Dispensation

As a student, you have the possibility to apply for a dispensation in certain cases, where illness, disability or other special circumstances have been present.

How can you get dispensation?

From 1st May 2021 a new practice has come into force regarding dispensations.
If you find yourself in special circumstances, which prevent you from following the rules that apply to your study programme you can apply for dispensation. For instance the rules about maximum number of exam attempts, transfer to another institution before completing the first year of studies or the rules about maximum number of study years.

Special circumstances are:

  • Typically something outside yourself and something unpredictable, which is out of your control, and something you could not have planned your way out of or could have taken into consideration
  • Something that concerns you personally and is not common amongst students
  • Something of a certain scale, and something that has taken place at a time, which has prevented you from following a certain rule
  • Able to be documented

Circumstances within your control, which you have been able to plan your way out of, and circumstances you could have contacted us about earlier, are not considered to be special circumstances.  

At UCL we do not have a full list of events, which are considered to be special circumstances, because we always make an individual and specific assessment in each case.

Documentation

You must always be able to send documentation of the ”special circumstances” in your case, and UCL can only grant dispensation, if a legal rule allows it.

If you are applying for dispensation on the basis of illness, you can read more about documentation requirements on this page: Illness

If you are applying for dispensation on the basis of other circumstances, you must send the documentation, which best supports your explanation.

If you are in doubt about how to apply for a dispensation, you must contact your Student Counsellor.

How to apply for dispensation?

From 1st December 2021 students from all study programmes can apply via service.ucl.dk. Find the category “Dispensation” and chose the situation, which is has the most likeness to your case. Remember to attach documentation, which confirms the reason, you have given.

If you are not enrolled as a student with a student e-mail account at the time, when you need to apply for dispensation, you can send an e-mail to dispensation@ucl.dk

When will you get an answer?

You will receive a written answer to your dispensation application on your study mail. In most cases, you may expect up to two weeks, before a decision is mad