Special status for a foreign-language speaker
Requirements
- You have enrolled in Dutch-language higher education for maximum 1 year in a Dutch-language study programme or
- You have followed maximum 3 years of Dutch-language secondary education.
Application procedure
Submit a substantiated request with the director of the Department of Educational Policy
- Via oasis.ugent.be
- Academic Year 2024-2025:
From May 26 to June 27, 2025 for the resit examination period
(unless impossible due to exceptional circumstances) - Academic Year 2025-2026:
No later than November 5, 2025 for the 1st term examination period
From February 9 to March 20, 2026 for the 2nd term examination period
From May 25 to June 26, 2026 for the resit examination period
(unless impossible due to exceptional circumstances) - Add required documentation and official certificates
The special status is granted for 1 academic year with effect from the decision date and can be granted for a maximum of the first 2 consecutive years at the UGent.
Facilities
You may request following facilities:
- 25% more time to complete a written evaluation
- Using a translating dictionary during an evaluation
- Possibility of 'linguistic' clarification of the question asked in an evaluation
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 2024-2025:
- August 7, 2025 for the resit-examination period
Academic Year 2025-2026:
- Dec. 4, 2025 for the first-semester examination period
- April 23, 2026 for the second-semester examination period
- Aug. 6, 2026 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. 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.).
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.