Exams
What are the type of exams?
The examination types are listed below:
- Written Examination (Schriftliche Prüfung)
- Oral Examination (Mündliche Prüfung)
- Academic Project
- Term / Academic Paper / Report (Hausarbeit)
- Oral Presentation (Referat)
You can find the detailed information here.
How do I register for an exam?
Find out whether the exam is written or oral. This should be stated in the module description (this is not final), on the course's website, or by the lecturer. If you are not sure, do not hesitate to ask!
Exam prerequisites
To be eligible to attend an examination, you need to fulfill the specific exam requirements. Make sure to find out whether the course has examination prerequisites, which should also be stated in the module description and detailed in the course or the website. This is mandatory and not negotiable. As a student, it is solely your responsibility to fulfill these prerequisites. Failure to do so will result in you not being admitted to the exam. Hence, it is important to note that if you register for an exam without having fulfilled the prerequisites, you will be deregistered automatically.
Written exam
- Find out the global registration deadline ("Ausschlussfrist") posted on the Examination Office Home Page (usually 2 weeks before the lectures end and exams start, early June & early January).
- Find the scheduled exam date on the current examinations plan ("Prüfungsplan"), to be found on the same website or posted outside the examinations office.
- Login to the HISQIS (LSF) portal and register for the specific exam (before the deadline).
If the exam you are looking for does not show up, contact the examinations office! - Check HISQIS regularly for changes in exam date or room.
- Bring your student ID card and personal ID card with a picture to the exam.
You can withdraw your registration for an exam one week before the exam without any penalty!
A video tutorial on how to register for the exam through LSF is available here
Oral exam / Paper / Presentation / Project
- Pay attention to the announcements in the lecture, some lecturers prefer to provide scheduled exam slots on specific dates, some prefer individually agreed exams.
- If there are predetermined examination slots, come to the designated office to sign up for the exam. Bring along your student ID.
- If there are no predefined time slots and no other instructions provided, contact the examiner and ask for an exam date. You need to register for an exam at least two weeks beforehand, so make sure you ask in time! Fill out and sign the registration form, then hand it in for the examiner to sign. Ask who will pass it on to the examinations' office.
- Bring your student ID card and personal ID card with a picture to the exam.
You can withdraw your registration for an exam one week before the exam without any penalty!
To withdraw your registration, it is best to visit the examinations' office in person! Then you can be sure to be on time.
What happens if I am sick on the date of the exam?
Before every exam, you will be asked if you feel fit to take it. If that is not the case, you will need to go to a medical doctor as soon as possible (!) and get a sickness certificate and the following"Attest" form filled out. Hand these documents in at the examinations' office at most 72h after the exam, to avoid penalties. Dropping it in the examination office letter box is sufficient!
If you fail to do so, the exam will be counted as failed!
What happens if I fail an exam?
Once you have taken an exam and failed, you must repeat it, until you pass it or ultimately fail.
If you fail an exam three times, you will have failed your study and be exmatriculated!
You are allowed to repeat a failed exam at least once. You are allowed to repeat a limited amount of exams twice. (depending on your examinations regulations)
You may only repeat exams that you have failed! You may not repeat an exam to get a better grade, once you have passed it.
The repeat exam usually has the form of the original exam. Second Repeat Exams (2. WP / 2. Wiederholungsprüfung) must be oral.
There is one chance during your studies to drop an exam that you have already taken and failed if you see no chance of passing it later. You can however only take that option once throughout your whole studies, so make sure to only register for exams you feel confident to pass.
!!! IMPORTANT !!! You yourself are responsible to register for the repeat exam (written, oral) within 15 months after the failed exam. Repeat exams not taken within 15 months after the failed exam will be counted as failed again.
Do not count on last-minute-arranged exams (i.e. in the 15th month of this period)! It is your responsibility to inform yourself as soon as possible about potential dates for the repeat exam and to make sure that you are able to take the exam within the 15 months.
The second repeat exam (third try) will be an oral one, even if the prior tries were written examinations.
The second repeat exam can only be 4.0 or "fail" (for students who matriculated before Winter term 2021).
First, you have to make sure that all topic areas are fulfilled with their minimum required CP. Then the overall 90 CP has to be fulfilled. If it is necessary to exceed the 90 CP, in order to fulfill all minimum requirements, then the excess CP will also be accounted for, even if the total exceeds 90 CP.
In general, you cannot get more than 90 CP in course credits. Any courses exceeding 90 CP and not necessary for minimum requirements in topic areas will not be counted and moved to the "additional achievements" folder. In order to receive a realistic result for the studies, we have to watch that students' achievements stay near the 90 CP minimum. If there is any course that was completed after the completion of 90 CP, it will automatically be transferred into the "additional achievements" folder.
Secondly, you cannot choose which course is removed. Courses are counted in the order of their first exam registration. So a course where you registered for the exam first always counts before a later one.
Therefore, it is not possible to improve your grade by taking additional courses and removing exams with bad results to the additional achievements. Although we understand that students are trying to improve their overall grades by taking more courses than they need, that is based on a false assumption.