accepted into the exchange programme you applied for, you will get your acceptance letter by email.
If not, you will receive an email to inform you why.

Autumn semester = September to January
Spring semester = February yo June

As an exchange student you must always submit your (Online) Learning Agreement before arrival:

What?

An (Online) Learning Agreement is a mandatory document in order to participate in an exchange programme. The purpose of the (Online) Learning Agreement is to provide a transparent and efficient preparation of the exchange to make sure that students receive recognition for the activities successfully completed abroad. It sets out the programme of the studies or the traineeship to be followed abroad.

Online Learning Agreement

• Compulsory for all students coming from a European Higher Education Institution according to the Erasmus+ rules
• You need to start the procedure at your home institution
• It's very important to choose the correct Erasmus+ code in the system, since Thomas More has officially 2 different codes

Learning Agreement

• The paper version of the Learning Agreement can be used by students studying outside of Europe
• You can use our Learning Agreement template if your home institution doesn't provide one

When?

You need to submit your (Online) Learning Agreement ((O)LA) before arrival:

Where?

Online Learning Agreement

You need to start the procedure online at your home institution. Every institution uses another procedure, please check with your International Office for the correct procedure.

Learning Agreement

You should upload the signed Learning  Agreement in the system before the deadline. You will receive the instructions to do so by email.
This document needs to be signed by you and your international coordinator at home.

After your enrolment has been processed, you will receive an email from Thomas More’s Student Administration. It will contain a personalized URL for you to activate your account. You need this link and your student number to complete the activation.

Your username = your account number = your student number (written as: r0123456). You will find this number in the same email. After activating your account, you will have access to the main information channel for your study programme and other services like the student portal.

You will need to set a password for your Thomas accounts. Please note that this password must comply with a number of conditions, which can also be found in the account activation email. everyone at Thomas More logs into their account with a password and an additional security method (usually an app on your smartphone). Read all about it here.

Is there a problem?
Then it’s best to request a new code from the service desk by going to this website and choosing 'I cannot log in'.

What do I use my account for?

• You can use it to log into the Thomas More applications (Canvas, email, student portal…). In this case you need to use your full email address as your username and the password you chose.
• You can also use it for the web-based applications from the KU Leuven Association (such as KU Loket), where you will need to use only your student number (not the full email address) as your user name. The password is always the same.

You can request certain certificates yourself via the application ‘Selfservice certificates’ in the ‘KU Loket’ system.  The application is available as a tile under ‘Study & Exams’. 

When all fields are filled in, a button ‘send’ appears. If you press this button, a certificate is generated in the background. This certificate will be sent as an attachment in pdf-format to your Thomas More email address. You will receive a confirmation when the creation of the certificate and the preparation of the email have gone correctly. Sending the email make take some time.

Most certificates will have a QR-code on them. This unique code can be used to verify the authenticity of the certificate through a professional scanner or with QR-code apps on smartphones, tablets and PC.

NMBS/De Lijn certificate:

If you come to school by train or bus and would like to purchase a campus card or season ticket with NMBS/SNCB (Belgian train companies) or De Lijn/STIB/MIVB (Belgian bus and tram companies), you can use this certificate to prove that you are indeed enrolled at Thomas More and thus entitled to the student discount.

Proof of enrolment (certificate called “inschrijvingsbewijs”):

You can use this certificate at any time to prove that you are enrolled at Thomas More (e.g., if your landlord asks, for the townhall registration, etc.).

About 3 hours after you have activated your Thomas more account and chosen your password, you have access to your Thomas More mail. 

How does my Thomas More mail look like?

Your Thomas More email address, looks like this:  <your r-number>@student.thomasmore.be (e.g. r0123456@student.thomasmore.be).

How can I check my Thomas More mail?

You can check your Thomas More mail if you login at https://outlook.office356.com with your r-number@student.thomasmore.be (e.g. r0123456@thomasmore.be) and the password you have set. 

Canvas is our digital learning environment for lessons, tests, exams, … Each professor has a corresponding Canvas course for his/her subject.  In this course on Canvas learning material such as slides, extra exercises, info about the exam, … will be posted. Check it regularly!

How to log in into Canvas?
You can access Canvas via this webpage. Log in with your Thomas More email address (ex. r0123456@student.thomasmore.be) and your personal password.

As from when do I have access to Canvas?
After activating your account, it may take one to two days before your data is uploaded into the Thomas More digital learning environment.

What if I cannot see my courses in Canvas?

There could be different reasons for this:

• If your Individual Study Programme (ISP) has not been arranged/approved yet, you won’t be able to see your courses.
• The teacher might have not published the course yet (ex. At the beginning of the semester).

More information on Canvas in the student portal.

What is the KU Loket?

The KU Loket is your digital student file. Here you can:

• compose your individual study programme (ISP) at the start of the academic year and send it to your study counsellor. Your ISP is your individual study contract. It determines the courses you are enrolled in and which exams you will take this year.
• consult your exam results after each examination period
• check your registration information and the courses you're enrolled in for the whole academic year
• re-enrol for the next academic year if you are a full degree student. You receive an invitation email to do so.
• and much more!

How to log in to the KU Loket?

You'll have to log on using your Thomas More account. Your username is your r-number (r0123456) and your password is your Thomas More password.​
Please note it's only possible to access this platform once  you have officially enrolled in our system and activated your account.

What is an ISP?

With your Individual Study Programme (ISP) you determine the courses you will take in the coming academic year. Your ISP has to meet the requirements of the programme you're registered for.

When to fill in my ISP?

International students create and edit their ISPs during the Welcome Days:

• Autumn semester: your ISP is available from September 12 and has to be submitted before September 28 2023.
• Spring semester: your ISP is available from February 7 and has to be submitted before February 22 2023.

Via our services

You will be able to buy or order all new study material via Thomas More. Our different campuses work with different suppliers.

Second-hand study material

Both for buying and selling second hand books we refer our students to the website of Stubooks (Dutch only).  Here  you can create a profile as a student and put books for sale as well as buy books.  You can easily filter on Thomas More and even on education.
Some Thomas More campuses also organise sales days for second hand books.

What are ECTS credits, and how many hours of work do they entail?

What are ECTS credits?

ECTS is short for European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System. It is a standard way to compare the credits associated with a certain amount of learning and the associated workload in higher education across the European Union.

Workload

ECTS is a credit system based on student workload. The credits are a value given to course units to describe the amount of work needed to complete them successfully. 1 ECTS corresponds to 25 to 30 hours of work per semester (including time spent in class, meetings for group work, reading assignments, studying for exams, etc.).

ECTS credits express a relative value. Study hours are estimates because you may spend more time on a course you are not so familiar with and maybe less on another course that is exactly in your area of interest and expertise. That means that one of your 3 ECTS courses may involve more work than a 6 ECTS course.

A bachelor's degree consists of 180 ECTS credits. One year’s study is 60 credits, which is normally equivalent to 1500–1800 hours of total workload. 

ECTS grading scale

ECTS also includes a standard grading scale, shown in addition to Flemish standard grades.