Studying with an impairment at TUHH

Reasonable accommodation during examinations is intended to create equal opportunities for students with disabilities and/or chronic diseases. Impairments that hinder students to demonstrate existing abilities are eligible for compensation. However, a lack of ability cannot be compensated for.

Students with an impairment and/or a disability can apply for reasonable accommodation during examinations if this impairment causes a disadvantage for the student during the examination. This might include (but is not limited to) impairments in the areas of mobility, vision, hearing or speech, physical illnesses such as rheumatism or diabetes, or mental impairments such as depression, specific developmental disorders of scholastic skills or autism spectrum disorders.

Important:

In order to be able to apply for reasonable accommodation during examinations, the impairment does not have to be officially recognized as a disability.

An application must be submitted in writing to the examination office of the respective faculty. Confidential consultation with the executive officers for students with disabilities and/or chronic diseases is recommended before submitting the application. The application should be submitted as early as possible, at the latest two weeks before the examination board meeting. The examination board usually meets twice a semester, typically towards the middle and end of the semester.

Please use this form to submit the application or write an informal application letter.

Describe the impairment, chronic illness or disability and its expected duration. Describe the symptoms that cause a disadvantage during examinations. Then make a proposal for specific measures to compensate for your impairment. This might be, for example, a pre-reading time of 10 percent of the examination time, a break during the examination or a separate room.

Please attach an official medical or psychotherapeutic certificate with a specific recommendation for compensation for disadvantages to the application.

• Type of impairment/ diagnosis
• Expected duration of the impairment
• Effects of the impairment on the ability to conduct examinations
• Recommendation for a specific compensation for disadvantages

The examination board decides on your application on reasonable accommodation during examinations. The application, the submitted medical certificate and a statement of the executive officer for students with disabilities and/or chronic diseases are taken into account for the decision.

In urgent cases - for example, a broken bone right before the exam - the chairperson of the examination board has the right to make the decision alone.

Depending on how long your impairment is expected to last, reasonable accommodation during examinations can be granted accordingly. This means that reasonable accommodation can be granted for single examinations, for one or two semesters or for the entire degree program. When starting a new degree program (e.g. at the beginning of a Master's degree), a new application must always be submitted, even if, for example, reasonable accommodation during examinations has already been granted in the Bachelor's program.

No.

If an application is rejected, you can submit a reasoned objection. The examination board decides on objections against decisions made by the examination board. Please contact the executive officers for students with disabilities and/or chronic diseases. As a last resort at the TUHH, you have the option of taking your application to the objection board of each faculty.

An overview of the TUHH lecture halls with hearing support systems can be found on the website of the IT service department.

In this video you can find out how large the group of "students with disabilities and/or impairments" is and whether you might belong to it.

More videos on the topic of "Studying with disabilities".