📋 Challenging exam results and compensation for disadvantages

You can take action against a failed exam – and if you have a disability or chronic illness, you are entitled to compensation for disadvantages.

Challenging an exam result Compensation for disadvantages (Nachteilsausgleich) Margin of assessment Access to files

In brief

Examination decisions at state universities are administrative acts, against which you can lodge an objection and – if unsuccessful – bring an action before the administrative court. Courts review academic assessments only to a limited extent, because examiners have a margin of assessment; procedural errors such as an incorrectly constituted examination board or a refused compensation for disadvantages, by contrast, are fully reviewed. If you would be disadvantaged because of a disability or chronic illness, you are entitled to compensation for disadvantages – but this must be applied for before the exam in question.

Step by step

Check the notice and the assessmentIf necessary, request access to the examination file in order to identify errors of assessment or procedural errors.
Lodge an objection within the deadlineLodge an objection in writing within the deadline and name the specific error.
Wait for the objection decisionThe examinations office or examination board reviews the case again.
Sue if rejectedAgainst a rejecting objection decision, an action before the administrative court is possible.
Apply for compensation for disadvantages earlyReport an impairment in good time before the exam in question to the examinations office or the university's disability officer, with a medical certificate.

Deadlines

1 month

Usual time limit for objection against an examination notice from notification§ 70 VwGO or notice of right of appeal in the examination regulations

before the exam

Compensation for disadvantages must in principle be applied for before the exam in question; a subsequent application is as a rule too lateState higher education acts and examination regulations

Watch out – common mistakes

If you challenge an exam without naming a specific procedural or assessment error, you have hardly any chance of success – mere dissatisfaction with the grade is not enough.
Applying for compensation for disadvantages after the fact for an exam already taken is as a rule too late – the impairment must be made known beforehand.
A certificate on the impairment remains confidential with the examinations office or disability officer and is not passed on to examiners.
The exact design of compensation for disadvantages is regulated differently under state and university law; there is no nationwide list of possible measures.

In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals

Administrative act with limited judicial review

According to settled administrative court case law, examiners have a margin of assessment in academic evaluation that courts review only to a limited extent (no academic judgment of the court's own in place of that of the examiners). Full judicial review applies, by contrast, to procedural questions: proper composition of the examination board, compliance with the examination regulations, proper setting of tasks and – particularly relevant in practice – the granting of a requested compensation for disadvantages. This rests on case-law principles, not on a single codified examination act.

Compensation for disadvantages

The aim is to compensate for disadvantages arising from disability or chronic illness in coursework and examinations without lowering the academic requirements of the exam itself. The legal basis is found in the state higher education acts and the universities' examination regulations, which go back to the former Framework Act for Higher Education (Hochschulrahmengesetz); there is no nationwide design of the specific measures (extra time, different form of examination, etc.).

Who is responsible

Examinations office of the university
Officer for students with disabilities or chronic illness
Administrative court

Quick questions

Worum geht es bei „Challenging exam results and compensation for disadvantages“?

You can take action against a failed exam – and if you have a disability or chronic illness, you are entitled to compensation for disadvantages.

Which deadlines and figures matter?

1 month: Usual time limit for objection against an examination notice from notification (§ 70 VwGO or notice of right of appeal in the examination regulations)
before the exam: Compensation for disadvantages must in principle be applied for before the exam in question; a subsequent application is as a rule too late (State higher education acts and examination regulations)

What should I do first?

Check the notice and the assessment: If necessary, request access to the examination file in order to identify errors of assessment or procedural errors.
Lodge an objection within the deadline: Lodge an objection in writing within the deadline and name the specific error.
Wait for the objection decision: The examinations office or examination board reviews the case again.

What do I need to watch out for?

If you challenge an exam without naming a specific procedural or assessment error, you have hardly any chance of success – mere dissatisfaction with the grade is not enough.
Applying for compensation for disadvantages after the fact for an exam already taken is as a rule too late – the impairment must be made known beforehand.
A certificate on the impairment remains confidential with the examinations office or disability officer and is not passed on to examiners.

Evidence

Art. 3 GG (gesetze-im-internet.de)
State higher education acts (state-specific)
Examination regulations of the university concerned
§ 70 VwGO (gesetze-im-internet.de)

As of

As of September 2026. · Sources and method

A question about your situation that this page does not answer? Write to us or use the contact form – we will tell you which office is responsible and what to bring. Free of charge, without individual legal advice.