AOC Terra is an Agricultural Education Centre (AOC) of almost 6000 students and offers land based (agricultural/ green) education. Land based education is divided into prevocational (vmbo), senior secondary vocational (mbo) and higher vocational studies (hbo). AOC Terra offers vmbo and mbo. The vmbo course provides general training, primarily using plants and animals to provide students with a fertile, motivational learning environment. The mbo course includes areas of study such as food technology, landscape management, horse management, flowers and design, (paraveterinary) animal care, sport and recreation, care and the environment and (agricultural) technology. AOC Terra is situated in the north of the Netherlands and consists of twelve schools: seven schools for prevocational education, four schools for senior secondary vocational education (16 years and up) and one school for senior secondary vocational education (18 years and up) and part-time courses. The (senior) secondary vocational education prepares fulltime students and apprentices for four levels of achievement, corresponding to the EU-level 1, 2, 3 and 4, based on the length of the course: 1, 2, 3 or 4 years of study. The broad range of studies are divided into several worlds, related to green, food, animal and environment .
They are called:

• Animal Friends
• Big Business
• Dynamic Design
• Good Food
• Mighty Machine
• Natural Health
• Outdoor Life
• Surprising Nature
  

Routes
Senior secondary vocational education knows two routes, BOL (beroepsopleidende leerweg, day-release route) and BBL (beroepsbegeleidende leerweg, on the job route).
BOL: learning and practical training. The maximum time spend at school is 80%, 20% is practical training.
BBL: working and learning. One or two days are spend at school. Next to that, you have a job for 960 hours per year in your future working area.


AOC Terra is member of the EUROPEA INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION, an international network for agricultural schools (http://www.europea.org/) and member of the national EUROPEA (http://www.europea-nederland.nl/). Next to that, students and staff of the eleven locations participate in several international projects and exchanges.