Schedules & Regulations

General

The University of Groningen has a 'Binding Study Advice' (BSA). In the academic year 2023-2024 the BSA entails that a student needs to earn 45 out of a possible 60 ECTS of the propaedeutic phase

A student whose advice was postponed in 2020-2021 and/or 2021-2022 and/or 2022-2023 needs to earn 45 out of a possible 60 ECTS of the propaedeutic phase in the academic year 2023-2024.

If a student does not meet this requirement, s/he can no longer participate in the programme for a period of two years.

Students who deregister from the programme before March 1 2024 will not receive a BSA. Please note: DUO has a '1 February regulation'.

More informatie

More information about ‘Binding Study Advice’ can be found in section 5 of the Teaching and Examination Regulations for the Bachelor’s degree programme. Some of the information you can find there is:

• how the Faculty will inform the student about his/her study progress and which support it offers
• when, how and by whom the Binding Study Advice will be given
• under which conditions personal circumstances can influence the decision (report those a.s.a.p. to your study adviser)
• before a binding study advice is given, the student will be given the opportunity to be heard.

Please make sure to report any circumstances that (negatively) affect your study results to the study advisers of International Office as soon as possible. Failure to report can have a negative influence on the binding study advice.

More general information about the Binding Study Advice

Procedure and hearings

The BSA procedure is as follows:

• 
  first year students who have obtained less than 45 ECTS of the Bachelor degree’s first year programme and who have not registered special circumstances (or these circumstances are deemed not to warrant an exception) will receive a notification in which the faculty will indicate the intend to give a negative BSA on 19 July 2024. This notification of intend will be sent by email.
• first-year students who have received a notification of an intended negative BSA, will have the option to be heard by the Faculty’s BSA Committee on 22 and 23 July 2024 (and if necessary also 24 July 2024);
• registration for these hearings will start inProgressas from 15 July 2024. Students are allowed to be accompanied by someone at the hearing.
• the BSA committee can advise to postpone giving an Binding Study Advice in case of special circumstances. The BSA committee advises the Faculty Board who will ultimately take the decision.

The formal Binding Study Advice will be sent out by the Faculty Board through e-mail, on 26 July 2024. It is possible to appeal this decision. The procedure for appealing this decision will be explained in the decision.

Faculty criteria in case of special circumstances

In line with the Higher Education and Research Act (WHW;Wet op het hoger onderwijs en wetenschappelijk onderzoek), a binding (negative) study advice can only be issued ‘if the student (...), after taking his or her personal circumstances into account, is not deemed suitable for the degree programme because his/her study results do not meet the requirements which the Board has determined for that degree programme.’

This is operationalized by the BSA Committee as follows:

I.The committee assesses the suitability of the student for the programme based on the study results.

Leading in this assessment is:

I.1 the number of ECTS credits attained and study progress in relation to:

·the seriousness of any individually identifiable personal circumstances (hereinafter referred to as ‘personal circumstances’)

·and the extent to which these personal circumstances may or may not have influenced the study results

I.2 the perspective of successful completion of the Bachelor’s phase within a reasonable period of time.

Furthermore, in this assessment the following is considered:

I.3 the extent to which the student has taken responsibility, for example demonstrated by study behaviour and a timely report to the study advisers of the personal circumstances and problems concerning study progress.


Ad. I.1 The personal circumstances to be considered when assessing suitability are exclusively the following:

a.illness and mental problems of the student

b.physical, sensory or other functional disability of the student

c.pregnancy of the student

d.extraordinary family circumstances

e.membership, including the presidency, of forums such as the University Council, the Faculty Council and the board of a student organization of a significant size

f.circumstances related to the combination of study and elite sport for students who have been recognized as elite athletes by the University of Groningen in accordance with the elite sport regulation.

II.If there are personal circumstances, which prevent an assessment of the student's suitability for the programme, the advice will be to postpone the decision to a later point in the propaedeutic phase.

Laatst aangepast op 19-09-2023

Sudden illness or personal circumstances?

If illness or special circumstances prevent you from participating in an examination, in principle no aberrant examination regulation is awarded to you. An aberrant examination can only be awarded if you cannot participate in the two subsequent examination opportunities (again due to illness or special circumstances) and this will concretely result in unreasonable study delay. Please be aware: you thus have no right to two examination chances, but can use two examination opportunities.

Procedure in case of sudden illness or personal circumstances:

• Have you fallen ill for the first sit of an examination, please inform the International Office as soon as possible but at the day of the examination at the latest by sending an emai lLLB rug.nl, exchangelaw rug.nl, or LLM rug.nl) or call Student Service Law (050 363 5727).
• Are you (still) ill for the resit of the same course, you again need to inform the International Office as soon as possible, but at the day of the resit examination at the latest.

You then need to request the Board of Examiners for an aberrant examination regulation. This can be done by using this form. You need to include your medical statement or other proof of illness or special circumstances.Please note you cannot apply for an aberrant examination regulation if you have not informed the International Office timely as mentioned above.

If you are participating in courses which have an attendance requirement, you will also have to inform the lecturers of these courses. Therefore, keep close track of the regulations in the courses you are participating in.

Long-term illness or personal circumstances?

Do you have a long-term illness or are not able to study due to force majeure, you need to contact the study adviser of the International Office as soon as possible. Examples of force majeure situations are: illness, pregnancy, a functional impairment, special family circumstances or educational force majeure.

This report to the International Office is particularly important in relation to the Binding Study Advice which is given at the end of your first year of studies. This allows the International Office to assess whether or not an aberrant examination regulation is needed (and possible) and how this would work out. We would like to stress that no such appeals can be madeafterwards.

Graduation Fund

Students who have study delays as a result of those special circumstances can, under certain conditions, in some cases be supported by a contribution from the University’s Graduation Fund. It is vital that you immediately contact the study advisers of the International Office in cases of (expected) study delay. They will open a report for you with the Graduation Fund and will refer you if necessary to the student counsellors in case of delays of 15 ECTS or more. Also check the Graduation Fund Regulations for more information.

Ill and having extra facilities?

If your impairment has led to the Board of Examiners granting you extra facilities during your examinations and these facilities are taken care of by the Office for Student Affairs and you turn ill, you need to inform the administration of this illness at least on the day of the examination. You can do so by sending an email to voorzieningen-rechten rug.nl

Contact

Please contact the International Office (LLB rug.nl, exchangelaw rug.nl, or LLM rug.nl) for your questions.

Last update: 21-7-2023