Examination Appeals Board (EAB)

Within six weeks after the decision that you are appealing against was made, the notice of appeal must have been received by the EAB via OSIRIS. You will receive a confirmation of receipt. In the notice of appeal, you indicate which decision you are appealing against and on which grounds. If an error is made with regard to the form of the notice of appeal or if you did not attach a copy of the decision against which you are appealing, the EAB will inform you of this. You will then be given the opportunity to rectify this omission within a certain period of time.

Before the appeal is officially processed, it is first examined whether an amicable settlement is possible. The EAB forwards the appeal to the Examination Board of your program* and asks it to check whether an amicable settlement is possible. The Examination Board will contact you within three weeks. It is then the intention to carefully examine whether the facts on which the Examination Board based its decision are correct and whether the justification is correct. You can discuss together whether a solution can still be found. Subsequently, the Examination Board will inform the EAB whether an amicable settlement has been reached.

* In most cases, the Examination Board is the one who made the decision you are appealing against. In a few cases, it is a decision of another person or committee. In that case, the same procedure applies.

If the parties fail to reach an amicable settlement, the Examination Board must submit a written defense to the EAB. In this statement of defense, the decision against which the appeal is lodged and the grounds on which the decision was made are explained in more detail, and the Examination Board will deal with the grounds put forward by you.

If no amicable settlement has been reached, the EAB will hear both parties at a joint public hearing. In principle, the hearing will take place on the next available hearing date, with the parties being summoned at least 10 days before the hearing. The hearing dates are published on this website. The hearing will in principle not be postponed at the request of the parties. In very special circumstances, this may be departed from. A request for postponement must be made without delay, stating the reasons, after the hearing date has been communicated to the parties.

The EAB consists of three or five members. Besides the external Chair, at least half of the members of the EAB are lecturers or members of the academic staff, and the other half are students. During the hearing, both the student and the Examination Board will be given the opportunity to explain their positions orally, and the members of the EAB will ask questions. The EAB bases its decision on the earlier written documents and on what was said during the hearing.

The EAB aims to send the written decision as soon as possible, but no later than four to six weeks after the hearing. In any case, the EAB will render a decision within 16 weeks from the date on which the contested decision was taken. In special cases, the EAB may extend this period by fourteen days. Postponement is of course possible if the parties agree or if postponement would not harm the parties' interests.

You can lodge an appeal against the decision of the EAB with the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State (ABRvS) in The Hague within 6 weeks (CHBO has been closed as of January 1, 2023).

The EAB considers whether the person who made the decision—based on all applicable regulations—could reasonably have reached that decision.

For example, the EAB will not judge substantively whether you should or should not have been granted an exemption for a certain course, but it will look at whether the Examination Board acted carefully and whether the Examination Board could reasonably have reached its decision. In other words, whether the Examination Board carefully reviewed whether you should or should not have been granted an exemption.

If the assessment was not carried out correctly, your appeal will be declared valid, and the EAB will instruct the Examination Board to make a new decision. The fact that the appeal is declared valid does not mean that you will actually be granted the exemption.

This also applies, for example, to an appeal against a certain examination result. The EAB will not substantively assess whether you answered a question correctly or not. The EAB will, however, examine whether the way in which the examination was assessed was in accordance with the applicable standards. If this was not the case, the EAB can instruct the examiner to decide again. This does not necessarily mean that you will actually receive a higher grade

Usually, at the end of the decision you received, it will say that you can appeal to the Examination Appeals Board.

Within six weeks after the decision that you are appealing against was made, your appeal must have been received by the EAB. You will receive a confirmation of receipt. In your notice of appeal, you indicate which decision you are appealing against and on which grounds. If an error was made with regard to the form of the notice of appeal or if you did not attach a copy of the decision against which you are appealing, the EAB will inform you of this. You will then be given the opportunity to rectify this omission within a certain period of time.

I want to file an appeal with SNR 

I want to file an appeal without SNR 

If you need more than six weeks to properly substantiate the arguments for your appeal, for example because you want to obtain advice first, a 'pro forma' appeal can be submitted.

In a pro forma appeal, you announce that you are appealing and what decision you are appealing against, but you do not yet indicate the grounds for your appeal. In this way you can avoid exceeding the appeal period.

You can submit a pro forma appeal both via the online system (if you have a student number) and by letter or e-mail. You will be told by the EAB within which period - generally within 14 days - the grounds for the appeal must be sent.

Provisional Ruling

The Chair of the EAB can make what is known as a provisional ruling upon request in urgent cases. Do you want a provisional ruling? If so, you must submit a request for this yourself. Clearly state the reasons why urgency is required and what kind of relief you want. Before the Chair of the EAB decides on your request, the Examination Board will be given the opportunity to give its view on the request.

The decision on a request for a provisional ruling is not the final decision in your appeal case. If your request is granted, but the final decision after the hearing is negative for you, the provisional ruling will lapse.

Before the appeal is officially processed, the law prescribes a mandatory attempt at an amicable settlement. The EAB forwards the appeal to the Examination Board of the program in question*, requesting it to examine whether an amicable settlement is possible. The Examination Board will contact you about this.

It is then the intention to carefully examine whether the facts on the basis of which the Examination Board made its decision are correct and whether the justification is correct. You can discuss together whether a solution can still be found. The Examination Board will then inform the EAB whether or not an amicable settlement has been reached.

* In most cases, the Examination Board is the one who made the decision you are appealing against. In a few cases it is a decision of another person or committee. In that case, the same procedure applies.

If the parties fail to reach an amicable settlement, the Examination Board must submit a statement of response to the EAB. In this statement of response, the decision against which the appeal is lodged and the grounds on which the decision was made are explained in more detail, and the Examination Board gives a reaction to the grounds put forward by you.

Practice shows that the decisions of Examination Boards often pass the EAB's legitimacy test. More information on the number of appeals declared well founded by the EAB in previous years can be found in the annual reports of the Central Disputes and Complaints Desk. To get an idea of which appeals were previously handled by the EAB and with what result, you can also view the previous decisions of the EAB on various subjects.

• Appellant: the person submitting the objection or appeal
• Respondent: the person who made the decision that is being challenged or appealed, e.g., the Examination Board or a Director of a Division or School.
• Declare admissible: the objection or appeal meets all the requirements for consideration.
• Provisional arrangement: pending the hearing of the objection or appeal, an arrangement (e.g. permission to participate in a resit), in order to prevent a late decision (e.g., because the resit in which you were not allowed to participate is already over by then).
• Amicable settlement: prior to the hearing of the objection or appeal, both parties try to reach an agreement by mutual consultation. Trying to find a compromise is usually much quicker and often provides a more satisfactory solution than a time-consuming, formal procedure.

In the coming period, CBE sessions are scheduled on the dates listed below. The hearings usually take place in the afternoon. After the parties have been invited to the hearing, the hearing will in principle not be postponed at the request of the parties. In very special circumstances, this may be departed from. A request for postponement must be made without delay, stating the reasons, after the date of the hearing has been communicated to the parties.

2024:

• 11 January
• 25 January
• 8 February
• 22 February
• 7 March
• 21 March
• 4 April
• 18 April
• 2 May
• 16 May
• 30 May
• 13 June
• 27 June
• 11 July
• 25 July
• 8 August
• 22 August
• 5 September
• 19 September
• 3 October
• 17 October
• 31 October
• 14 November
• 28 November
• 19 December

If no amicable settlement has been reached, the EAB will hear both parties. In principle, the hearing takes place on the next available hearing date, with the parties being summoned at least 10 days before the hearing. The dates of the hearing are published on this website.

The EAB consists of three or five members. Besides the external Chair, at least half of the members of the EAB are lecturers or members of the academic staff, and the other half are students. During the hearing, both the student and the Examination Board will be given the opportunity to explain their positions orally, and the members of the EAB will ask questions. The EAB bases its decision on the earlier written documents and on what was said during the hearing.

The Examination Appeals Board strives to send the written decision as soon as possible, but no later than four to six weeks after the hearing. In any case, the EAB will render a decision within 16 weeks of the date on which the contested decision was made.

You can lodge an appeal against the decision of the EAB with the Appeals Tribunal for Higher Education  in The Hague within 6 weeks.