Examinations Offices
All you need to know about examinations
The following links give information on registration periods, deadlines and forms for your examinations.
Registration periods for module examinations:
Summer semester 2024:
- May 27 (00:01) until June 16, 2024 (23:59)
Winter semester 2024/2025:
- Regular registration period for all examinations that are offered once a semester or for the first date for examinations that are offered twice in the same semester: (provisionally) November 18 (00:01) until December 8, 2024 (23:59)
- Registration period for resit examinations offered in the same semester (second examination date at Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Theology or Faculty of Sciences):
Second examination dates at the Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Theology: From the Monday after the end of the lecture period of the current semester until March 20th (winter semester) or September 20th (summer semester).
Second examination dates at the Faculty of Sciences: From the Monday four weeks before the lecture period begins in the following semester until the lecture period begins in the following semester (other times may apply for State Examination degree programs)
General information
Examination regulations allow for achievements gained in other institutions to be credited towards a degree. Achievements are only accredited after an application has been submitted. The relevant application forms are available at “Information and forms” on the websites of the Examinations Offices for the various faculties, the links to which are located on the tabs below.
Without an approved application for accreditation, students are automatically enrolled in the first semester. This is subsequently adjusted accordingly if any semesters are accredited.
Taking examinations, withdrawal, and illness
Students must register correctly via campo in order to take examinations.
Please note that you must withdraw from an examination properly if you do not intend to attend the examination after registering for it. If you are unable to sit an examination due to illness, you require a medical certificate from a doctor. Further information is available in the examination regulations for your degree program.
You are not allowed to withdraw from a resit examination. De-registration, leave of absence or change of degree program does not release you from the obligation to take a resit examination.
We would urge you to only take part in examinations if you are not showing any symptoms of illness. We would ask anyone with symptoms associated with Covid-19 (acute, unspecific general symptoms, a loss of taste and/or smell, respiratory symptoms irrespective of severity) to get tested before attending the examination.
You will be required to submit a doctor’s certificate if you have symptoms of illness. Further details on the requirements to be met by a doctor’s certificate are available on the website of the Examinations Office (Degree programs of the Faculty of Engineering / Degree programs of the Faculty of Medicine / Degree programs of the Faculty of Sciences / Degree programs of the Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Theology / Degree programs of the Faculty of Business, Economics, and Law without Law / Law / Teaching degree programs).
Please note:
- Doctor’s certificates issued via tele/online medical services (e.g. After a video consultation) are not valid for withdrawing correctly from an examination. We can only accept certificates issued by a doctor who has carried out an examination of the student in their medical practice in person.
- Doctor’s certificates must be submitted in the original (in paper form).
In the event of a coronavirus infection on the examination day, a rapid test taken at an official test center on the day of the examination replaces the need to submit a doctor’s certificate. If a coronavirus infection has been confirmed via a PCR test before the examination day, this positive PCR test replaces the need to submit a doctor’s certificate. A positive PCR test is valid as proof of an infection for 10 days.
The rules for terminating an examination are stipulated in the examination regulations. You can withdraw from an examination via campo within the deadline stipulated in the examination regulations. It is not possible to withdraw after the examination has begun. You are also not allowed to withdraw from a resit examination.
The provisions governing terminating an examination after the examination has begun are stipulated in the relevant examination regulations. Students may require a medical certificate from an official medical examiner to terminate an examination if this is stipulated in the examination regulations.
Rules governing examinations for State Examinations are stipulated in the relevant examination regulations and announcements from the examination authorities.
Compensation for disadvantages during examinations
If, due to a disability or chronic illness, you require adjustments to examination arrangements, such as extra time or an extension of examination deadlines, please contact the FAU Liaison Officer for Students with Disabilities. They will give you advice on your options and give you a recommendation that you should submit to the Examinations Office responsible as soon as possible.
The decision on granting compensation for disadvantages is taken by the Examinations Committee responsible. In order for a timely decision to be taken, it is imperative that you take steps to organize adjustments to examination arrangements in good time, as otherwise we cannot guarantee that you will be given compensation for any disadvantages during your examinations.
Please contact the relevant Examinations Office if you require special arrangements for sitting an examination as part of the State Examination.
Please note, that if you use “mobile postage stamps (#Porto)“, it is not possible to track and trace when a letter was sent by post. This means that if a letter arrives late at the Examinations Office, it is not possible to find out if it was sent in good time. The sender assumes any risk for transit when using mobile postage stamps to send documents. Please note the information provided by Deutsche Post.
Extensive changes are planned for how university examinations are held as of winter semester 2024/25.
Compulsory registration for resit examinations:
If the degree program and examination regulations stipulate compulsory registration for resit examinations in a specific semester, this rule will no longer apply in future. Students can thus decide for themselves when to resit a failed examination. They must register for the resit themselves on campo.
Increase in the number of attempts:
The number of attempts permitted for university examinations where two attempts were previously permitted will be increased to three attempts in future. However, this does not affect examinations that are part of the orientation program (Grundlagen- und Orientierungsprüfung) and final theses (Bachelor’s/Master’s theses), which still may only be repeated once.
Please note:
Exceptions may apply for field seminars, field trips and practical classes (compulsory registration and/or no increase in the number of attempts). The details are currently being clarified with the degree programs affected. Further information will be posted on this website as soon as it becomes available. All that is relevant to your degree program are the provisions stipulated in the valid degree program and examination regulations that are currently being revised and will come into force in winter semester 2024/25.
The rules apply for all university examinations conducted from winter semester 2024/25 onwards (irrespective of when students started their degrees). They do not apply to State Examinations.
The new rules apply to all Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs at FAU as well as for university examinations in teaching degree programs (Lehramt) at FAU. In future, it shall also be possible to withdraw from resit examinations for university examinations in the Law degree program. Please ensure you read the degree program and examination regulations applicable to your degree program in good time. They will be available on our website from October at the latest.
They apply for all examinations for which students can register from winter semester 2024/25 as a first attempt, second attempt or third attempt. The rules do not apply to examinations taken in summer semester 2024 as a third attempt and not passed.
Students must be enrolled in the relevant degree program in order to take any university examinations.
This is possible. When students re-enroll, they can restart their degree program at the point at which they de-registered. Any failed attempts up to that point remain in place.
Examinations are offered for as long as they are included in the regular degree program structure. However, if students postpone the resit examination for a longer period of time, there is a risk that the original examination will no longer be offered and that they will have to sit a replacement examination instead.
Especially at the Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Theology and the Faculty of Sciences, a number of examinations are offered on two different dates in the same semester. The first date is scheduled at the end of the lecture period, and a second date is offered before lectures start again. All students who are either attempting the examination for the first time or who are resitting the examination are able to take the examination on the first date. The second date is only open to students who have already taken and failed the examination on a previous date.
For examinations that are only offered once in the semester, you should register during the regular examination registration period, announced on the Examination Office’s website. For examinations which are offered twice in the same semester (predominantly in degree programs at the Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Theology and the Faculty of Sciences), you should register for the first date during the regular examination registration period. Registration for the second date then takes place during a separate registration period that is announced on the Examination Office’s website.
Please note: You can only register for a resit examination once the examination results of the previous (failed) examination have been entered.
As a rule, examiners may choose to restrict participation in examinations for which no lectures were offered in the current semester to students who are required to resit the examination. If this is the case, it is not possible for students taking the examination for the first time to register for the examination.
The new rules do not apply to examinations that are taken again in summer semester 2024. A typical case is an examination that is offered at the end of July or beginning of August, for which the resit examination is already offered at the end of September or the beginning of October. Compulsory registration still applies for this resit examination. The specific date of the resit examination is irrelevant. Even if it is not held until October, it still counts as summer semester 2024.
The new rules only apply as of examinations in winter semester 24/25. If you fail a third attempt in summer semester 2024, you lose your entitlement to sit examinations in this degree program in summer semester 2024 already and you are not allowed to continue your studies. In this case, you are not entitled to a fourth attempt.
The following applies for the use of artificial intelligence during examinations (and above all for written assignments):
- If the use of artificial intelligence is not expressly authorized, it is considered an aid that is not permitted. This means that the examination is deemed to have been failed due to fraud. This has already been defined, please refer to Section 16 (2) (1) and (2) ABMStPO/Phil: “1If an attempt is made to commit fraud or to influence the result of an examination achievement through the use of unauthorized materials, the examination in question shall be graded as ‘unsatisfactory’ (5.0). 2The possession of unauthorized aids during or after the handing out of examination papers shall constitute an attempt to commit fraud within the meaning of sentence 1.
- Checks are currently underway at FAU as to whether to include additional clarification in the degree program and examination regulations about the use of artificial intelligence. However, this is not absolutely necessary in order to already grade an examination as “failed” due to the unauthorized use of artificial intelligence.
- Staff responsible should ensure that the declaration of originality that students must submit as part of written assignments also contains confirmation that artificial intelligence was not used to complete the assignment.
There is a sample text for the declaration of originality for examinations (such as written assignments and final theses) below. This sample text can/must be amended for cases where the use of ChatGPT and other forms of AI are expressly permitted. The English version of the sample text is available here.
In order to obtain an apostille, you will require prior certification (Vorbeglaubigung) from the University. At FAU, the Office of Legal Affairs and Academic Quality Management (L1) is responsible for this.
Please allow 4 weeks processing time for pre-certification.
Further information: Applying for an apostille
Information from the examination offices
Please note the opening times listed in each section below!
- Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs
- Module studies (Digital Humanities, Kulturraum Italien, Studium Philosophicum)
- Teaching degree programs (Lehramt)
- Master of Education (Lehramt Gymnasium)
- Certificates (General and subject-specific education in the digital world, Geosciences for teaching)
- Doctoral degrees
School of Business, Economics and Society
- Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes
- Teaching degree programmes (Lehramt) (German)
- Doctoral degrees