General obligation to report special circumstances
Due to special circumstances beyond your control (force majeure), your studies may be delayed. You can read on this page what the consequences of this are and how and why you should report these circumstances.
Delays in studies can have major (financial) consequences. Due to a delay you may not meet the standard for binding study advice (BSA), as a result of which you will not be able to continue with your study program; the longer you spend on your studies, the more you will have to borrow or earn extra money yourself; due to a small delay you may not be able to progress to the master's program on time, as a result of which you will be delayed even more.
Non-European student with a permit for study purposes are required to obtain 50% of their credits (mostly 30 credits) per year. Only in certain cases an exception can be made for this. Therefore, it is important that you report your circumstances in a timely manner, so that we can work with you to try to get you back on track so that you get at least 30 credits. For more information: study progress monitoring non-EU students.
If you are confronted with one or more of these consequences due to force majeure, there are (financial) facilities you can call upon, provided that you have reported the special circumstances causing your study delay to a dean of students in a timely manner (within two months). Reporting to an education coordinator alone is not sufficient.
Delays due to a management board position, exchange, work or your own company parallel with your studies or other matters of your own choice do not fall under force majeure: this is your own choice and therefore does not fall under the arrangements for financial compensation or postponement bsa, and therefore not under the notification obligation.
Please note: you are only eligible for financial compensation if your study delay is due to recognized circumstances in your first four years of higher education. If you are delayed after that, this is at your own expense and risk. If you are already in your fifth year (or higher), you no longer need to report circumstances if it only concerns financial compensation. In that case, discuss with your education coordinator whether it makes sense to make a report to a Dean of Students, e.g. because of expected advice on a request to an examination board.
Notification period
You must report your circumstances to a Dean of Students within two months. If you want your circumstances to be taken into account when issuing the binding study advice, you must report them before 1 July at the latest.
Furthermore, you must always be able to submit a written proof of the circumstance to which you refer. This may be a medical certificate or another document (certificate of social work, therapist, official report, legal document, etc.).
(Financial) provision not automatically
However, reporting special circumstances does not mean that you are automatically eligible for a financial arrangement or other provisions. The nature of the circumstances, the impact on your studies and the causal relationship between the circumstance and the study delay will always be taken into account.
For the recognized circumstances for study delay, see Article 4, chapter 2 of the Profile fund (if you are eligible for Dutch study finance) or Article 13, chapter 3, if you are not.
This obligation to report is described in Article 6, chapter 2 and Article 15, chapter 3 of the Profiling Fund Regulation and also applies to requests to DUO (for students who are eligible for Dutch study finance).
Special arrangements
There are special arrangements for:
- Students with a chronic illness or disability
- Students who have a dual career (e.g., top athletes or performers)
- Students who are pregnant and giving birth
- Students who are informal caregiver or entrepeneurs
Don't wait too long to report circumstances, even if you think it 's not that bad, or that you will solve it yourself. Study delays are only taken into account from the moment you have reported it to a Dean of Students. Therefore, you cannot apply for a provision with retroactive effect for a period in which you have not reported any circumstances.
Help
- Of course, you can always contact your education coordinator to discuss your study planning and, if necessary, adjust it if you are delayed or at risk of being delayed.
- If you have a problem that you would like to discuss confidentially with an expert, or if you have problems with the correct study approach, you can also make an appointment with a student psychologist.
- For additional help and support with problems that you may encounter in everyday life and that interfere with your studies, you can contact the social worker.
- Questions of a life-reflective nature can also be discussed with the student chaplain.
- For acute medical or psychological help, see medical help and family doctor (GP).