Special status on the grounds of disability
Source: https://www.ugent.be/prospect/en/administration/application/special-status/functionalimpairment.htm Parent: https://www.ugent.be/student/en/studentcentre/overview.htm
Requirements
Requirements: students registered with the Flemish Agency for Persons with Disabilities (VAPH), the FPS Social Security or students who have a permanent or long-term impairment of one or more of the bodily functions listed in the International Classification of Functioning (ICF) (learning disability, chronic illness, motor, visual, auditory, psychiatric, other or multiple disabilities).
In the case of interuniversity programmes, UGent takes over the recognition of the disability from the student's home university. The facilities are granted by the educational institution where the student takes up the course.
Application procedure
Submit a substantiated request with the Director of Education.
- Via oasis.ugent.be
- Deadlines:\
- November 5, 2025 for the first-semester examination period 2025-2026
- March 20, 2026 for the second-semester examination period 2025-2026
- June 26, 2026 for the second-term examination period 2025-2026
-
Exceptions may be allowed if the functional impairment occurs suddenly and/or was not diagnosed until after the deadline.
-
Add required documents and official certificates
- Add required documents and official certificates if possible. If you cannot have these in time, the application must be submitted undocumented by the deadline. You should submit the supporting documents as soon as possible.
- The Student Support Team arranges all follow-up and communicates its advice to the Director of Education. This document also mentions whether the special status is granted for one or more academic years or for the entire student career at Ghent University.
Facilities
The Student Support Team annually grants particular education and examination facilities to students who have been given special status.
In this process, the contact point applies the principle of equal treatment and guarantees students the right to fair adjustments that respect the requirements of the study programme.
You need to inform the lecturer(s) in charge via oasis.ugent.be which of the awarded education and/or examination facilities you wish to invoke for the course unit at hand, no later than
Academic Year 2025-2026:
- Dec. 4, 2025 for the first-semester examination period
- April 23, 2026 for the second-semester examination period
- Aug. 6, 2026 for the resit-examination period
If the special status is awarded later than the above-mentioned deadline you need to inform the lecturer(s) as soon as possible.
Facilities are always granted in joint consultation with the lecturer in charge. In dialogue with the faculty director of studies or the chair of the study programme committee, the lecturer in charge may refuse a facility if duly justified. S/he may do so if the essential programme competences are impaired as a result of the facility or if it is practically not feasible to grant the facility. \ Rejectable facilities that have not been addressed in a timely manner by the relevant responsible lecturer(s) will be automatically approved at the start of the respective examination period.\ The faculty and/or institutional ombudspersons may mediate in this procedure if necessary.
Students with special status disabilities who are refused facilities may appeal against this decision with the Appeals Committee for facilities with disabilities (see Education and Examination Code.).\ Students with a special status for whom the granted facilities regarding education and examination modalities are not applied by the teacher(s), can lodge an appeal against this decision with the Institutional Appeals Board(see Education and Examination Code.).
Step-by-step
On Special Status (Information sheet students) you will find a practical step-by-step plan on the application procedure and the allocation and management of facilities.