SAE institute's Board of Studies 2021

Dear Mrs./ Mr.

As Bachelor students of the SAE institute Brussels, we are writing to inform you of our worries concerning the issue of our official transcripts in 2021.

As our studies at the SAE institute came to an end in September 2021, students were allowed to ask for Provisional Academic Reports that would enable us to pursue our academic and/or professional goals.

However, we noticed that every student from the SAE institute who has tried to enrol into further studies, especially this year, has been rejected in some way by the schools they applied to. The most common issue are the Provisional reports themselves.

I, Ambre Vanneste, have been able to enrol at Goldsmiths University, London. However, I am now struggling to get a VISA to study in England because the immigration services will not accept my Provisional Academic Report.

Mélanie De Potter, a student from our Film Production BA in Brussels, was refused from a film production MA in Royal Holloway, London, not because her grades and parcours did not correspond to their expectations, but because they could not accept her Provisional Academic Report. As of now she has lost her chance to be able to study in the UK at all.
After being rejected in London, she then tried to enrol for a Masters at the ULB in Brussels, a public Belgian University.
Other students, Claudiu Niculescu and Léonce De Felord tried to enter a Masters at the ULB.

They were refused once more because they did not accept this Provisional Academic Report either, stating that it comes from a « private institution » and that they will only accept a transcript from an official University.


Thus, all the reports provided by the SAE are void in the eyes of these institutions until the Finalist Assessment Board takes place.
Notwithstanding, the fact that the Board takes place in the second half of November (18/11/21), this became an even bigger issue.


Léonce De Felord was hoping to renew his residence permit in Belgium this year by continuing his studies for a Masters degree. Yet, since he was rejected based on the Provisional report, the only document he was able to receive at the end of his studies, he was unable to do so. Because of it, he now lives on an illegal basis.

As mentioned previously, I am now also struggling to receive a UK student VISA as the immigration office will only accept the official transcript or Diploma.
Until then, I believe it is important to let you know that I am studying in London in an illegal way because I am waiting for my official transcript to fill all administrative requests from immigration.

Ergo, it makes the matter of getting an official transcript from Middlesex University very urgent to all these students, myself included.


We have been informed that our Finalist Assessment Board would take place on the 18th of November and that our official transcripts would follow.
However, this date worries us because it is more than 2 months after we received our Provisional Academic Report. Not to mention that some students who have graduated the year before us, are still waiting on their diplomas. This doe not only concern the film department but also the audio department. 


We do not understand the reason for such a delay for our official transcripts.


We understand that the Finalist Assessment Board applies to SAEs around Europe but we believe that Brussels students cannot be the only ones suffering from the Finalist Assessment Board taking place as late as the 18th November. 

We think that changing to an earlier date would benefit all students from all institutes and we hope you understand our concern.

Changing the Finalist Assessment Board to an earlier date will definitely help my issue with the Visa and it just might be enough in time to allow the other students to get a chance to enrol to ULB.
Failure to do so will beget in major issues for the students. They will lose their chance to pursue their wanted studies, or to further studies at all.

Please, let us know about the changes that can be made to answer our worries. If the Finalist Assessment Board is moved to an earlier date, we think that it might not be too late for all students struggling with their further studies to catch up and, therefore, not miss a year of their student lives.

Thank you very much in advance for your consideration.

Best Regards,


Ambre Vanneste