Special terms and conditions when taking exams

If you have a disability or functional impairment, or if your native language is not Danish, you can apply for dispensation to take an exam or to write your Master’s thesis on special terms and conditions.

For the board of studies to be able to process your application before your exam, we encourage you to apply as early as possible in your course of study – and preferably at the beginning of the semester.

You can read more about how to apply and how we process your application below.

Please note: From September 2021, you only need to apply for special exam terms and conditions once in your course of study if you have a disability or a long-term functional impairment. If you need to apply again later, this will be stated in the decision which you will receive regarding your application.

Who can apply?

You can apply to your board of studies for dispensation to take your exams on special terms and conditions

If you have a disability or a physical or mental impairment, such as

  • dyslexia
  • mental health disorders
  • neurological disorders
  • mobility impairments
  • sight or hearing impairments

Or if your mother tongue is not Danish, and you can provide documentation proving that this places you at a disadvantage in relation to other students in the exam situation.

How do I apply for special exam terms and conditions?

You apply for dispensation at mitstudie.au.dk.   

You must remember to include relevant documentation of your functional impairment.  

You only need to apply for special exam terms and conditions based on the same disability/functional impairment once.

If your functional impairment affects you over several exam periods, the board of studies will, in the relevant period, assess whether you should be granted special terms and conditions for the other exams in the semester, including your Master’s thesis.

The board of studies will send you a letter each semester, so keep an eye on your e-Boks and AU email.

The letters will explain what you need to do – but as a general rule, you do not need to take any further action unless you disagree with the board of studies’ assessment or do not want special exam terms and conditions in a specific semester.

However, each semester, you must make sure that you are registered for the correct exams, as the special terms and conditions will be granted on the basis of your registrations.

Remember to attach documentation

In order for you to be granted dispensation to take an exam on special terms and conditions, you must be able to document your needs, for example in the form of a doctor’s certificate.    

This documentation must explain how, when and to what extent your functional impairment affects you. In addition, the doctor’s certificate must comply with the requirements regarding dispensation described on the study portal.

In this connection, it is important to underline that although this documentation is a prerequisite, it is not a guarantee that the university will grant you the dispensation for which you are applying. Your board of studies will decide whether you should be granted special terms and conditions to ensure that you are placed on an equal footing with your fellow students in connection with the specific exam.

Keep an eye on your AU email

If the university believes that they have not received sufficient documentation to consider your case, you might be asked to provide further documentation. Therefore, you have to keep an eye on your AU email.

What happens when I have submitted my application?

As soon as the board of studies has been informed about your disability/permanent functional impairment, you will receive a message (a so-called letter of intent) stating that we have registered your disability/permanent functional impairment and therefore want to carry out an assessment of whether you should be granted special terms and conditions prior to each exam period.

If you accept this and we do not receive any comments from you, we will register in our system that you have a functional impairment, and then you will receive two more letters from us – a letter of intent for the specific semester and a decision specifying whether you will be granted special exam terms and conditions in the upcoming exam period.In the relevant period each semester, the board of studies will assess whether you should be granted special terms and conditions for the upcoming exams, and you will receive a letter of intent followed by a decision specifying whether you will be granted special exam terms and conditions in the upcoming exam period. 

Letters from the board of studies will be sent to your e-Boks.  

What kind of special terms and conditions?

Aarhus University may offer specials terms and conditions for an exam or your Master’s thesis if we assess that it is necessary in order to ensure that you are placed on an equal footing with your fellow students in connection with a specific exam.    

However, the level of the exam may not be altered by the special terms and conditions.  

Where can I find my new submission deadline?

If you have been granted special terms and conditions for an exam, please note that in most cases the time of this exam or your submission date will have been changed as well.

  • The exam timetable for your degree programme will be posted on the Arts study portal at the start of the semester.
  • You will find the new time of your exam in WISEflow no later than seven days before it is to be conducted.

You can calculate the new time of your exam based on the exam timetable and the information about changes in the terms and conditions. In practice, when calculating your new deadline, we always set it at 14:00* (see example below).

Example:

Your deadline has been postponed by 2 days and 12 hours. The original submission deadline in the exam timetable was 1 June at 14:00. Your calculated postponed submission deadline will be 4 June at 02:00 (at night). But since we always set your postponed submission deadline at 14:00, your actual submission deadline is 4 June at 14:00.

We recommend that you always check WISEflow to be absolutely sure that you have the correct submission deadline.

*If you have been granted more time for an on-site exam, this does not apply.

What about re-examination?

The terms and conditions of your re-examination are stated in the ruling that you received during the semester in which you took the ordinary exam.

If you register for a re-examination in a subsequent semester, you will not receive a new ruling containing information about special terms and conditions for this re-examination. In other words, the ruling you received during the semester in which you took the ordinary exam still apply to your re-examination.

We recommend that you keep all the rulings you receive and read them again to remind yourself of the terms and conditions that you have been granted.

Special terms and conditions for group exams

If you have been granted special exam terms and conditions in the form of extra time in connection with a group exam, this will also apply to the rest of your group. In principle, other special exam terms and conditions only apply to you.

How to register your group in WISEflow

When you take an exam as part of a group, it is important that the group is registered in WISEflow before the deadline stated in the system for the exam in question.

The deadline will typically be one week before the submission date.

It is important that you form a group in WISEflow, as the special terms and conditions will then automatically apply to both you and your group.

Read more about group formation in WISEflow.

If the registration is incorrect or changes are made

If you choose to leave a group that has already been registered in WISEflow, you must notify Study Centre Arts.

If you are taking courses at another faculty or university

Please note that if you are taking courses at another faculty or university, they may have a different practice for granting special terms and conditions for exams.

Are you taking electives at another university? You must inform the university yourself if you have a disability or a functional impairment or if your native language is not Danish. Contact the student counsellors’ office at the university in question to find out what your options are.

Are you taking electives at another faculty at Aarhus University? The administration at the other faculty will be informed about your functional impairment, and will then assess whether you should be granted dispensation to take the exam on special terms and conditions.