Hardship application

Who can submit a hardship application?

The hardship application is regulated in § 10 para. 2 of the Berlin Higher Education Admission Act (BerlHZG):

"The study places according to paragraph 1 sentence 1 number 1 [applicants for whom the rejection of the application for admission would mean exceptional hardship] will be allocated on application according to the degree of exceptional hardship. Exceptional hardship is deemed to exist if special reasons in the applicant's person, in particular health, social, disability-related or family reasons, make immediate admission to the degree programme absolutely necessary."

A hardship application can only be submitted by German applicants and applicants from EU and EEA states Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, as well as foreign students. The latter includes persons with a German university entrance qualification.

In addition, applicants for a second degree programme and those without an Abitur (§ 11 BerlHG) cannot submit a hardship application. A hardship application for a higher semester is also not possible. In the case of equal ranking, social, in particular family, economic or academic reasons can be cited (proof required!).

If an application for a study place for the first semester is initially unsuccessful in the main allocation procedure, it will automatically take part in the procedure within the hardship quota, which is currently 5% of the study places per degree programme (§ 10 Para. 1 BerlHZG in conjunction with § 22 ZSP-HU), provided that an admissible hardship application was submitted together with the application.

What reasons can give rise to a hardship application?

In the following exemplary cases, a hardship application for health reasons can generally be granted. The key factor here is the existence of special health or disability-related circumstances that require immediate authorisation.

These can be as follows:

1. Illness with a tendency to worsen, which will lead to a high probability that it will not be possible to cope with the burdens of studying on this degree programme in the future (specialist medical report)
2. Disability due to illness; vocational rehabilitation can only be ensured by immediate admission to the degree programme because the disability makes it impossible to bridge the waiting period in a meaningful way (specialist medical report)
3. Restriction to a narrow occupational field due to physical disability; the intended degree programme is likely to lead to successful rehabilitation (specialist medical report)
4. Necessity to give up previous studies or previous profession for health reasons; a sensible bridging of the waiting period is not possible for these reasons (specialist medical report)
5. Physical disability; the disability stands in the way of any other reasonable activity until a study place is allocated (specialist medical report)
6. Restriction in the choice of profession or professional practice due to illness; this prevents the student from bridging the waiting period in a meaningful way (specialist medical report). Family and social reasons can also lead to a justified hardship application. If you have any questions, please contact the Family Office or the Admissions Office (see "Contact" section ).

Evidence required

The required specialist medical report must adequately comment on the individual criteria asserted in the hardship application.

The report should contain statements on the origin, severity, course and treatment options of the illness as well as a prognosis for the further course of the illness. It should also be comprehensible for medical laypersons - without in-depth medical expertise. Attention! A certificate, a short medical certificate or simply presenting a severely disabled person's ID card is not sufficient.

Further and additional evidence can be, for example, the severely disabled person's ID card, the assessment notice from the pension office or the military discharge notice. A personal letter is not required.

In the admission procedure for hardship cases, grades and waiting semesters do not play a role; instead, points are awarded according to the degree of hardship based on the expert opinion (1 to 10 points). An application only enters the hardship procedure if it has not received admission in the main admission procedure.

Unfounded applications

In the following exemplary cases, the application cannot be successful unless there are further exceptional circumstances in the applicant's person. Localisation due to the need for home care and support in the event of an existing illness Need to give up previous studies or profession for health reasons; however, it is possible to bridge the waiting period Restriction in the choice of profession due to illness; however, it is possible and reasonable to bridge the waiting period.