Exams: Do I have to register? What to do if I can't attend an exam?

• You have to register online in advance for each written exam, otherwise you will not be allowed to take it. You should first select in OSIRIS Student the courses and components for which you wish to sit the exam. You can then register for these exams using the same OSIRIS Student application. 
• You can register online for an exam, resit or midterm up to and including 5 working days before the test date. For example, if you have an exam on Monday, you can register until 23:59 hrs on the Monday one week before.
• If you are not registered on time, participation in this test is no longer possible, not even with permission of the teacher.
• Students of the Joint Bachelor Data Science receive customized information about registering for exams.

The time allotted for most written exams is three hours, but there are some exceptions. Exams consisting of multiple choice questions are usually scheduled for only two hours.

The form of each exam and the time allowed to complete them is specified in the OSIRIS Student app. When you have registered for an exam, you will also receive a notification in which the starting and finishing times are specified.

If you require more time than the time allotted to complete an exam (because you are dyslexic, for example), or if for any reason you are unable to sit the exam in the main room, you should ask for alternative arrangements. The university has special examination arrangements for students with disabilities.

No concessions are made for students who arrive late for an exam because they have overslept, or for any other reason (heavy traffic, cancelled trains, etc.).

You will be permitted to enter the exam room only if you arrive within thirty minutes of the start of the exam (since no one is allowed to leave the room during this period, there is no possibility of collusion). If you get there any later, you will have to wait until the next opportunity to take the exam (most likely the next exam period).

If at all possible, unless you are really too sick to attend, you should try to come anyway, if only to see how the exam procedure works. And you never know – you may still pass!

• The rules with regard to notifying absence due to sickness vary from one School to another. You should therefore consult the Regulations and Guidelines or the Education and Examinations Regulations (EER) of your own program.
• If your illness has caused you to miss so many exams or lectures that your study progress has been seriously delayed, you must report this within two months to a Dean of Students.

You can find your exam grades online in OSIRIS Student, accessible with your Tilburg University username and password.

If you fail an exam, you will have to take the exam again at the next available ‘resit’. This will of course limit the time you will have to study for other exams, so it is always preferable to pass the first time! If you do not pass the resit, you will have to wait until the following year and try again.

In your first year, you have to acquire at least 42 credits (which comes down to a 70% pass rate) to be eligible to continue your program (See: Binding Study Advice). Some programs require you to acquire even more credits to register for second-year courses.

Students of the Joint Bachelor Data Science receive customized information about the Binding Study Advice (BSA).

If you take the same exam more than once, the highest grade counts. You may even resit an exam if you have already passed it, but only once. If you haven't passed an exam, you can take as many resits as you want. 

The credits are expressed in ECTS, named after the system in which credits are calculated in the same way throughout Europe (European Credits Transfer System).

You must obtain 60 credits (ECTS) per academic year to complete your studies within the nominal duration (three years for the bachelor’s phase). You can see how many credits you will receive in the program information in the Course Catalogue. The number of ECTS that you will receive after completing a course (exam and/or assignments) is stated behind each subject.

If you obtain less than 70% (42 credits) of all your courses in your first year, you will receive a negative binding recommendation (BR), and you will not be allowed to register for this program for the next three years.

Students of the Joint Bachelor Data Science receive customized information regarding registration for exams and the Binding Study Advice (BSA).

Year repetition is not possible at a university. To pass, you must pass all courses; you are not allowed to have insufficient marks. The pace at which you do this is your own responsibility. If you have not passed a course, you have to repeat it until you have passed it.

Of course, it is more convenient to pass every course in one go. The educational program has been thought out well; there is a certain order to it. It might be difficult if you still have to pass a first-year course in your third year, because the courses build on each other.

In case of study delay, whether expected or not, you should immediately contact a Dean of Students. 

If you run into so much delay that you might not get past the BSA threshold, you definitely need to contact a Dean of Students. In their recommendation, Deans of Students can advise the Examining Board to postpone their decision by a year.

If you have a visa for studying, you need to acquire at least 50% of your credits (30 ects) each year. If not, Tilburg University has to report you to the IND. If you have reported special circumstances during the academic year, you might be allowed to stay on and continue your program. It is really important therefore to report any circumstances that cause delay.