Support Before starting Your Studies
If you are interested in studying at Bochum University of Applied Sciences and have a disability or a long-term health condition, you can contact the Central Student Advisory Service at any time.
We can explain what you need to do during your studies and what you should consider before you start. For example, some degree programmes have special requirements for working in certain professions after graduation.
There are also different ways to get support before and during your studies. We are happy to explain the options available to you.
Application for Admission in Special Circumstances
When applying to Bochum University of Applied Sciences, you can submit an ‘application on grounds of exceptional hardship’.
Under this scheme, places are allocated to applicants for whom it would constitute exceptional hardship if they were not admitted to the specified degree programme. The quota for places at Bochum University of Applied Sciences allocated on the basis of exceptional hardship criteria amounts to a total of 5%.
If you have serious personal health, social or family reasons that make it imperative for you to commence your studies immediately, you may apply for special consideration.
The application for special consideration must be submitted to Bochum University of Applied Sciences by the end of the application deadline.
Before you submit your application, we strongly recommend that you seek guidance with the inclusion counselling.
Not every difficult personal situation qualifies for a hardship application.
You must have very serious health, social or family reasons. Your situation must be so exceptional that it would not be reasonable to expect you to wait even one semester for a place on your chosen degree programme.
Only a small number of applicants meet these requirements.
The university must check each application carefully. This is important because giving a place to one applicant may mean that another applicant cannot receive a place through the normal selection process.
You may be able to submit a hardship application for one of the following reasons:
- Health condition that is likely to get worse: Your condition is likely to become so serious that you may no longer be able to complete the chosen degree programme in the future.
- A disability or health condition that affects your ability to work: You need to start the degree programme immediately to support your return to working life. Waiting for a place would not be a reasonable option.
- Limited career options because of a physical disability: Your disability limits your choice of career, and the degree programme you have chosen could help you return to working life.
- You have to stop your current studies or job for health reasons: You cannot continue your current studies or job, and there is no suitable way for you to use the waiting period.
- A physical disability prevents you from doing other suitable activities: Because of your disability, you cannot take part in other reasonable activities while waiting for a place.
- A health condition limits your choice of career or your ability to work: This makes it impossible for you to use the waiting period in a meaningful way.
For these reasons, you must provide a medical report from a specialist.
The report must address the relevant requirements. It should explain:
- how the health condition started;
- how serious it is;
- how it may develop over time;
- which treatments are available; and
- how the condition is likely to develop in the future.
The report should also be easy for people without medical training to understand.
You may also need to provide additional documents. These could include an official disability ID card, an official decision confirming your disability or a document confirming that you were declared unfit for military service.
You may also be able to apply if you have serious family or social circumstances that make it necessary for you to start your studies immediately.
You must provide suitable documents to support your application.
You may be able to apply if:
- you were previously offered a place on the degree programme listed as your first choice; and
- you could not accept the place for an important reason that was beyond your control, such as illness.
You must provide evidence of the reason why you could not accept the place and a copy of your previous admission offer.
You may be able to apply if serious personal, social or family circumstances mean that you must change universities immediately.
You must provide:
- proof that you are currently enrolled on the degree programme you wish to continue at a university in Germany; and
- documents explaining why you need to change universities.
Reasons that you could already have given during your previous university application cannot be used for this application.
Special Application to Improve Your Average Grade or Waiting Time
You may be able to submit a special application if circumstances beyond your control affected your school results or prevented you from obtaining your university entrance qualification earlier. Your average grade and waiting time may be important when the university decides who receives a study place. This special application may allow the university to take account of circumstances that affected your school performance. For example, you may have spent several months in hospital. If your application is accepted, your improved average grade or waiting time may be considered during the selection process.
Please note: The university looks at your performance during the final years of secondary school, leading up to your school-leaving qualification. It does not look only at the final examinations.
What documents do you need?
It is not enough to show that you experienced difficult circumstances. You must also explain and provide evidence of how these circumstances affected your school results or the time when you obtained your university entrance qualification. You must provide certified copies of your school reports to show the effect on your grades. You will usually also need a report from your school headteacher. A report from an individual teacher is not sufficient.
The school headteacher must explain how your circumstances affected your school performance. The report must be signed by the headteacher and carry the school's official stamp.
Apply for the school report as early as possible. Your school must have enough time to prepare it before the application deadline. You must also submit all documents used to prepare the school report. These may include school reports and medical reports from specialists.
For more detailed information about these applications, please visit:
Important Information
- Once you have submitted your application through our online application portal, you take part in the normal selection process for a study place.
- You can also submit one or more special applications if you meet the relevant requirements. These applications may improve your chances of receiving a place.
- Please check the requirements for each type of special application carefully.
- You must upload all supporting documents, including any attachments, to the Bochum University of Applied Sciences online application portal before the application deadline.
- Do not upload these documents only to the Hochschulstart.de portal.
- If the university does not receive your documents through its own online application portal by the deadline, your special application will be rejected.
