You may disagree with a decision made by your educational institution. In that case, you can lodge an objection or administrative appeal with the Disputes Advisory Committee (GAC) or the Examinations Appeals Board (CBE). This procedure is free of charge. Where your objection or appeal will be handled depends on the body that made the decision. Information on how to lodge an objection or appeal is often provided at the bottom of the decision.
Below is a list of various bodies to which you can submit an objection or appeal.
Please note: It is advisable to consult your educational institution’s Student Charter in advance, as it contains more information about procedures.
1. Examination Board
The Examination Board is authorised to rule on requests relating to the progress of your studies. You can also contact them with any complaints you may have. These could include complaints about tests or examinations, exemptions, the composition of the course package or a binding study advice.
2. Examination Appeals Board (CBE)
You can lodge an administrative appeal with the CBE within six weeks against decisions made by examination boards or examiners. These include decisions about exemptions, binding study advice or allegations of exam fraud. You can find out exactly which decisions the CBE is authorised to make in Article 7.61 of the WHW.
If you disagree with the CBE’s decision, you can lodge an appeal with the Administrative Law Division of the Council of State within six weeks.
3. Institutional board
You can lodge an objection with the institutional board against decisions that do not fall within the jurisdiction of the CBE. Here too, a period of six weeks applies. Examples include decisions on enrolment or deregistration, decentralised selection, the profiling fund or administrative grants.
If you disagree with the decision of the Institutional Board, you can lodge an appeal with the Administrative Law Division of the Council of State within six weeks.
4. Provisional relief
It often happens that you want to challenge a decision as a matter of urgency. Think of situations in which you cannot wait long for an objection or appeal procedure. In that case, you can request a provisional measure. You can apply for this from the chair of the CBE (free of charge) or from the provisional relief judge of the Council of State (53 euro court fees). The judge will then make a provisional decision within a few days to a maximum of two weeks.