Important dates
Before 1 February: If you deregister before 1 February, you don’t receive a BSA
22 June, 2022: Deadline for submitting BSA deferment request
28 July, 2022: Proposed final BSA decision is sent
5 August, 2022 at 9:00 AM: Deadline for objecting to a proposed negative decision. You register for the hearing.
16 or 17 August, 2022: Hearing
22 August, 2022: The final Binding recommendations on continuation of studies is sent.
On this webpage all information about these dates ande procedures can be found.
Postponement of BSA
At the Faculty of Science (Bèta), the BSA standard of 2021–2022 is 42 EC for students who started in September 2021 (as described in the TER). However, due to the corona crisis, many students are dealing with stress and other circumstances. Lowering the BSA standard could take away some of that stress. Therefore, the universities have decided that under these special circumstances, they will generically reduce the BSA to 36 EC.
Only first-year courses are counted in the calculation of the number of credits.
Students who started in 2020-2021, and who received a postponement of BSA, need to obtain 36 EC. Only first-year courses are counted in the calculation of the number of credits.
If you started in 2019 or before, the norm of 42 EC applies to you; only first-year courses are counted in the calculation of the number of credits.
The deadline for submitting a request for a postponement of BSA to the BSA committee is June 22th.
Please use the form Apply for a BSA deferment for your request.
Note: the form alone is not sufficient, adding the requested attachments is very important. Without proof of circumstances, your request has little chance of success.
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) – deadline for BSA postponement request June 22th and committee meeting in July
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 2022. In order for your request to be discussed at this meeting, you must submit your request (including the requested attachments) at latest June 22th. As a student you will not be present at this meeting.
What do you need to send for this request?
1. You need to fill in the online form
2. A motivation letter with a detailed explanation of your request and the reason(s) why you believe you should be granted a postponement.
It is very important that you include a timeline in your letter showing when the study obstacles occurred, how they affected your study progress, and what steps you took to mitigate them.
It is also important to indicate what obstacles you encountered and also what they led to. Also indicate if you participated in all the exam opportunities, and why or why not. The more specific you are in your description, the better the BSA committee will be able to understand the situation. (If uploading is not possible, you may email the motivation letter to bsa.beta@vu.nl, stating the ticket number of your request for postponement, your program and your student number).
3. Evidence of your personal circumstances* (consider a doctor's statement, correspondence, obituary, medication prescriptions, referral letters, etc.).
If there are personal circumstances*, you must report this to the academic advisor no later than June 1st: VUweb - Student, Contact & Student guidance and support, Academic advisor.
* Circumstances that may be grounds for postponement of the BSA standard are: illness, pregnancy, special family circumstances, disability/job restriction, and board activities.
4. A grade list showing all passing, failing, and no-shows obtained.
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) – (intended) final BSA decision and 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 July 28th you will receive the intended final BSA decision. If you wish to object to a proposed negative decision, you must do so at latest August 5, 2022 before 09.00 a.m. by using this form.
Please note that 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.
So, in addition to your completed deferral request form, you must include the following as attachments;
1. A cover letter with a detailed explanation of your application and the reason(s) why you think you should be granted a postponement. It is very important that you include a timeline in your justification that shows when the study obstacles occurred, why they affected your study progress, and what steps you took to reduce these obstacles. It is also important to indicate what obstacles you encountered and also what they led to. Also indicate whether you took advantage of all the examination opportunities and also why or why not. The more specific you are in your substantiation, the better the BSA committee will be able to understand the situation. (If uploading is not possible, you may email the motivation letter to bsa.beta@vu.nl, stating the ticket number of your request for postponement, your program and your student number).
2. Evidence of your personal circumstances* (consider a doctor's statement, correspondence, obituary, medication prescriptions, referral letters, etc.).
If there are personal circumstances*, you must report this to the student advisor no later than June 1: VUweb - Student, Contact and Student Counseling, Student Advisor.
*Circumstances that may be grounds for postponement of the BSA standard are: illness, pregnancy, special family circumstances, disability/job restriction, and board activities.
3. A transcript showing all passing grades, failing grades, and No Shows obtained.
If you object to the proposed negative decision, you will be invited to the hearing on August 16 or 17, 2022. 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, August 12.