Withdrawal without stating a reason
The procedures for withdrawing from an exam without stating a valid reason differ from program to program. Please read the information specific to your program to find out whether you can withdraw from an exam in your degree program, and up until when this is possible.
Program-specific information
Business Administration ♦ Business Informatics ♦ Culture and Economy ♦ Economic and Business Education ♦ Economics ♦ Humanities ♦ Law ♦ Mathematics in Business and Economics ♦ Political Science ♦ Psychology ♦ Sociology ♦ Teacher Education ♦ Minors in the B.A. programs ♦ Exchange students
Withdrawal via the student portal2
In general, you may withdraw from an exam via the student portal (Step-by-step instructions).
Exams of the master’s programs MMM and Business Informatics are exempt from this rule. In order to withdraw from these exams, you must use the relevant forms to request withdrawal. Please send the completed form via e-mail to the responsible teacher and ask them to e-mail the form together with the required confirmation to the responsible advisor at the Student Services.
After the withdrawal deadline
Once the deadline for withdrawal has passed, you are obliged to take the exams you are registered for, unless there are valid reasons preventing you from performing at the level necessary for taking an exam. In this case it may be possible to be de-registered from the exam.
De-registration due to valid reasons
According to the examination regulations, you may only de-register from an exam due to valid reasons, which you must present to Student Services without delay and in writing. You are also required to submit admissible proof. “Without delay” means that Student Services must receive your request for de-registration at the earliest occasion possible and without deliberate hesitation.
Whether or not a student is able to take an exam is decided on a case-by-case basis under consideration of all circumstances. Severe illness, an accident or the sudden death of a family member are for example considered valid reasons.
De-registration due to the pandemic no longer possible in the fall / winter semester 2022/
2023 As the pandemic recedes, we are NO longer able to approve de-registrations from examinations due to study-related pandemic impairments (de-registration due to the coronavirus pandemic, in German: “Corona-Rücktritt”). This applies for all examinations in the fall/
winter semester 2022/ 2023. The current coronavirus statutes no longer contain the relevant regulation. As of the fall/ winter semester 2022/ 2023, only the regulations set forth in the examination regulations apply. According to these regulations, students can request de-registration from an exam if they have valid reasons for not being able to attend an examination, in particular, if they are ill. De-registration due to a semester abroad
Should you be unable to sit a mandatory exam or any other exam you are registered for because you are spending a semester at a higher education institution abroad, you may de-register from your exam. However, this will only be recognized as a valid reason if the semester dates at your host university require you to be present there at the time your exam is scheduled.
You must submit the request for de-registration without delay, meaning as soon as you know that you will be unable to take the exam you are registered for due to your semester abroad. As proof, please submit either a confirmation from the International Office or alternatively, a letter of confirmation from your host university. The confirmation from the International Office is a bilingual document which you receive with your acceptance letter for your semester abroad.
De-registration due to illness
Inability to take an exam is a legal concept, and the decision whether or not there are grounds to claim inability to take an exam lies solely with the university. For us to determine this, you must first see a physician, who assesses your health and possible impacts of illness on your academic performance. It is then up to the university to determine whether or not you are unable to take an exam.
According to legal regulations, you need to provide sufficient proof for your inability to take an exam. In other words, it is the student alone who carries the burden of proof. This means that you cannot simply hand in a medical certificate stating you are unable to work or unable to take an exam. We also cannot accept regular medical certificates called “(elektonische) Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung (eAU)”.
In either case, the certificate must include the following details:
- Student’s first name, last name and date of birth
- Expected duration of illness
- Date of medical treatment
- Description of medical condition and symptoms preventing you from taking the exam
- Signature of the physician, seal of the practice
Submitting the medical certificate
You can hand in your certificate together with the request for de-registration either in person to the Express Service, put it in our mailbox at the entrance of L 1, 1 or mail it to us in a letter addressed to Student Services.
Important information for BAföG recipients:
Please make sure to make a copy of your medical certificate for the BAföG office before submitting it to Student Services. We cannot return or make copies of your certificate once you have handed it in.Who will see my medical certificate?
Medical certificates are generally passed on to Student Services staff and, if necessary, to the responsible examination committees.Storage and destruction
The medical certificates will be filed with your student records after a decision on your request has been made. Student records are kept under lock in the Student Services offices. We will destroy your medical certificates once you have completed your studies and your final grade is determined and final. Should you discontinue your studies, your medical certificates will be destroyed as soon as your individual grades are determined and final. In destroying your documents, we keep to current data protection legislation.Our administrative procedures comply with established case law and have been confirmed by both the Ministry of Science, Research and Arts (MWK) and the Central Office for Data Protection at Universities in Baden-Württemberg (ZENDAS).
What should I know about the procedure?
If you are ill on the day of the exam, you are generally required to obtain the medical certificate on the same day. The physician needs to be able to objectively assess your symptoms and the impact they might have on your performance. If your physician is not available on that day, you are required to seek medical emergency services.For Student Services to be able to decide whether or not your illness substantially affects your academic performance and you are therefore unable to take an exam, the symptoms on the day of the exam need to be described comprehensibly and in detail.
The medical certificate may be issued informally on the practice's stationery or your physician can fill in the medical certificate form provided by Student Services (see below).
