General information on disadvantage compensations
Students with disabilities or chronic illnesses often face particular challenges, as study and examination regulations offer little flexibility for individual adjustments. These students are frequently unable to devote all their energy to their studies, as they need additional time and resources for organizing their daily lives, therapies, or rehabilitation measures. Physical, communication, or didactic barriers can also create disadvantages and prolong their studies.
For students with disabilities or chronic illnesses, it can be difficult to
- adapt to the framework conditions of examinations,
- individually structure the pace of their studies,
- meet formal requirements such as attendance obligations, internships, laboratory work, or study abroad periods,
- return to their studies after longer interruptions.
In such cases, individual disadvantage compensations may be necessary.
Application for disadvantage compensations
You can find an application form here: Application for disadvantage compensations PDF.
Disadvantage compensation measures
Established measures may include, for example:
- Adjustment of examination conditions: extension of the exam time, deadline extensions for term papers, modification of the form of examination, creation of a quiet examination environment (for example, with exam access arrangements by the Office of Accessibility).
- Modification of attendance requirements: Adjustments for courses, lectures, or seminars.
- Full accessibility: Ensuring full accessibility to lectures and exams.
This list is not exhaustive. Depending on the individual case, additional adjustments are possible.
Please note:
The need for and design of disadvantage compensation measures can vary significantly even for the same disability. The decisive factors are the respective study conditions, the requirements of the program of study, and the exam modalities. As such, there are no binding guidelines. Disadvantage compensations are always arranged individually and on a case-by-case basis. Measures must be necessary and appropriate to compensate for the disadvantage.
Applying for disadvantage compensations
Who can apply for disadvantage compensations?
Any student with a documented disability that makes studying more difficult, verified by a medical report from a (specialist) physician, can apply for disadvantage compensations.
Where and how do I submit the application?
The application must be submitted to the responsible examination office or examination committee of the faculty or institute, usually for each subject in which the compensation is intended to apply.
Deadlines and duration:
- Please make sure to check the deadlines of your faculty well in advance. Last-minute applications often cannot be processed in time.
- The period for which disadvantage compensations can be granted varies: For example, physical accessibility to rooms may be granted for the entire duration of your studies (bachelor’s or master’s), whereas other measures may need to be re-applied for each semester.
Legal basis (brief overview)
Under section 2 subsection 4 of the Higher Education Act (HochSchG), universities must ensure that students with disabilities can participate in their studies on an equal basis and can use university services as independently and accessibly as possible in accordance with section 3 subsection 4 of the State Inclusion Act of Rhineland-Palatinate (Landesinklusionsgesetz). Various forms of disadvantage compensation are available for this purpose. These always depend on the specific individual case and may be granted once, temporarily, or on a permanent basis.
If the examination office has granted you disadvantage compensations, such as an extension of the writing time or a low-noise exam environment, and your faculty is unable to implement this in its own facilities, we offer the possibility to take the exam in our rooms.
In this case, we ask that you submit a request to us as early as possible, but at least 14 days before the examination date, using the attached form: First scheduling request for room supervision by the Office of Accessibility | Office of Accessibility.
If it is possible for us to supervise the exam on the requested date, we will temporarily reserve the time slot. We require binding confirmation from your faculty that the exam is indeed to be administered in our rooms no later than 14 days before the exam date.
Please note: The appointment request must come from the examiner, the responsible examination office, or the examination committee.
