Officially, there are 3 holiday seasons. Christmas Holidays, Summer Holidays, and Carnaval (Spring Break, usually in February or March).
Christmas Holidays usually last around 3 weeks. Summer Holidays last about 4-5 weeks. The Carnaval break lasts 1 week.
However, sometimes, depending on your exam schedule, you might finish your exams early. The exam week lasts for 2 weeks, where you will have on average 2-4 exams. Sometimes, you may finish your exams early, for example in the first week. After that, you are free for a week, as the rest of the students are doing their exams, and you have finished. Meanwhile you wait for the new quarter to start, you have a week break!
This is what first year students fear most. This basically means that you have to get 45/60 credits in your first year. In simple words, you have to pass 9/12 courses in your first year. In your first year, you take 3 courses per quartile, and you may at maximum fail 3 courses in total throughout the whole year.
If you fail to meet your BSA, you will not be allowed to continue studying in your program. This also means that you will not be able to do your course for a certain amount of years after failing it. Dropping out before the BSA deadline (usually around April) will allow you to redo the same course next year as a first year student. Depending on circumstances, you can ask for a BSA extension.
Officially the bachelor program is 3 years. However, statistically, most of the students don't finish in 3 years, as finishing the entire bachelor program in 3 years is challenging. Students often choose to participate in other activities part of university life such as student teams, associations, and other activities.
Cumlaude is a distinction from the university for a student when they get an average of 8/10 or higher throughout their entire bachelor program. A special silver tie is given during graduation, along with a special Cumlaude diploma.
Officially the academic year starts on 1st of September, that's when the lectures and the classes start. However, all activities start usually mid august, such as the TU/e Intro Week followed by the Ascension Intro, so we would definitely recommend arriving in the first half of August.