Important dates
19 June 2026 before 9:00 AM: Deadline for submitting BSA deferment request by using this form (only for Faculty of Science students). Requests submitted before 1 June 2026 will not be processed. Please submit your request between 1 and 19 June 2026.
30 July 2026: Proposed final BSA decision is sent.
7 August 2026 before 9:00 AM: Deadline for objecting to a proposed negative decision. You register for the hearing.
18 or 19 August 2026: Hearing.
21 August 2026: The final Binding recommendations on continuation of studies is sent.
Postponement of BSA
At the Faculty of Science (Bèta), the BSA standard of is 42 EC for students who started in September 2025. Only first-year courses are counted in the calculation of the number of credits.
The deadline for submitting a request for postponement of the BSA to the BSA committee is 19 June by using this form (only for Faculty of Science students). Please read the instructions in the form carefully!
If you want to request a postponement, make sure you are familiar with the procedure, because incomplete requests will not be processed.
Phase 1 (June – July) – BSA meeting
The first meeting of the BSA Committee - which will discuss whether to grant a deferral to students - will take place in the first week of July 2026. As a student you will not be present at this meeting. In order for your request to be discussed at this meeting, you must submit your request (including the requested attachments!) at latest 19 June.
What do you need to send for this request?
1. The completed form to request BSA deferment. Please fill in the form as completely and specific as possible. (If uploading is not possible, you may email the form + the proof of circumstances to bsa.beta@vu.nl. In that case please mention the ticket number of your BSA deferment request, your study programme and your student number.)
2. Evidence of your personal circumstances* (consider a doctor's statement, correspondence, obituary, medication prescriptions, referral letters, an overview of your medical file, etc.). Please note! The evidence must be in English or Dutch. Is it in another language? Then make sure you provide a translation of the evidence.
If there are personal circumstances*, you must report this to the academic advisor no later than June 1st.
*Circumstances that may be grounds for postponement of the BSA standard are: illness, pregnancy, special family circumstances, disability and board activities.
If your request is discussed in this meeting, you will receive the decision of the BSA committee on your VU email address in the second week of July.
Follow-up procedure
Phase 2 (August) – Hearing
For all students (with the exception of those who received a postponement of BSA in the BSA committee meeting in July) the following applies: On 30 July 2026 you will receive the intended final BSA decision. If you wish to object to a proposed negative decision, you must do so at latest 7 August 2026 before 09.00 AM by using this form.
Please note: the form alone is not sufficient. Adding the attachments below, including proof of circumstances, is very important! Without proof of circumstances, your application has little chance of success.
If you want to object to a proposed negative decision, you must send the following:
1. The completed form to request BSA deferment. Please fill in the form as completely and specific as possible. (If uploading is not possible, you may email the form + the proof of circumstances to bsa.beta@vu.nl. In that case please mention the ticket number of your BSA deferment request, your study programme and your student number.)
2. Evidence of your personal circumstances* (consider a doctor's statement, correspondence, obituary, medication prescriptions, referral letters, an overview of your medical file, etc.). Please note! The evidence must be in English or Dutch. Is it in another language? Then make sure you provide a translation of the evidence.
If there are personal circumstances*, you must report this to the academic advisor no later than June 1st.
*Circumstances that may be grounds for postponement of the BSA standard are: illness, pregnancy, special family circumstances, disability and board activities.
If you object to the proposed negative decision, you will be invited to the hearing on 18 or 19 August 2026. You are expected to physically (at the VU) attend the hearing.
At the hearing, you will have the opportunity to explain to the BSA committee why you should be granted a deferral on the standard.
For this meeting the following applies:
- It is not possible to indicate a day or time preference.
- It is not possible to attend the meeting online.
- You will receive the invitation to the hearing on your VU email address. You will receive the exact time you will be heard no later than Friday 14 August.