The number of university and hbo college courses considered to be of poor quality by the joint Dutch-Flemish accreditation board rose from 29 to 45 last year, the NRC reports.

At the same time, the number of courses with an ‘excellent’ label rose from five to seven and the number considered ‘good’ shot up from 16 to 69.

The 45 courses branded as failing have two years to improve. However, two are considered so bad their accredation has now been stopped, the NRC said.