Basic concepts

Last modified: 02. December 2022

State scholarship: the cost of the education of a student with a state scholarship (before 1 September 2012 was called: state-funded) is financed by the Hungarian state. However, in order to remain a state scholarship holder, a student must meet the conditions set out in the Student Allowances and Benefits Regulations (SABR in English, HJT in Hungarian) under Act CCIV of 2011 on National Higher Education. A student who has been awarded a state scholarship may also have payment obligations under the Study and Examination Regulations (SER) and the SABR (e.g., failed deadlines, late enrolment or late submission of a course, retaken examination fees, etc.).

Student / Programme funded by a Hungarian state scholarship: student/study programme supported by a Hungarian state scholarship.

Self-funded study programme: the full cost of the education is financed by the student.
Programme and output requirements: the sum of knowledge, skills, abilities, skills and competences (competence), if acquired, leads to the award of a diploma in the given field of study. The programme and output requirements for bachelor's and master's programmes, higher education vocational training, and integrated (undivided) one-tier training programmes are stipulated in a ministerial decree. The requirements for postgraduate specialist trainings are stipulated in the registration decision of the Educational Authority.

Field of education and training: all the programmes defined in a government decree that have similar or partially identical education and training content.

Length/duration of programme: the number of semesters required for obtaining of the required credits, level of qualification, professional qualification, as defined in the programme and output requirements for the study programme, as specified in the corresponding legislation. The student's period of study may differ from the length/duration of programme.

Period of study: the period of study in a given study programme, the total number of active and passive semesters. The period of study may be shorter or longer than the length/duration of programme.

Period of funding: the period during which a student who has been admitted to and enrolled in a state-subsidized study programme (state scholarship, partial state scholarship, state-funded) can pursue studies under a (partial) state scholarship/state funding. All semesters in which the student is registered as active semesters, and in which the student is registered on the day of the statistical deadline of the semester are considered to be the support period available to the student. An individual may study under a Hungarian state scholarship for a cumulative total (in higher vocational education, undergraduate education and master’s education) of twelve semesters. The support period is a maximum of fourteen semesters if the student takes part in an integrated (undivided) one-tier study programme and if the length of the programme exceeds ten semesters according to the programme and output requirements. The number of state-subsidized / state scholarship semesters that a student can use in one study programme (major) is the length of the programme plus two semesters.

Studies / training for the acquisition of partial knowledge is a form of training in which the University grants a student status to a person who has a higher education degree and who does not have a student status at any Hungarian higher education institution, for a maximum of two semesters in order to acquire partial knowledge in a self-funded course of studies. No separate admission procedure is required, but the student must apply to the training for the acquisition of partial knowledge.

Partial studies: if the student obtains credits in another higher education institution as a visiting student.

Academic year: a 10-month educational organizational period.

Semester: a 5-month educational organizational period.

Academic term: the duration of a term is divided into a study period (when classes are held) and the corresponding examination period.

Credit: a unit of the student’s work which represents - in relation to the subject and the curricular unit - the estimated time necessary for the acquisition of a specific body of knowledge and the fulfilment of requirements. One credit equals 30 study hours on average, and the value of a credit - provided that the student’s performance was accepted - does not depend on the evaluation given of the student’s performance.

Criterion requirement: a mandatory requirement without credits that is specified in the qualification requirements, the programme and output requirements, or the curriculum of the programme (degree course), for example, comprehensive exam, participating in P.E., comprehensive exam language requirements specified in the qualification requirements.

Course: a unit of a subject corresponding to the type(s) of class specified in the subject syllabus or in the optional subject list and registered in the Neptun Unified Education System, which is the form of implementation of the subject in the given semester. The types of courses: lecture (theory), practice, seminar, laboratory practice, field practice (study review, workshop), dissertation/thesis (individual consultation) or exam course (CV course).

Model curriculum: a recommended subject completion order of a given study programme on the basis of the subjects required for the given qualification or specialization during the study period specified in the programme and output requirements.

Curriculum: the training plan of a study programme compiled in accordance with the programme and output requirements of the program. Curriculum elements by study programmes are the subjects, the lesson and examination plan determined on the basis of curricular units, the system of monitoring and evaluating the completion of requirements, and the subject programs of subjects and curricular units.

Mobility window: a period (semester) of international mobility built into the model curriculum of the programme, which encourages students to undertake partial studies, typically abroad as visiting students. This enables them to complete subjects at the host higher education institution which correspond to the subjects prescribed for the semester in 11 the University’s model curriculum for the programme (degree course) and which can be accepted within the subject recognition procedure.
Full-time programmes shall consist of five teaching days per week, the education shall be organized on working days.

Part-time training: evening or correspondence education courses:

a) evening education schedule: evening classes are held after 4:00 p.m. on weekdays or on weekends during the academic year.
b) correspondence training work schedule: an educational organization work schedule according to which—unless otherwise agreed with the students concerned—the students’ classes are grouped on working days or weekends at the institution no more than every two weeks, with distance learning methodologies being used for the rest of the training.

Dual training: a form of training organised in the fields of technology, information technology, agriculture studies, sciences or economics in practice-oriented undergraduate programmes, social work undergraduate programmes, as well as in the graduate programmes of the fields listed above in which practical training takes place at a qualified organisation in line with the given programme’s curriculum (compiled in line with the programme and output requirements and containing unique provisions on the duration of the training, training methods, classes and testing) within a framework determined by the Dual Training Council.

Prerequisite: the proven completion of the material of a subject, a group of subjects, and/or the required criteria for understanding the material of a given subject. The prerequisite can be partial or complete. In case of a partial prerequisite, the student may take the subject based on it if they have been granted a signature in the prerequisite subject at the end of the semester, but they cannot obtain a grade until the completion of the prerequisite subject. In the case of a complete prerequisite, the student cannot take the subject based on it without completing the prerequisite subject or criterion requirement.

Prerequisite order: the set of prerequisites for the subjects included in the curriculum of the degree programme

Phasing-in system: an organizational principle on the basis of which any new or amended study and examination requirements can only be applied to students who have started their studies after the introduction of the regulations, or to students who started their studies before the introduction, but who have chosen to work towards their degree according to the new or amended study and examination requirements. New study and examination requirements can generally be applied to all students if they establish a more favourable condition for students.

Active semester: With respect to the student, every semester following enrolment in the study programme (when student status is granted), in which the student takes at least one subject and their student status is not suspended, is an active semester. A student studying abroad or doing an internship abroad that is organized or permitted by the University has an active semester if they have registered at the University for the given semester.

Passive semester: Based on a voluntary statement by the student, a passive semester is one in which the student does not take any subjects and does not continue their studies. A semester will be deemed passive if the student fails to provide the required statement for the given semester by the deadline specified in the schedule for the academic year, but no later than 14th October in the autumn semester and 14th March in the spring semester. In cases where the semester is automatically deemed to be passive, this finding will be recorded in the Neptun System by the competent organizational unit of the Educational Directorate.

Internal additional (parallel) training: In case of internal parallel training, the student pursues several training programmes within the University at the same time in order to obtain various qualifications.
Enrolment period: the period during which the person admitted or transferred to the University acquires a student status with the University.

Registration period: the period during which the University student, in any semester following the first enrolment, indicates via the Neptun Unified Education System whether he/she intends to have an active semester (in which they continue their studies) or a passive one (in which they temporarily pause their studies).

Subject registration: during the subject registration period—or outside the course registration period with a permission defined in the Study and Examination Regulations: the registration for the announced lecture and/or practical and/or laboratory practice and/or field practice and/or consultation classes (courses), or for the exam courses of the subjects. Registration for subjects can be dependent on the completion of subject prerequisites, which is specified in the curriculum of the given study programme.

Field practice: a form of practical education outside classroom education that is closely integrated with the theoretical syllabus of a subject. The field practice takes place in a field of the University (e.g. test plant, arboretum) or at a partner in the private sector. In the curriculum, the amount of field practice related to each subject is given in days or hours. Field practice can be organized independently from subjects according to the curriculum of the study programme.

Internship: a partly independent student activity to be completed at an internship place of the higher education institution or an external internship site, within the framework of higher educational vocational trainings and undergraduate (bachelor’s), master’s, and integrated (undivided) one-tier programmes.

Neptun Unified Education System (hereinafter referred to as ‘Neptun System’): an IT programme used to record and register students’ personal data, as well as their special data related to legal status, allowances, benefits, obligations, courses and examination matters. It also records the data of lecturers and researchers, which are reported to the higher education information system in accordance with the legislation in force.

Study (degree) programme: a uniform system of training content (knowledge, skills, abilities) required for the acquisition of a qualification.

Specialization: a training that results in independent professional qualification that forms part of a given study programme and provides special expertise.

Qualifications: The acknowledgement of the expert knowledge in a diploma or a higherlevel vocational diploma—determined as per the content of the study programme, specialization or specialist training course, preparing the student for pursuing the profession concerned—acquired in a postgraduate specialised training programme or higher educational vocational training, or while simultaneously pursuing a bachelor’s or master’s degree programme

Lesson: an activity (lecture, seminar, practice, laboratory practice, field practice / workshop, study review / consultation) that requires the personal participation of the instructor to meet the study requirements specified in the curriculum, and it lasts for a minimum of forty-five and a maximum of sixty minutes.

Institute(s): the organisational units of the University that carry out teaching, academic researches and artist activities as core functions.

Pre-degree certificate (absolutorium): it verifies the successful completion of the examinations defined in the curriculum, the completion of other study requirements, and obtaining the required credit points specified in the programme and output requirements (including credit points for the dissertation), with the exception of passing the language exam and preparing and submitting a dissertation. It attests, without qualification or other evaluation, that the student has met the study and examination requirements specified in the curriculum in all respects.

Practical grade (mid-term grade): based on the continuous assessment of the study requirements of the subject, it expresses the student’s mid-term performance. The practical grade may be obtained during the study period, but no later than the second week of the examination period, in accordance with the assessment procedure specified in the subject requirement rules.

Exam (end-term): a form of examination combined with assessment that evaluates the acquisition of knowledge, skills and abilities.

Retake exam: Retaking a failed exam in a given subject for the first time.

Repeated retake exam: Repetition of an unsuccessful retake exam in a subject.

Exam course (CV course): taking a given subject for several times without lessons, having the end-of-semester signature, with the intention of completing the examination. A subject resulting in a practical grade can also be announced within the framework of an exam course.