Procedure: special student entrepreneur status – Ghent University (UGent).

Details

• URL: https://www.ugent.be/student/en/study/in-study-programme/flexible-study/special-status/entrepreneurship.htm
• Topic: special status based on student entrepreneurship (UGent)
• Validity: 1 academic year (from the decision date)
• UGent step-by-step guide (PDF, in Dutch): Stappenplan statuutaanvraag en bijzonder statuut

Requirements (3 conditions)

You must meet all 3 conditions:

1. Have earned credits for at least 60 ECTS in an academic programme or be running an existing business.
2. Have obtained credits for at least half of the enrolled ECTS in the academic year preceding the year for which the status is requested, unless it is a first enrolment in higher education.
3. Submit a description of the existing entrepreneurial activity or a plan stating the intention to offer a valorisable product or service within 12 months. This must show a clear growth perspective.

Application procedure: step by step in OASIS

1. Go to oasis.ugent.be and open, in the left-hand menu, tab General, the page Special status.
2. Click Add request and select the type student entrepreneurship from the drop-down menu. You can apply for several types within the same academic year (e.g. working student as well).
3. Fill in the requested information and attach your supporting documents and certificates: the description of your entrepreneurial activity or your plan with a growth perspective.
4. Submit. Your file moves from status draft to proposal.
5. The file manager issues a positive or negative advice based on your file.
6. The Director of Education decides. In OASIS the status changes to approved or rejected; you also receive that decision by e-mail.
7. Only after the status has been granted are you entitled to teaching and/or examination facilities.

Deadline: no later than 5 November (unless there are exceptional circumstances). The general deadlines are set out in Articles 25 and 26 of the Education and Examination Regulations (EER); they may be deviated from in cases of force majeure.

Validity and reapplication: the student entrepreneur status is limited in time (1 academic year from the decision date). You can find the start and end dates in OASIS on the Special status screen. If you want to keep using the facilities the following academic year, you must reapply every year.

Facilities (what can you request?)

You can request facilities provided that teaching or assessment activities are in direct conflict with the reason for the special status. Possible facilities include:

• Exemption/change of compulsory attendance activities (with a possible replacement assignment or another time within the same academic year).
• Taking the resit exam as an alternative assessment moment.
• An alternative assessment moment within the same academic year.
• Agreeing on an alternative time for feedback.

Linking facilities to a course in OASIS

A granted status does not yet give you a facility for a specific course: you have to indicate per course which facility you want to use.

Deadlines for linking: via oasis.ugent.be, choose which approved facilities you want to use for each course by:

• 2 December 2026 (first-semester exam period 2026–2027)
• 22 April 2027 (second-semester exam period 2026–2027)
• 16 July 2027 (resit exam period 2026–2027)

If the status is granted after these dates, do this as soon as possible after the decision.

How to link a facility to a course in OASIS:

1. Go to oasis.ugent.be, tab 2026-2027, and click Edit curriculum.
2. Under Actions on curriculum, open the course and click the Facilities button.
3. Click Add and select the exam session (first semester, second semester, year course or resit) and the facility or facilities you want.
4. Motivate the refusable facilities in the open field. A good motivation names the concrete conflict between your entrepreneurial activity and the teaching or assessment activity.
5. Click Confirm. The lecturer is notified automatically.

Status of your request:

• Non-refusable facilities immediately get the status approved.
• Refusable facilities stay at proposal until the lecturer decides. The lecturer decides before the exam period starts; if they do not handle it in time, the facility is automatically approved at the start of that exam period.

Agreements with the lecturer: you make the practical arrangements about how the facility works during the exam yourself with the lecturer. That can be in person, by e-mail, via an announcement in class or via UFORA.

Proof at the exam: via Overview of approved exam facilities in OASIS you can print a report. Report to the invigilator with this document before every exam.

Are facilities a right or a favour?

Short answer: for the special status student entrepreneur, the facilities are a favour / conditional facility, not an unconditional right.

According to the UGent Education and Examination Regulations 2026–2027 (Article 25, §§7 and 9), a student entrepreneur may request facilities such as an alternative assessment moment or taking the resit exam, but the responsible lecturer may refuse a facility with a reasoned justification. This can happen if the facility affects essential programme competences or if granting it is not practically feasible.

This differs from certain other special statuses. For the special status based on a disability and for the 25% extra time facility due to language, the EER explicitly states that certain facilities can never be refused. For student entrepreneurship, that exclusion clause is not included.

Literal basis from the EER 2026–2027

Article 25, §7 — Special status based on student entrepreneurship, facilities:

“The student with a special status based on student entrepreneurship may, in accordance with the provisions in §9 and provided that the relevant teaching or assessment activities are in direct conflict with the reason for the special status, request the following facilities:

− exemption/change of teaching activities for which the student’s presence is required. A replacement assignment may be imposed or the teaching activity may be organised for the student at another time within the same academic year;

− taking the resit exam as an alternative assessment moment;

− providing an alternative assessment moment within the same academic year;

− agreeing on an alternative time for feedback.”

Article 25, §9 — decision and refusal:

“The responsible lecturer may – in consultation with the faculty Director of Education or the chair of the programme committee – refuse a facility with a reasoned justification when it affects essential programme competences or when granting it is not practically feasible.

Refusable facilities that have not been handled in time by the responsible lecturer(s) are automatically approved at the start of the relevant exam period.

The faculty and/or institutional ombudspersons mediate if desired and where necessary. For the special status based on a disability (§2), the support team may award automatically approved facilities based on the student’s individual file. For the special status based on language proficiency §8, the facility ‘25% more time for a written assessment’ is an automatically approved facility. These facilities can in no case be refused to the student.”

What does this mean in practice?

• If a facility is refused without justification, or if it is not handled in time, it will be automatically approved at the start of the relevant exam period. This is an important safeguard for the student.
• If a facility is refused with justification, the student can request mediation via the faculty or institutional ombudsperson. If it concerns not applying an awarded facility, an appeal may be possible via the Institutional Appeals Committee (Article 81 EER).
• Advice: submit your request on time via oasis.ugent.be and build a well-reasoned dossier with a concrete conflict between the entrepreneurial activity and the teaching/assessment activity. This increases the likelihood that the facility is granted, or that a refusal does not stand in mediation or appeal.

Source: UGent Education and Examination Regulations 2026–2027, Article 25, §§7 and 9 (provided PDF, pp. 49–50/116).

Key agreements & follow-up

• The granting of facilities is agreed in mutual consultation with the lecturer.
• A lecturer may (in consultation with the faculty Director of Education or the chair of the programme committee) refuse a facility with a reasoned justification when it affects essential programme competences or is not practically feasible.
• Refusable facilities that are not handled in time are automatically approved at the start of the relevant exam period.
• If issues arise, you can request mediation via the faculty/institutional ombudspersons. If facilities are not applied, an appeal may be possible via the Institutional Appeals Committee (Article 81 EER).

Sources: UGent, Stappenplan statuutaanvraag en bijzonder statuut (PDF, in Dutch) and the page Special status – entrepreneurship; UGent Education and Examination Regulations 2026–2027, Articles 25 and 26.