Binding Study Advice (BSA)

Students who receive a warning or a negative recommendation are advised to contact their tutor and/or Study Advisor. The tutor can provide additional information on study progress. The Study Advisor can help with a wide range of questions on faculty regulations and the more organisational aspects of the programme, such as drawing up a realistic study plan, or discussing support with academic skills. Students can also make an appointment to see the Study Advisor to discuss any personal or social circumstances that affect their studies. To qualify for an exception to the BSA rules, contact with your Study Advisor is a prerequisite (see further information under the heading Special Personal Circumstances).

Stopping your degree programme

Students who wish to cease their studies (or who must do so following a negative BSA) are advised to discuss the matter with the Study Advisor. There may be regulations in place for you from which you can benefit. The Study Advisor can also provide information on options for studying something else at Utrecht University, or transferring to a degree programme at a different institution.

If you know (or suspect) that you will not be able to meet the BSA criteria due to personal circumstances, you may ask the Board of Examiners to take this into consideration when making their decision. However, it is important that you report these circumstances to the Study Advisor as soon as possible after they appear. The study advisor offers relevant guidance to prevent study delay where possible and informs you about relevant regulations and procedures.

Special circumstances include:

• illness
• pregnancy
• functional disorder
• serious mental problems
• serious family circumstances
• top-level sport
• management activities (for student organisations with full legal capacity, or as part of the organisation or management of Utrecht University, the faculty or the study programme)

Putting in a request to the Board of Examiners

You can submit a request to take special circumstances into consideration in Osiris Student. Requests can be submitted from May 1st up until June 10th 2024.

• In Osiris, click on the arrow next to Cases in the top right-hand corner. You will see the My cases window. Then click on the button Start new case. Choose the type Request Board of Examiners and start the case.
• Are you un-enrolled and do you not have access to Osiris? Then request a report form at BSA-verzoeken-GW@uu.nl.

Supporting documents

Regardless of whether you have previously submitted supporting documents to the study advisor, the Board of Examiners needs to see evidence of the circumstances upon which you are making this request. Documents that the Board of Examiners will accept include:

• a signed diagnosis/treatment plan from a doctor or licensed therapist clearly stating your details (name, date of birth)
• a printout of your medical records from your GP
• a copy of a bereavement card
• a police report

You may black out any irrelevant information in these supporting documents. You can discuss with the executive secretary of the Board of Examiners which supporting documents are relevant to your request through BSA-verzoeken-GW@uu.nl. The supporting documents are deleted from Osiris automatically after six months.

Oral clarification to the Board of Examiners

If you want to further explain your request orally during an interview with the Board of Examiners, you can indicate this in your request. In the table below you can see when the interviews take place for your programme. You will receive an invitation with the exact time and location approximately one week in advance.

More information

Read more about the binding study advice (BSA) and special circumstances in Article 7.4 of the General Education and Examination Regulations for Bachelor's degree programmes.