Free University Amsterdam

In 2003 the Free University of Amsterdam observed that higher professional education students dropped out more from a university master's course. For this reason the started looking for an assessment instrument that could help students better assess whether following a university master was a good choice. NOA developed the Premaster assessment for this reason. This premaster assessment has been used since 2004 by (virtually) all higher professional education students who wishto follow a (pre) master's course.

In 2014 the Free University of Amsterdam started using the NOA online matching questionnaire for all first-year freshmen students. This assessment measures the interest in the course, study situation and study skills of the prospective student and gives the student feedback on strengths and points to develop.

Finally, NOA instruments are used in the admission/selection procedures for the Medicine, Dentistry and Criminology programmes.

Our roleNOA has advised on the process of introduction, choice and development of the instruments, and is responsible for the online test environment and reporting of the assessment results to the students.

Our added valueNOA has a long-term cooperative relationship with the Free University, with research forming an important part of the collaboration. NOA is capable of running large numbers of online assessments without problems. Flexibility and customization are paramount in all our projects with the Free University.

The resultThe Free University Amsterdam is able to attract more suitable students and reduce dropout rates with the help of NOA assessments. The process of test taking is efficient and the costs per student are low.