Transfer to the New Examination Regulations

On these pages, you will find all the information you need if you wish to voluntarily and actively transfer to the current examination regulations of 2018 at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Bonn or to the new B.A. Psychology Examination Regulations 2020. For further questions, please consult the section at the bottom of this page titled ‘FAQ’.

Important Note: Please be aware that this page only concerns the voluntary switch to a more current examination regulations, which you may undertake while you could still continue studying under your current examination regulations. However, this page does not address the automatic transfer of your achievements to the more current examination regulations by the Examination Office. This transfer occurs automatically once your examination entitlement expires, and there is a successor program for your degree in the newer examination regulations. If your examination regulations are expiring, please consult the page on expiring examination regulations .

Step 1: Inform

While the new examination regulations usually come with advantages, it cannot be entirely ruled out that you may face disadvantages with such a switch. Therefore, it is crucial to inform yourself about the consequences first. The Examination Office requests you to schedule a meeting with the your departmental academic advisors to discuss whether non-recognition of achievements may occur. Generally, four possible disadvantages can be distinguished:

1. A module that was useable according to the older examination regulations has no equivalent in the new regulations of 2018/B.A. Psychology Examination Regulations 2020. In this case, the module is excluded, and the grade obtained may be lost without replacement. In individual cases, it may still be possible to recognize such a module. The decision on whether an excluded module will still be recognized lies with the department and must be communicated to the Examination Office through a regular recognition recommendation.
2. Multiple partial examinations of a module have been combined into a final examination. For example, if you have already completed one of these partial examinations in a module with multiple partial examinations, the grade for that partial examination will be lost without replacement if the module now concludes with a single final examination according to the new examination regulations. You must complete the final examination regularly.
3. A final examination of a module has been split into multiple partial examinations. If you have already attempted the final examination but did not pass, this failed attempt will be credited to each of the now necessary partial examinations. This means that if the module now requires three partial examinations, a failed attempt in the former final examination is equivalent to a failed attempt in each of the three partial examinations.
4. The credit points to be earned from modules have decreased. In this case, you may need to study more modules than originally anticipated according to the new examination regulations.

Different advantages or disadvantages may arise depending on the degree program. To clarify these, a personal conversation is ideal.

We strongly recommend that you create a current Transcript of Records before submitting the application for a change in examination regulations and keep this for your records.

Step 2: Submitting an Application

If you have decided to switch examination regulations, you must submit a corresponding application using the Application for Change of Examination Regulations  form to the Examination Office. With this form, you declare that you are aware of the consequences of such a switch and request the switch to be carried out for you.

There are two cases in which an additional application for the recognition of examination and academic achievements, along with a corresponding recognition recommendation from your department, is required:

1. You have studied a module for which there is more than one equivalent in the new examination regulations of 2018/B.A. Psychology Examination Regulations 2020. Please clarify with your academic advisors which of your modules this applies to. If such a module is present in your record, a mandatory application must be filled out in which your department unequivocally informs the Examination Office of which module it should be recognized as. Without such an application, the examination office can only transfer modules for which there is exactly one equivalent in the new examination regulations.
2. You have studied a module for which there is no equivalent in the new examination regulations of 2018/B.A. Psychology Examination Regulations 2020, but your department may still recognize it. This must be clarified in a personal conversation with your academic advisors. An application for recognition must also be submitted for these modules. Otherwise, modules without an equivalent in the 2018 examination regulations or B.A. Psychology Examination Regulations 2020 will no longer contribute to the calculation of your grades and acquired credit points in the new examination regulations.

In general: For modules that are clearly assignable according to the equivalence tables of your department, no explicit explanations are necessary. Furthermore, you cannot have any modules removed from your academic record, even with a recognition application.

Step 3: Transfer

Once your documents are complete in the Examination Office, your achievements will be transferred. Once completed, you should be able to see this in your student account. While you won’t receive explicit confirmation of the transfer, you can view it in your transcript.

Step 4: Enrollment Corrections

Once your transfer is complete, it may be necessary to make enrollment corrections. This means that the enrollment for the currently attended courses may need to be corrected. The reason is that BASIS, for checking your examination entitlement in a module, not only reviews the courses you have enrolled in but also the version of the examination regulations under which you have enrolled in a course. If the system detects that a course has been enrolled under the—now incorrect—version of the examination regulations (unfortunately, the number is not automatically updated), BASIS will not allow you to register for exams. To prevent this, these courses must be correctly enrolled. Your academic advisors can handle this for you.

Caution: Remember to make such enrollment corrections before exam registration phases, as we cannot make exceptions for any oversights on your part!

After the Transfer

Once you have completed these four steps, you will continue your studies under the new examination regulations of 2018 or B.A. Psychology Examination Regulations 2020 and complete your studies regularly under the now new examination regulations. If you still have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the examination office via the contact form.

*Examination regulations for the Bachelor's programs (Bachelor of Arts) and consecutive Master's programs (Master of Arts) of the Faculty of Philosophy at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University Bonn, dated August 17, 2018, in the version of its current amendment (BMPO 2018) or Examination regulations for the Bachelor's program "Psychology" and the consecutive Master's program "Psychology" of the Faculty of Philosophy at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University Bonn, dated August 28, 2020, in the version of its current amendment (Psychology-BMPO 2020).