Exam FAQ
The following are answers to frequent questions and explanations of important terms related to the examination procedures.
The Examination Office can be reached by telephone, contact form8 and during the office hours. Please refer to the following page for further information9.
Universität Bonn
Dekanat der Philosophischen Fakultät
Prüfungsamt
Am Hof 1
53113 Bonn
Please inform the Examination Office of your name change by sending a scan of the relevant proof via the contact form8. Please note that in the case of a name change due to marriage or divorce, degree documents cannot be reissued. We ask for your understanding. In the case of a name change due to discrimination or under the Transsexual Act, reissuing of degree documents is possible. Please contact us.
All first-semester students in the Bachelor’s or Master’s program at the Faculty of Arts must register for the examination procedure at the Examination Office after first registering at the Student Registry. By completing the registration for the examination procedure, a file is created in the Examination Office 10and the student account is activated to sign up for module exams on the electronic study portal BASIS.
Without registration for the examination procedure, it is therefore not possible to sign up for exams!
You can find more information on the registration procedure here11.
You can find more information about these specialisations and what they can mean for your studies here.12
For all questions regarding the crediting/recognition of study and examination achievements completed outside the University of Bonn or in another degree program at the University of Bonn, you can find the answers as well as the required application form here.13
Yes, Examination Regulations may stipulate compulsory attendance in a course. The stipulation is then communicated via BASIS14. If a course for which attendance is compulsory is held as an online course, attendance is also compulsory for this course. In contrast to some earlier Corona semesters, compulsory attendance can no longer be replaced by any other coursework. Further information can be found here.15
The Examination Board has defined that regular attendance in the sense of the Examination Regulations exists with maximum absences of up to 30%, including absences excused by a doctor's certificate. This means that students may be absent for 30% of the actual time of a course and they will still be able to successfully complete the course in terms of compulsory attendance. The maximum absence time must be calculated per semester and per course on the basis of the lecture weeks, the semester hours, and any public holidays that may lie in the lecture period.
Example: The summer semester 2023 has 15 lecture weeks. For a two-hour course, attendance is compulsory for 30 hours, of which up to 9 hours may be missed. If the course is missed on a Monday in this semester, there are three public holidays in the lecture period, so that only 24 hours of attendance are required and the maximum absence is 7 hours.
Study achievements are preliminary work that must be completed before taking a final module exam (e.g. presentations or protocols). A selection of coursework for the module is specified in the respective module description in the module handbook for your degree program. You can find the current module handbook for your degree program here16. The lecturers announce the specific requirements in the electronic course catalog in BASIS17 before the start of each semester.
The lecturer of the respective course is responsible for booking credits in the online study portal BASIS17. If you have any problems or queries regarding the booking of your course credits, please contact your lecturer first and, if necessary, the relevant course management.
Exams are all examinations (homework, project work, paper, presentation, protocol, internship report, portfolio, written examination, or oral examination) that must be taken to successfully complete a module (module final exam). A module final exam can consist of a single exam or several partial exams. The exams to be taken are specified in the Examination Regulations applicable to you and in the respective module description in the module handbook of your degree program.18 Please note that some supposed exams (e.g. presentations or protocols) may also be coursework/study achievements. In case of doubt, please consult the Examination Regulations, the module description in the module handbook of your degree program, your lecturer, or the responsible program management.
You register for a module exam in due time via the electronic study portal BASIS17. During the registration deadlines, which are announced each semester by the Examination Office, you select in BASIS which of your modules you want to register for the module exam or partial module exam. Registration is only possible if you fulfill the prerequisites for the respective exam or partial exam. As a rule, these prerequisites are completed and already recorded study achievements as well as, if applicable, the recording of successful participation in modules with compulsory attendance.
Following the electronic registration for the exam forms term paper, internship report, presentation, project work and portfolio, BASIS creates a registration form which you have to have signed by your examiner in order to determine the topic and processing time. Please note that this form must be downloaded and printed out directly during registration, as this is only possible during the registration phase of assignments and course-related examinations. The registration form (“cover sheet”) is submitted to your examiner together with the exam performance by the deadline, at the latest at the end of the processing period.
The processing time for the aforementioned forms of exam runs from the time of registration and topic setting (cf. guidelines for term papers19) and ranges from one to a maximum of twelve weeks (or two to a maximum of twelve weeks for term papers and project papers). Irrespective of this, however, the processing period ends in any case at the end of the respective semester of exam registration (31 March or 30 September). Accordingly, the available processing period can also be shorter than twelve weeks. The specific submission date must be noted on the registration form and is not at the discretion of the examiner.
Please check the Examination Regulations that apply to your degree program for further information. There are no longer any special Corona regulations. Please further consult the guidelines for term papers19 as well as the handouts for Bachelor’s or Master’s theses.
Information on exam periods and their registration deadlines can be found under Dates and Deadlines20. Please also check the websites of the relevant Examination Offices for any deadlines of other faculties if you are taking courses there or, for example, are studying a partial degree program (accompanying or two-subject).
No. It is imperative to register during the specific registration period (please note that different registration phases apply for different types of exams). The registration phase ends with a set deadline that precludes further registrations beyond that date. Belated registration requests cannot be considered, even if this leads to delays in your course of study. Students are obliged to inform themselves about the reporting deadlines and to observe them (see here for the deadlines20).
For exams and oral exams, we recommend that you register within the first Examination Registration period, since in the event of failure, withdrawal or failure to pass, the second stage exam period remains available to undertake another examination attempt within the same semester. In the event of technical problems, please contact us immediately, and within the exam registration period via the contact form8.
All exams are held in person. The possibility of converting them into online exams has been discontinued after the expiration of the Corona University Ordinance on 31.03.2023.
Please see the page on “withdrawal”.21
No, the normal writing times determined in the Examination Regulations apply: A maximum of 12 weeks from the date of registration, whereby this period may be cut off by the end of the semester, as the latest possible submission date is the end of the semester: 31 March [WS] or 30 September [SoSe]. If a good cause is presented (such as illness), an extension of up to four weeks can be granted, doctor's note provided.
The assessment of a written exam is entered into the online study portal BASIS no later than four weeks after the performance in the Bachelor’s program and no later than six weeks after the performance in the Master’s program. The result of an oral examination is announced directly after the exam and then entered in BASIS. You will find out the assessment of the Bachelor’s thesis after six weeks at the latest and the assessment of the Master’s thesis after eight weeks at the latest via BASIS.
You can inspect your exams, the examiners' reports relating to them and the exam protocols for oral exams. The request must be submitted no later than three months after the announcement of the result. Please use the appropriate form22 (see download area of the Examination Office website). The application for access to examination records is still possible in a digital form. For recently completed work, please enquire at the institute first (here, too, the signed form must be used and sent to the Examination Office). You may be able to inspect them there on site. For older exams, please contact the Examination Office using the contact form8.
Important: Copies and other (also digital) reproductions of the exam file are permitted. However, they serve exclusively to pursue the student’s own legal rights and are therefore only to be made accessible to the candidate or his/her legal counsel.
You can find information on compensatory measures here23.
According to the Maternity Protection Act, during maternity leave, you are not allowed to attend courses with compulsory attendance as well as examinations, unless you expressly waive the protection conferred by the law vis-à-vis the Examination Office. Appropriate proof must be enclosed with the declaration. Please use the contact form8 for this purpose. You can revoke your declaration at any time with effect for the future, cf. § 3 paragraph 3 Maternity Protection Act. If you have actively made use of this right and wish to take part in exams, you can also apply for compensation for disadvantages within the framework of an examination procedure during maternity leave, cf. the relevant information on compensation for disadvantages23. Irrespective of an application for compensation for disadvantages, if you have made the declaration mentioned at the beginning, the processing period for exams will be extended by the duration of your maternity leave. If you have registered for a final paper, for example, the Examination Office will then inform you of the new deadline.
First of all, you have all the rights and obligations in the student relationship as students who are not caring for and raising a child. This means you can attend classes and take exams as normal. In order for a special arrangement to be granted, an application for parental leave must be expressly made and submitted in due time in accordance with § 27 paragraph 2 BMPO 2018. At the latest four weeks before the date from which parental leave is to commence, the examination office must be informed in writing of the period for which parental leave is to be taken, enclosing the necessary evidence. The examination board will check whether the legal requirements exist that would trigger an employee's entitlement to parental leave according to the Federal Parental Allowance and Parental Leave Act (Bundeselterngeld- und Elternzeitgesetz, BEEG). If this is the case, the exam topics provided are considered not to have been assigned; the application for parental leave thus triggers a withdrawal, for which no failed attempt is counted. The Examination Regulations stipulate that the examinee receives a new topic after parental leave has expired. In fact, however, the examinee is allowed to consult with the examiners himself or herself regarding the choice of a new topic for the written paper, as in the first attempt; he or she must re-register for the exam in the regularly scheduled way. Beyond that, however, the application for parental leave has no effect on the exams. In particular, deadlines are not interrupted by parental leave. There is also currently no basis for any other special regulations, such as the conversion of exam forms or the suspension of attendance requirements.
Due to the care of minor children, a leave of absence can be applied for at the Student Administration Office, cf. the relevant information from the Student Administration Office24. While as a rule, no exams may be registered during a leave of absence, there is an exception if said leave is due to the care of minors, § 15 paragraph 2 of the enrollment regulations of the University of Bonn. However, if this option is used and students register for exams during their leave of absence, normal rules apply with regard to deadlines, withdrawal and repetition as well as the arrangement of the exam (form, time, etc.). Only if parental leave is explicitly applied for in due time in accordance with the previous paragraph, does the effect of a withdrawal without a failed attempt automatically apply to all registered exams.
The guide on cheating/plagiarism is available online here25.
In principle, only those aids are allowed in examinations that have been approved by the examiners. These aids will be announced in good time. Please note: The AI application ChatGPT is a prohibited aid if its use has not been expressly permitted by the examiners! Its use in the preparation of written work, in particular term papers and theses, is forbidden unless the specific locations of use are made clear.
If a candidate attempts to influence the result of the exam by using non-permitted aids, the exam in question will be graded as “insufficient”. The determination is made by the respective examiner or the supervisor, recorded in the files, and forwarded to the examination board (§ 26 paragraph 1 of the Bachelor's and Master's Examination Regulations 2018, "Täuschung und Ordnungsverstoß").
Information on examinations at the Faculty of Arts for non-faculty students can be found here.26
Please note: A voluntary change of Examination Regulations is no longer an option (as of 01.04.2024), as all students' achievements have now been officially transferred to the more up-to-date Examination Regulations. The linked page therefore only serves as information for students whose achievements have already been rewritten. You can find more information on changing to a more up-to-date Examination Regulation here27.
You can find information on transferring credits to a more current Examination Regulation28 due to the expiry of the examination entitlement in the old regulation here. Currently, such a rebooking already takes place ex officio in many (partial) degree programs if the examination entitlement under the old Examination Regulations of 2013 has expired. In these cases, you no longer need to apply for a voluntary change of Examination Regulations and, as a rule, no application for credit transfer is required.
Registration for the Bachelor’s thesis requires 108 credit points. Registration for the Master’s thesis requires 60 credit points. The processing period (three months for Bachelor’s theses and six months for Master’s theses) begins with the written registration at the Examination Office. There is no minimum processing time. Bachelor’s or Master’s theses that are not submitted to the Examination Office by the deadline will be failed.
Before registering your thesis, please be sure to carefully read the handout for the Bachelor’s thesis29 or the handout for the Master’s thesis30.
You will find detailed information on this in the respective handout for the Bachelor’s thesi29s or handout for the Master’s thesis.30
You can find information on the final documents here31.
You must be enrolled to complete your exams. If you have taken the last exam before the end of a semester and then do not re-enroll for the subsequent semester while waiting for the exam result, it is at your discretion. However, please note that you will not be able to access transcripts or your Uni-Bonn email address if you are no longer enrolled.
In the case of failing the last exam, please contact the Student Registry as soon as possible regarding re-enrollment and inform your department. You cannot re-register for the last pending exam until you are re-enrolled.
If you have re-enrolled as a precaution and passed your last exam, you have the option to de-register on the current day and receive a partial refund. Information on a possible partial refund of your social contribution and student transit pass can be found here32.
You can find more information on final failures under this link.33
You can find more information on duplicates under this link.34
You must have completed all achievements from your Bachelor's degree (i.e. handed in written exams or successfully participated in written and oral exams) before you can start your Master’s degree program at the Faculty of Arts. This means that open achievements from the Bachelor’s program must have been completed by the end of the semester that lies before the first Master’s semester (for those who would like to start their MA program in the summer semester, the achievements must be completed by 31 March; for those who would like to start in the winter semester, the achievements must be completed by 30 September). The assessment of the last Bachelor’s exam and thus the awarding of the degree can then take place in the first Master’s semester. In other words: As a student, you must have done everything that was required for the Bachelor’s until September 30 if you start the Master’s program in the winter term, or March 31 if you start in the summer term.
Master’s students who cannot provide proof of the admission requirements within six months cannot re-register and thus risk losing their place on the program.
As long as the access requirements have not been proven, you may participate in courses, but no exams may be taken. This is only possible once the admission requirements have been proven within the framework of the so-called Master’s registration11, which should therefore not be missed under any circumstances.
Please contact your new university to find out by when all achievements from the Bachelor’s degree have to be completed or proven so that you can start your studies. Regular enrollment at two universities (for the prerequisite Bachelor’s degree in Bonn and for the consecutive Master’s degree elsewhere) is generally not possible, but depends largely on the rules applicable at your destination. For questions regarding enrollment and de-registration, please contact the Registrar's Office of the University of Bonn or your new university directly.
Here you will find the link to the University's central corona website35 with information and regulations concerning the corona pandemic.
Resolutions of the Examination Board regarding the Corona pandemic:
- Resolutions of the Faculty Council of 22.04.202037
- Resolutions of the Examination Board of 13.05.202038
- Resolution of the Chairperson of the Examination Board of 02.06.2020 and its update of 24.06.202039
- Emergency resolution of the Dean as Chair of the Faculty Council of 26.08.2020 and supplementary amending resolution of 22.09.202040
- Resolution of the Chairperson of the Examination Board of 24.11.202041
- Resolution of the Examination Board of 18.12.202041
- Resolution of the Faculty Council of 20.01.202142
Archived FAQs on the examination procedures of previous semesters:
- Information on the examinations of the winter semester 2022/2343
- Information on the examinations of the summer semester 202244
- Information on the Corona regulations for examinations of the winter semester 2021/2245
- Information on the Corona regulations for examinations of the summer semester 202146
- Information on the Corona regulations for examinations of the winter semester 2020/2146
- Information on the Corona regulations for examinations of the summer semester 202046
- Information on the Corona regulations for examinations of the winter semester 2019/2047
You will find answers to frequently asked questions about BASIS and enrollments, the interdisciplinary practical area, and the Master's application procedure not here, but on this page: https://www.philfak.uni-bonn.de/de/studium/frequently-asked-questions-faq48
Contact
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- https://www.philfak.uni-bonn.de/en/studying/examination-office/in-study/withdrawal-from-exams
- https://www.philfak.uni-bonn.de/de/studium/pruefungsamt/medienordner/formular-antrag-aktenansicht-2020.pdf
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- https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/studying/consultation-and-service/student-registry/leaves-of-absence?set_language=en
- https://www.philfak.uni-bonn.de/en/studying/examination-office/in-study/attempts-at-deception-and-plagiarism
- https://www.philfak.uni-bonn.de/en/studying/examination-office/in-study/information-for-non-faculty-students
- https://www.philfak.uni-bonn.de/en/studying/examination-office/in-study/transfer-to-the-new-examination-regulations
- https://www.philfak.uni-bonn.de/en/studying/examination-office/in-study/expiring-exam-regulations
- https://www.philfak.uni-bonn.de/en/studying/examination-office/degree-completion/handreichung-zur-bachelorarbeit
- https://www.philfak.uni-bonn.de/en/studying/examination-office/degree-completion/handreichung-zur-masterarbeit
- https://www.philfak.uni-bonn.de/en/studying/examination-office/degree-completion/final-documents
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- https://www.philfak.uni-bonn.de/de/studium/pruefungsamt/medienordner/beschluesse-des-fakultaetsrats-vom-22-04-2020-zu-pruefungen-und-lehre-protokollauszug.pdf
- https://www.philfak.uni-bonn.de/de/studium/pruefungsamt/medienordner/beschluss-pruefungsausschuss-20200513_final_korr.pdf
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- https://www.philfak.uni-bonn.de/de/studium/pruefungsamt/medienordner/fakultaetsratsbeschluss-uebergang-ba-ma_ss21.pdf
- https://www.philfak.uni-bonn.de/de/studium/pruefungsamt/medienordner/faq-download-ws-22-23-docx.pdf
- https://www.philfak.uni-bonn.de/de/studium/pruefungsamt/medienordner/faqs-zu-den-pruefungen-des-sommersemesters-2022_2023_2022-11-07_download.pdf
- https://www.philfak.uni-bonn.de/de/studium/pruefungsamt/medienordner/faqs-zu-den-pruefungen-des-wintersemesters-2021_2022_2022-11-07_download.pdf
- https://www.philfak.uni-bonn.de/de/studium/pruefungsamt/medienordner/ss-21-corona-faqs-pruefungsamt.pdf.1
- https://www.philfak.uni-bonn.de/de/studium/pruefungsamt/medienordner/corona-faqs-ws19-20.pdf
- https://www.philfak.uni-bonn.de/en/studying/frequently-asked-questions-faq?set_language=en