Adjustments to compensate for disabilities/impairments
Improvement in the average grade
When allocating places in degree programs, the average grade is a key selection criterion. Therefore, any performance limitations that prevented an applicant from achieving a higher average grade when obtaining a high school diploma (e.g., general university entrance qualification) should be compensated for. If such circumstances and their effects are documented, the application for admission may, under certain conditions, be included in the admissions process with an improved average grade.
If the effects are not immediately apparent from the certificates, a review from the school (not from individual teachers) must be submitted as additional evidence.
Request the review as early as possible so that it is available to the University by the deadline. You must also attach to your application all documents on which the school’s review is based, e.g., certificates and medical expert opinions. Finally, the reviewer must, based on the results of their review, make determinations that yield the precise value of the average grade you would have achieved had the reason for the application not occurred.
Deadline for submitting an application for adjustments to compensate for disabilities/impairments
Cut-off deadline for submitting an application for adjustments to compensate for disabilities/impairments regarding admission to a degree program: July 15 of each year.
Examples for adjustments to compensate for disabilities/impairments
Examples of valid applications for adjustments to compensate for disabilities/impairments
In the following examples, an application to improve the average grade may generally be granted:
- Special social or health circumstances of the applicant
- Prolonged absence from classes due to illness during the three years prior to obtaining the university entrance qualification (medical specialist’s review)
- Severe disability of 50 percent or more (disability certificate or determination notice from the Social Security Office)
- Prolonged serious illness of the applicant, provided it is not covered by points 1.1 or 1.2 above, or comparable special health circumstances (medical specialist’s review)
- Pregnancy of the applicant during the three years prior to obtaining the university entrance qualification (certificate from a specialist physician or the child’s birth certificate)
- Special financial circumstances of the applicant (appropriate documentation as proof)
- Relocation to the Federal Republic of Germany
- Special family circumstances
- Care of one’s own minor children, siblings, or relatives in need of care (in the ascending line) during the three years prior to obtaining university entrance qualifications, if no other persons were available to provide care (birth certificates of the child(ren) or sibling(s) in conjunction with appropriate evidence that no other persons were available to provide care – e.g., certificate from the social welfare office or proof of need for care)
- Loss of one parent in the three years prior to obtaining university entrance qualifications or loss of both parents prior to obtaining university entrance qualifications, provided the applicant was unmarried at that time and had not yet reached the age of 25 (death certificates of the parents and statement regarding marital status at the time).
- Multiple school transfers in the three years prior to obtaining university entrance qualifications due to the parents’ relocation (the applicant’s leaving certificates and the parents’ registration certificates)
- Membership in the A, B, or C squad of the national sports federations for a period of at least one continuous year during the three years prior to obtaining a university entrance qualification (certificate from the relevant national sports federation).
Examples of applications for adjustments to compensate for disabilities/impairments that cannot be accepted
In the following cases, the application will generally be denied:
- Working in the parental household, business, or company during school years,
- Illness of the parents,
- Loss of a parent or other close relative prior to obtaining university entrance qualifications, unless point 4.2 applies,
- Separation or divorce of the parents,
- Relocation of the parents within the last three years prior to obtaining university entrance qualifications.
