Compensation for disadvantages in examinations

If you have a disadvantage in examinations compared to other students due to an impairment, you can apply for compensation.

What is compensation for disadvantages?

Disabilities or chronic illnesses may lead to difficulties in studying, which make compensation for disadvantages necessary. These are essentially ways that a specific disadvantage—caused by an impairment that impacts your ability to study—can be counteracted.

If you are not sure what type of compensation is appropriate for your illness or disability, you can discuss it with the Board of Examiners or the team at the Examination Office. In addition, you can make use of an individual consultation with an Advisory Services staff member or meet with the Representative for Students with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses (or their deputy).

The establishment of any form of advantage over students without disabilities or chronic illnesses is not allowed to occur. If compensation for disadvantages is approved, it will not affect the way your examination performance is assessed and it will not feature in grade certificates or reports either.

Who can claim compensation for disadvantages?

  • Are you a registered LMU student?
  • Do you have a longer-term impairment due to a disability, chronic or mental illness?
  • Well, be sure to get in contact with the respective examination office as soon as you can.

Please note, no compensation will be granted for temporary impairments (e.g. a broken hand). In temporary cases such as these, you should contact the examination office responsible for you and - if necessary - submit a notification of sickness for the examinations affected and/or resit the examination.

Applying for compensation for disadvantages

You can apply for compensation for disadvantages either via an informal letter (with a detailed description of which consequences of an impairment exist during a test and which arrangements have to be made to compensate for them) or with this application form (PDF, 177 KB).

  • You can fill in the form on your own or during a personal interview with Advisory Services or with the Representative for Students with Disabilities.
  • A medical certificate and a copy of your disability ID card (if issued) prove your eligibility for compensation for disadvantages. To help you out, we've summarized the most important information that is required to appear on your medical certificate by means of a sample letter to your doctor (PDF, 165 KB) (in German). If you have foreign certificates, please ask your responsible examination office whether they are accepted and in which case a translation is necessary.
  • The application to receive compensation for disadvantages is then submitted to the Examination Office responsible for you or to the Office of the Vice Dean (Students).
  • For some state examinations you will be required to submit your application for compensation for disadvantages to the ministry responsible for you.

Application procedure

1. According to Article 2 of the Bayrisches Hochschulgesetz (Bavarian Higher Education Act), all students with disabilities and/or chronic illnesses have the right to apply for compensation for disadvantages. This is a legal application requiring an individual case assessment. The compensation for disadvantages can relate to the entire duration of your studies or to specific stages.

2. The following section describes the procedure for applying for compensation for disadvantages for academic examinations at LMU Munich. The Representative for Students with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses (Prof. Dr. Peter Zentel and his deputy Dr. Gabriele Wimböck) as well as the Office for Disability Services (Romy Hoche) will support you with this procedure. The State Examination Office is responsible for compensation for disadvantages during state examinations (see separate information sheet).

3. The application for compensation for disadvantages must be filled out as early as possible, but critically before an examination actually takes place. Applications for compensation for disadvantages must be submitted at the latest when registering for a module or submodule examination or one month before the respective module or submodule examination.

4. Prior to submitting an application, you can line up an individual consultation with the Representative for Students with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses, their deputy, or one of our Advisory Services team. You can contact these advisors by referring to their individual office hours.

5. The advisory interview will clarify the extent to which you meet the prerequisitesfor compensation for disadvantages, and which documents you must provide to prove your disability or chronic illness. Generally, either a disability ID card or a (specialist) medical certificate is required. Ideally, the (specialist) medical certificate should also indicate specific countermeasures that might be applied for in compensation.

6. The application for compensation for disadvantages (see form) must contain your personal details, the degree program and information on the specific impairment for the exam situation. In addition, the type of compensation for disabilities that you're applying for must be described as precisely as possible. Providing an informal letter outlining this is sufficient.

7. Students must sign the application with their own signature and contact the Examination Office that is responsible for their degree program.

8. The Examination Board of the respective degree program (the State Examination Office for the State Examination) makes the final decision—when possible—after hearing from the student directly. Their decision is then shared with the student in due time.

9. If a conflict arises, the Representative for Students with Disabilities or Chronic Illnesses, their deputy, or Advisory Services can be called in again to mediate.

1. Applications for receiving compensation for disadvantages in state examinations in the area of Law (Erste Juristische Prüfung, (First Examination in Law)) must be submitted to the State Examination Office via the Ministry of Justice and may also be written informally.

2. Applications may be submitted in writing or by email. The contact details can be found on the website of the State Ministry of Justice.

3. The application must have arrived at least six weeks before the written examination begins (§ 13 Paragraph 3, Sentence 1 JAPO).

4. Proof must always be provided by presenting a certificate from a district court physician or from a health authority (§ 13 paragraph 3, sentence 2 JAPO). In general, the district court physician or the health authority with jurisdiction over the district that you live in is responsible for providing this proof.

5. The medical evaluation should disclose the nature of your illness and the effects it has on your taking the examination.

6. Dyslexia is also eligible for compensation for disadvantages. However, this only applies to difficulties in reading—a spelling weakness cannot be taken into account as it is an integral part of the assessment of the examination.

7. Your contact person at the Bavarian State Ministry of Justice is:

Katrin Knaus

Room 259, II. floor
Tel: +49 89 5597-2604
Present in person:
Mondays - Fridays
8.30 a.m. - 11.30 a.m.
Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays 1.15 p.m. - 3 p.m.
Email: katrin.knaus@stmj.bayern.de

1. The application for compensation for disadvantages, signed by the student, is informally submitted directly to the Examination Office at the Bavarian State Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs.

2. Students studying teacher training should send their application to the following address:

Bayerischen Staatsministerium für Unterricht und Kultus
Prüfungsamt
Salvatorstraße 2
80333 München

3. The deadlines for applying for compensation for disadvantages are as follows:

  • The examination date in fall: latest June 1 of the current year (June 1 refers to the postal date of receipt of the application to the State Ministry)
  • The examination date in spring: latest December 1 of the previous year (December 1 refers to the postal date of receipt of the application to the State Ministry)

4. The deadline for submitting an application for compensation for disadvantages can be found in the corresponding announcement from the Bavarian State Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs for the respective examination date.

5. For state examinations, you always require an evaluation by a medical officer to apply for compensation for disadvantages. You should submit a copy of your disability ID card as an enclosure to the application for compensation for disadvantages.

6. This evaluation must certify that due to a disability and/or chronic illness you have a significant disadvantage in taking the examinations. Furthermore, it should also contain a statement about a possible extension to your allotted work time (given in percentage) or any further countermeasures recommended as compensation for disadvantages.

7. For compensation for disadvantages due to diagnosed dyslexia, we will generally rely on the medical officer's recommendations. However, since spelling and grammar are taken into account in the assessment of state examinations, applications seeking to have the assessment of spelling and grammar discounted have little chance of success.

8. Ansprechpartner beim Staatsministerium ist:

Ulrich Lutz

Email: Ulrich.Lutz@stmbw.bayern.de.

1. The special legal basis for granting compensation for disadvantages to students with disabilities or chronic illnesses are laid out in § 10. Paragraph 7. Sentence 3 ÄAppO, § 5 Paragraph 3. ZAppO, and § 10. Paragraph 3. TAppV respectively.

2. You should write your application for compensation for disadvantages in an informal letter together with the necessary application documents for the registration of your examination. This must meet the registration deadlines for your examinations in question at the respective Examination Offices.

3. Please be careful! There are different registration deadlines depending on your degree program:

  • Human Medicine: The preclusive period according to ÄAppO ends January 10 for the winter semester (or the spring examination) and June 10 for the summer semester (or the fall examination)
  • Dentistry: The registration deadline for the preliminary examinations for Dentistry is the end of November or the end of May, or mid-November or mid-May respectively, for the final examination for Dentistry—the exact dates can be found on the Examination Office's website during these periods.
  • Veterinary Medicine: There are different registration dates for the various sections of the (preliminary) examinations for Veterinary Medicine.

4. A current medical evaluation by a specialist is generally sufficient in combination with your disability ID card. In cases of doubt, you may be required to resubmit further certificates; if need be, also certificates from a medical officer.

5. The medical evaluation should indicate the nature of your illness and its effects on your ability to take the examination.

6. Dyslexia is also eligible for compensation for disadvantages. Compensation for disadvantages in the form of extended time for your examination can be granted individually. This requires the provision of corresponding specialist medical certificates that are not exclusively associated with spelling weakness.

7. Your contacts at the Examination Offices are:

  • Human Medicine: Peter Netzer, Amalienstraße 52, Room K106,
    Tel: +49 89 2180-3728
  • Dentistry: Aristidis Papadimitriou, Amalienstraße 52, Room K103, Tel: +49 89 2180-3726
  • Veterinary Medicine: Prof. Dr. Thomas Göbel, Veterinärstraße 13, Room B104, Tel: +49 89 2180-3827

You can find further information and regulations on compensation for disadvantages in the examination regulations associated with your degree program.

The Examination Office is responsible for informing you directly of the Board of Examiners' decision.

For some state examinations you will be required to submit your application for compensation for disadvantages to the ministry responsible for you.

Possible forms of compensation for disadvantages include:

  • Time extensions for time-dependent examinations (up to 25%, or up to 50% respectively) or breaks
  • Extension to deadlines for term papers and seminar papers
  • Use of technical aids (laptop, PC) or a personal assistant when writing examinations
  • Modification to examination performance
  • Use of a separate examination room
  • Substitution for practical examination performance

Please note that these are just a few of the many possibilities. Compensation for disadvantages is always adapted to the individual situation.

Compensation for disadvantages can only alter the nature of the examination. The required record of performance must always be provided.

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