Special status for exceptional social or personal circumstances
Do not apply for this status if you have serious acute problems.
In this case you have to invoke article 51 §2 of the Education and Examination Code .
You may be given permission by the dean to be examined in a manner that is different from the prescribed method, provided that you have acute and good reasons to request this and the dean has consulted the lecturer-in-charge involved. However, you cannot obtain other facilities as with the special status.
For invoking article 51 §2 you have to contact the Faculty Student Administration.
If you doubt between requesting the special status or invoke article 51, please contact statuut@ugent.be
Requirements
You can demonstrate that you face exceptional social or individual circumstances.
Application procedure
Submit a substantiated request with the director of the Department of Educational Policy
- Via oasis.ugent.be
- As soon as possible
- Add required documentation and official certificates
The special status is only granted for 1 academic year and starting from the decision date. The director of the Department of Educational Policy can impose an earlier date for the special status in function of the reason of the special status. Than you can no longer enjoy of the facilities.
Facilities
The Director of Education grants the student one or more of the following educational and examination facilities:
- Being exempted from/modification of educational activities requiring student attendance. In this case, a task may be imposed instead or the educational activity may be organised at a different time within the same academic year;
- Move one or more evaluations to another time within the same academic year within the allotted validity of the special status in case it is limited in time;
- Moving one or more examinations to another time within the same examination period;
- Conduct one or more evaluations in a different evaluation format;
- Taking the examination in a smaller group;
- Taking the examination in a separate room;
- Taking the examination online;
- Being given an alternative time for feedback.
You need to inform the lecturer(s) in charge via oasis.ugent.be which of the awarded education and/or examination facilities you wish to invoke for the course unit at hand, no later than
Academic year 2023-2024:
- 26 April 2024 for the second semester examination period
- 2 August 2024 for the resit examination period
Academic year 2024-2025:
- 5 December 2024 for the first semester examination period
- 24 April 2025 for the second semester examination period
- 7 August 2025 for the resit examination period
If the special status is awarded later than the above-mentioned deadline you need to inform the lecturer(s) as soon as possible.
Facilities are always granted in joint consultation with the lecturer-in-charge and can only be granted before, and during the applicable period (i.e. a fixed period in time during which the special USIO status is granted). Alternative examination moments can therefore only be planned in that fixed period of time: i.e. the period in which you have the status, and not after. In dialogue with the faculty director of studies or the chair of the study programme committee, the lecturer in charge may refuse a facility if duly justified. S/he may do so if the essential programme competences are impaired as a result of the facility or if it is practically not feasible to grant the facility.
Rejectable facilities that have not been addressed in a timely manner by the relevant responsible lecturer(s) will be automatically approved at the start of the respective examination period.
The faculty and/or institutional ombudspersons may mediate in this procedure if necessary.
Special status students who are denied any education or examination facilities may appeal against this decision with the Institutional Appeals Committee, as stipulated in the Education and Examination Code.
Students with special status in whom the facilities granted in terms of education or examination facilities are not applied may appeal to the Institutional Appeals Committee, as stipulated in the Education and Examination Code.
More info
Read the full text in the Education and Examination Code, Article 25.
Step-by-step
On Special Status (Information sheet students) you will find a practical step-by-step plan on the application procedure and the allocation and management of facilities.