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 Education.
- 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:
- Exemption from or modification of educational activities requiring the student’s physical presence. A substitute assignment may be assigned, or the educational activity may be rescheduled to a different time within the same academic year;
- Participation in a make-up exam as an alternative assessment opportunity;
- Providing an alternative assessment opportunity within the validity period of the special status, if such a period is limited in time;
- Rescheduling one or more exams to a different time within the same exam period;
- Taking one or more assessments in a different format;
- Taking the exam in a smaller group;
- Providing a separate room for taking the exam;
- Schedule 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 2025-2026:
- April 23, 2026 for the second-semester examination period
- Aug. 6, 2026 for the resit-examination period
Academic Year 2026-2027:
- Dec. 2, 2026 for the first-semester examination period
- April 22, 2027 for the second-semester examination period
- July 16, 2027 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.
Students with a special status for whom the granted facilities regarding education and examination modalities are not applied by the teacher(s), can lodge an appeal against this decision with the Institutional Appeals Board (see 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.