University access and family duties

Access and admission to studies

The Student Advisory Service offers information on general questions regarding application, admission requirements, aptitude tests and admission procedures, among other things. The Student Office advises on all administrative matters for admission to studies, including applying for hardship or disadvantage compensation and the required evidence.

Studying with child(ren) and family affairs

Mothers-to-be and parents-to-be have a multitude of questions – from organizing to financing their studies when they have a baby. The social counselling service of the Studentenwerk Leipzig provides solutions and family-friendly service through various offers.

Requirements

The prerequisite is the existence of a particularly serious personal exceptional situation related to present or future circumstances. The consideration of hardship cases has a serious impact on the allocation of available study places. Therefore, a particularly strict standard is applied. Our university is guided by the criteria of the Foundation for University Admission (hochschulstart.de). For foreign nationals and stateless persons, insofar as they do not have the same status as Germans, other advance quotas often apply. Then no case of hardship can be claimed.

• A particularly severe personal exceptional situation does not automatically lead to the receipt of a study place!
  If the number of applicants exceeds the available hardship places, the degree of exceptional hardship will decide.

Examples

The existence of a case of hardship can usually be assumed in the case of:

• special family or social circumstances that require immediate admission (appropriate documentation to prove this).

As a rule, the following situations do not constitute hardship:

• the prospective student has sick or severely disabled parents,
• the prospective student is married,
• the prospective student has one or more children,
• the prospective student has a partial study place, and
• the prospective student would like to do a doctorate in Leipzig.

Proof

Your hardship case must be clearly demonstrated by enclosed supporting documentation. An outside person must be able to understand the facts of the case on the basis of the documents. The circumstances claimed must lie in your person and not be your responsibility!

In the case of health impairments (for example, disability or chronic illness), a current statement or expert opinion from a specialist may be required as proof. The proof must contain a sufficient statement on the individual criteria that are claimed as a case of hardship.

The evidence should contain statements about the origin, severity, course and treatment options of the disease as well as a prognosis about the further course of the disease. The evidence should be comprehensible to medical laypersons who do not have in-depth medical expertise. Suitable additional proofs are, for example, the disabled person's pass or the assessment notice from the pension office. All documents must be submitted as officially certified copies.

Submitting an application

To submit an application, specify this in the online application in the section "Recognition of special applications". In the next application section, you will be asked to upload evidence for your submitted application and a justification. To do this, attach the required evidence to the printed application that you send to the Leipzig University.

Requirements

There must be special circumstances and resulting impairments of performance. This must have prevented the applicant from achieving a better average grade or score within the framework of the university entrance qualification (for example, Abitur). Our university is guided by the criteria of the Foundation for University Admission (hochschulstart.de).

Examples

Possible reasons and evidence:

• pregnancy of the applicant during the last three years before acquiring the higher education entrance qualification (medical certificate or birth certificate of the child),
• care of an own minor child or children in the last three years before acquiring the higher education entrance qualification (birth certificates of the child or children),
• care of relatives in the ascending line or of siblings in the last three years before the acquisition of the university entrance qualification (certificate of classification in care levels 3 to 5 (formerly care levels II or III) according to the Social Code XI or medical certificate of need of care),
• care of unprovided for minor siblings who lived in domestic community with the applicant during the three years preceding the acquisition of the higher education entrance qualification (birth certificates of the siblings),
• Loss of one parent in the three years preceding the acquisition of the university entrance qualification or loss of both parents prior to the acquisition of the university entrance qualification, provided that the applicant was unmarried at that time and had not yet reached the age of 25 (death certificate of the parent or parents and declaration of marital status at that time),
• multiple changes of school in the last three years before acquisition of the university entrance qualification due to relocation of the parents (leaving certificates as well as registration certificates of the parents),
• and other comparable special family circumstances (appropriate documentation required to prove).

Unfounded applications

The following is a list of cases or reasons which in principle do not show any disadvantage to be compensated. A corresponding application is generally futile. Please pay close attention to the list:

• Working in the parental household, business or enterprise during the school years without being forced to do so by an emergency situation,

• Illness of the parents,

• relocation of the parents within three years before acquiring the higher education entrance qualification,

• alleged disadvantage because of attending a high school of a certain type or taking the Abitur for persons who did not go to school,

• claimed disadvantage because of taking the Abitur in a country with a central Abitur,

• attending a school with bad facilities or a shortage of teachers,

• claiming to have been disadvantaged by unfair assessment,

• illness during the Abitur,

• long and time-consuming way to school,

• participation in an exchange program,

• or participation in pupil management.

Evidence

If special circumstances have led to an impairment of performance (for example, a month-long hospital stay), only this evidence is not sufficient for the justification. In addition, it must be proven how the circumstances have affected the average grade.

To prove the drop in performance, you must enclose certified copies of your school reports. As further proof, you will usually need a report from your school (not from the teacher!). The proof must show the extent to which your academic performance has deteriorated. The proof must be submitted individually for each relevant subject. This assessment will result in a new average grade with which you will participate in the admission procedure.

A school report can only be dispensed with if the school is unable to provide it. Example: You attended the school for only a short time and the school is unable to assess the impact of special circumstances. In this case, you must submit a statement from the school explaining why it cannot provide a report. In such a case, an expert opinion of a person trained both pedagogically and psychologically must be submitted, which you must obtain at your own costs.

Submitting an application

To submit an application, specify this in the online application in the section "Recognition of special applications". In the next application section, you will be asked to upload evidence for your submitted application and a justification. To do this, attach the required evidence to the printed application that you send to the Leipzig University.

Requirements

The waiting period is calculated from the time you acquired your university entrance qualification. However, special circumstances may lead to a delay. Applicants then have less waiting time to show. Our university is guided by the criteria of the Foundation for University Admission (hochschulstart.de).

Examples

Possible reasons and evidence:

• pregnancy of the applicant during school years (medical certificate or birth certificate of the child),
• care of own minor child or children during school years (birth certificates of child or children),
• the studies had to be postponed due to special family obligations. For example, because of the care of own minor children. Or because of employment, in order to finance the studies of the spouse without recourse to state support. The applicant must have previously aspired to the desired course of study and must have demonstrably worked to achieve it,
• care of relatives in the ascending line in need of care or of siblings during school years (certificate of care levels 3 to 5 (formerly care levels II or III) according to Social Code XI or medical certificate of need of care),
• care of minor unaccompanied siblings who lived in the same household as the applicant during the applicant's own high school years (birth certificates of siblings),
• loss of one parent or loss of both parents preceding the acquisition of the university entrance certificate, provided that the applicant was unmarried at that time and had not yet reached the age of 25 (death certificate of the parent or parents and declaration of marital status at that time),
• multiple changes of school due to relocation of the parents (leaving certificates as well as registration certificates of the parents),
• and other comparable special family circumstances (appropriate documentation required to prove).

Submitting an application

To submit an application, specify this in the online application in the section "Recognition of special applications". In the next application section, you will be asked to upload evidence for your submitted application and a justification. To do this, attach the required evidence to the printed application that you send to the Leipzig University.

Evidence

Proof of a special circumstance is not sufficient for an application. You must additionally prove that the incriminating circumstance has delayed the acquisition of the university entrance qualification. Proof may be provided by a certificate from your school stating the reason for and duration of the delay. Other suitable evidence to prove the reason for delay is also possible.