Illness
Rules for illness
There are different rules about what to do if you become ill during your studies. Below you can read about the differences between sudden illness in connection with an exam and long-term illness which may cause your studies to be delayed.
Illness on the exam day
If you experience sudden illness on the exam day, you must create a case in service.ucl.dk and choose the category Exam.
Also, you must upload a Doctor´s Note to your case within 1 week. The Doctor must confirm that you were too ill to attend the exam. Read more under “Documentation requirements for illness”.
Illness during the exam
If you fall ill during an exam and cannot complete it, you must immediately inform a staff member at UCL, either an examination supervisor at written exams or your teacher at oral exams. In the case of a written take-home exam, you must create a case in service.ucl.dk as explained above.
Also, you must upload a Doctor´s Note to your case within 1 week. The Doctor must confirm that you were too ill to attend the exam. Read more under “Documentation requirements for illness”.
If you choose to complete the exam in despite of your illness, it will count as an exam attempt. You cannot register as ill for the exam later, even if you send a Doctor´s Note.
Once UCL has registered you as being ill at the exam on the basis of your case and documentation, the exam attempt will not count, and you will be signed up for a replacement exam through WISEflow or by ucl-mail.
If you need to be registered ill from your studies for a longer period of time, you must contact your student counsellor, who can make an individual study plan, depending on how far you have come in your studies, and how long, you expect to be ill.
You must show documentation of illness. Read more under “Documentation requirements for illness”.
Maximum study time
If your long-term illness means that you cannot complete your study programme within the deadlines for maximum study time, it may be necessary for you to apply for dispensation to prolong your education.
If you have applied for dispensation, because you could not attend your study programme as planned, you may have been asked to send documentation for “special circumstances” in a relevant time period. For instance if you have applied for a 4th exam attempt, postponement of an exam or prolonged maximum study time etc.
If the special circumstances are due to your own illness, you may send documentation as described under “Documentation requirements for illness”.
However, when applying for dispensation, other types of documentation, which are not issued by a Doctor or Psychiatrist can also be acceptable. You must send documentation, which supports the explanation, you have given about special circumstances preventing you from taking part in or completing your study programme. Sometimes a psychologist statement or a patient journal can be accepted.
If the special circumstances are due to other people´s illness, death or accidents, and if you cannot document these events, you may send a Doctor´s Note, which explains, how these events have affected yourself in relation to following or completing your study programme.
If you become ill during your studies at UCL, you may be obligated to send a Doctor´s Note, for instance if you become ill before or during an exam, or if you need to apply for extra SU due to delayed studies etc.
Please note that a Doctor´s Note must be issued by an actual Doctor or Psychiatrist.
In this guide you can read the requirements for the content of a Doctor´s Note.
If you have applied for dispensation or extra SU on the basis of a chronic disease or a permanent condition, it is not always enough to have the Doctor confirm, that you are ill, because such a condition is considered to be a normal circumstance for you. In such a case we may need the Doctor to confirm, in which time period there has been a deterioration or a flair-up of the condition.
If you become ill in connection with a compulsory learning activity, which according to your Curriculum is a condition for you to attend the exam, you may be asked to show documentation of illness. For instance it could be a condition to participate in a certain study activity, hand in a certain paper, visit a company, complete internship etc.
However, sending a Doctor´s Note does not mean that you do not need to complete the compulsory study activity. It only means that you must agree with the Head of Programme, when and how you must fulfill the condition in order to be allowed to attend the exam.
If you receive SU, and if your illness means that you will delayed in your studies, you should be aware that you may only be 30 ECTS delayed (equivalent of 1 semester). If you become more than 30 ECTS delayed, your SU will be stopped, until you have passed enough exams to be only 30 ECTS delayed.
However, you can avoid having your SU stopped due to illness, if you apply for and are granted extra SU grant portions (1 grant portion = 1 month). You must apply for extra SU grant portions as soon as you can send documentation of your period of illness. You should not wait until you have used up all your SU grant portions. Contact our SU counsellors or look at the SU website for more information. Read more about documentation at the bottom of this page.
Only your own illness can give you the right to apply for extra SU grant portions.
NOTE: The SU rules require that you send an actual Doctor´s note from your own Doctor or Psychiatrist. It may not be from a Psychologist, Psychotherapist, Physiotherapist, Chiropractor or other types of medical staff, who do not hold an officially approved Medical education. Also, it may not be a transcript of a hospital journal, medical journal or similar. You must pay for the Doctor´s note yourself.