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Dispensation

In special cases, the study board can grant you dispensation from the university's rules and requirements.

A dispensation is a permission to be exempted from the usual and fixed rules that apply to your education. The study board has the authority to grant dispensations from its own rules and when there is a provision for dispensation in relevant regulations. For example, you can apply for a dispensation for additional exam attempts, special exam conditions, or course withdrawals.

All applications for dispensation are assessed on an individual basis, taking into account your specific, individual circumstances as a student. The study board must always make a concrete assessment in each dispensation case.

How to apply for dispensation

    • Choose the form that covers the type of dispensation you need.
    • Fill out the form according to the instructions.
    • Explain the extraordinary circumstances you believe justify your request for a dispensation.
    • Attach any necessary documentation. If you have many attachments, it may be beneficial to compile them into one long PDF file.

    When filling out the form, you must clearly and precisely justify why you believe there is a reason to grant you a dispensation from one or more rules. You must make sure that your situation is easy to understand and that it is clear how your studies have been affected by extraordinary circumstances.

    Please explain how the extraordinary circumstances have had a decisive impact on your need to apply for a dispensation from the study board. There must be a causal relationship. This means that the extraordinary circumstances must have a scope and timing that have prevented you from complying with a given rule.

    A good explanation meets three requirements:

    1. It describes one or more circumstances that are extraordinary in the sense that they do not occur regularly.
    2. It describes how the extraordinary circumstances are beyond your own control. Anything you could have avoided with ordinary caution, anything you should have been able to foresee, and anything that is “your own fault” in any other way cannot be considered extraordinary circumstances.
    3. Finally, it describes how the extraordinary circumstances have been crucial to your ability to comply with the rule(s) you are seeking a dispensation from.

    When your application is processed, the Study Board will always make an individual assessment of your specific case. Therefore, you must describe the extraordinary circumstances in a way that provides the study board with the best possible basis for assessing your case.

    Documentation

    You must be able to document the extraordinary circumstances – for example, through a medical certificate if your reason is illness.

    Individual study plan

    For some types of dispensation, you are required to attach an individual study plan – for example, if you are applying for extra exam attempt. An individual study plan is a description of when you plan to take the remaining courses in your programme.

  • When you apply for a dispensation, you must give reasons as to why you believe you are entitled to an exemption from the general rules.

    This means that in many cases, you must provide an explanation of what “extraordinary circumstances” you are being affected by and you must be able to document them with, for example, a doctor’s note.

    Examples of extraordinary circumstances

    • Illness
    • Maternity leave
    • Illness or death in your immediate family
    • Disability, for example dyslexia
    • Jury duty as a lay judge or juror

    Examples of circumstances which are not normally considered to be extraordinary

    • You have a holiday trip planned on the same day as your exam.
    • You work a part-time job and can’t keep up with the maximum time of registration.
    • The bus was running late on the day of your exam.
    Read more about extraordinary circumstances

  • You must provide documentation supporting your application. If your application is substantiated by illness, you must enclose a medical certificate. It is up to the Study Board to assess whether the documentation provided is sufficient for granting you a dispensation.

    Please be aware that the medical certificate provided to the Study Board must include a medical evaluation and that there must be a clear correlation between your spell of sickness and the matter from which you are applying for exemption.

    If your illness is protracted or chronic, the medical certificate should make clear exactly how it has been of specific importance to the matter from which you are applying for a dispensation. Otherwise, the Study Board cannot make a decision on a fully informed basis. 

    Examples of documentation:

    • Medical certificate
    • Documentation of divorce
    • Birth certificate

    Requirements for medical certificates

    A medical certificate should, as a minimum, include the following information:

    • Your name, civil registration number and address
    • The doctor's name and address
    • Which information in the doctor's note is based on the doctor's own examination of you, and which is based on medical records or information provided by yourself
    • Name of the your general practitioner
    • Any medical information relevant to the application

    The Study Board will make its decision based on your application and the documentation provided by you. You will receive an written answer by e-mail when the Study Board has made its decision.

  • When applying for a dispensation, it is important that you express yourself clearly and precisely. You must make sure that your situation is easy to understand and that it is clear how your studies have been affected by extraordinary circumstances.

    Your application must always include a justification where you explain:

    • The nature of the extraordinary circumstances. These must be circumstances that do not occur routinely.
    • You must describe how the extraordinary circumstances are beyond your control.
    • You must explain how the extraordinary circumstances have had a decisive impact, necessitating your application for a dispensation. There must be a causal relationship. This means that the extraordinary circumstances must have a scope and timing that have prevented you from complying with the rule you are seeking a dispensation from.

    Documentation

    The study board requires documentation that supports your justification in the application.

    If you justify the unusual circumstances with illness, you must attach a valid medical certificate or other medical documentation. It is up to the study board to assess whether the documentation is sufficient and provides a basis for granting an exemption.

    Regulatory basis

    According to Section 18 of the Danish University Act, the study board is among other things, granted the competence to process dispensation applications from students.

    The study board has the ability to grant dispensations from its own rules, for example, those set out in programme regulations, and where there is a provision for dispensation in other regulations. An dispensation is an exemption from the usual and fixed rules that apply to an education programme.

    The processing of a dispensation application must be based on an individual assessment of the concrete circumstances of the student. Therefore, a concrete assessment must always be made in each individual dispensation case.

    The study board’s ability to grant an exemption is often conditional on the existence of extraordinary circumstances. Extraordinary circumstances concern specific, individual circumstances of the student.

Types of dispensation

Below, you can read more about the different types of dispensations so that you can choose the correct application form. You can also see what information you will be asked to provide when filling out the form.

If you need to apply for multiple types of dispensation, you must complete multiple forms. For example, if you need to apply for both an additional exam attempt and a postponement of the first-year exam, you must submit two forms.

General rules on dispensations

Casework time

When you submit an application to the Study Board, it can take up to two months before your application is processed. If you have not attached all the necessary documents and information, it may take longer to process your application. 
When your application has been processed by the study board, you will receive a decision via your SDU e-mail.

You may be asked to submit additional documentation or a detailed explanation if the Study Board needs more information in order to process your application.

Any questions?

The student counsellors at the Faculty of Science are ready to help you with your study-related questions.

Contact the student counsellors at the Faculty of Science

Your study board

On the study board's own web page you will find information on the members of the study board, meeting dates, application deadlines, and a description of the study board's general practice, as well as meeting minutes.

Go to the study board's own web page