At its meeting on 13 May 2026, the Board of Governors approved the Education and Examination Code for the 2026-2027 academic year.

Discover the most notable changes and key additions here.

Doctorate (PhD)

To avoid possible inconsistencies, we have removed various doctorate-specific definitions from the Education and Examination Code. These now appear solely in the Education and Examination Code for Doctoral Matters. We have, however, retained definitions of basic concepts such as ‘doctoral programme’, ‘Doctoral School’ and ‘predoctoral training programme’. The following entries have been removed from the list of definitions: doctoral guidance committee, doctoral dissertation, joint doctorate and interdisciplinary doctorate. We have also amended Articles 13 and 14, which refer to the admission procedures, and added a reference to the Education and Examination Code for Doctoral Matters.

Virtual Mobility

For the purpose of the ENLIGHT network, among other things, we have included a definition of Virtual Mobility:

Virtual mobility involves students taking one or more online course unit(s) (including an assessment) at a foreign partner institution without physical travel. The co-ordinating institution awards the credits (ECTS), which are then recognised in the student’s home curriculum.

Benchmark Tests

For the coming academic year, an additional set of study programmes will require a mandatory benchmark test before admission to the first year: Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Biology, Chemistry, Engineering Technology, Geology, Geography and Geomatics, and Mathematics.

Tuition Fees

The increase in non-payment of the tuition fees forces us to tighten our measures. Students who remain in default on payment will be denied the right to participate in teaching activities and to sit exams. Additionally, their Ghent University account will be suspended. We will promptly and sufficiently notify students of these stricter non-payment measures.

Measures for Monitoring Study Progress

We want to prevent students from using a contract to obtain credits for enrolment in a study programme from which they have been refused, as this would circumvent existing study progress measures. If students wish to use a contract to obtain credits for a future enrolment in an academic bridging programme, they can start an appeals procedure as stipulated in Article 81.

The purpose of the section on study progress measures in the Higher Education Code is not to allow students who have enrolled in a study programme with a common introductory part to do so after one or even two years simply by changing their main subjects. Since these study programmes share a common first-year curriculum, students will be denied enrolment in the entire study programme if they fail to pass the common introductory part. As such, this measure follows the Higher Education Code.

We want to clarify that a refusal to enrol in an initial Bachelor’s programme is automatically cancelled once the student has obtained a higher education diploma. This measure applies to any higher education diploma, not just a Bachelor’s diploma. However, any such diploma obtained before the refusal to enrol does not count towards cancellation.

Special Status

Wherever possible, we have made the definitions of accommodations uniform across the various special statuses. In doing so, we have also simplified certain definitions to facilitate interpretation. 

In the case of special status on the grounds of being a foreign-language speaker, we have clarified that the accommodation “25% more exam time for sitting written exams” is automatically granted.

The Student’s Curriculum

As stipulated in the Flemish Higher Education Code, a study programme is a multiple of 60 credits. In the updated OER, we clarify that students following a standard study track are entitled to a study load of 60 credits (as laid down by decree).

We have found that diplomas with a negative deviation in study load can cause problems with diploma comparability abroad. We have therefore decided to allow only positive deviations from now on.  

Membership and Operation of the Programme Committee

It is difficult for students to attend Programme Committee meetings during exams. We have therefore included in the OER that programme committees should not convene during exam periods, unless necessitated by matters of urgency. We have also included a stipulation in the OER that programme committees should invite students and members of the Other Academic Staff section to any advisory or preparatory task forces it forms.

Provisions for Teaching Activities

The OER now prohibits the dissemination of lecture recordings on any platform other than Ufora.  

Assessment Method

We have included an additional exception allowing lecturers to deviate from the assessment method for incoming virtual mobility students or incoming exchange students who do not reside in Ghent (any longer) during the resit exam period. In both cases, this is a favour granted by the lecturer, not an acquired right of the student.

Assessment of the Master's Dissertation Course Unit

AI has made it impossible to assess the Master's dissertation solely as an end product. The assessment of the Master's dissertation adopts a holistic, competency-based approach comprising three components: the process, the written dissertation, and the oral defence.

Passing a Deliberation Set (or Study Programme)

In the event of an exceptional deliberation, we have set out a distribution of the burden of proof. If a student submits evidence of special circumstances and presents serious and specific arguments that, at first sight, lend credibility to the global acquisition of the objectives of the relevant part of the study programme, the Examination Board must investigate this further.

Fraud and Irregularities

We only allow the use of non-electronic silicone ear buds during assessments.   

The Education Council decreed that the responsible use of Gen AI during assessments (e.g. written assignments) is permitted. If the use of generative AI systems is prohibited in advance, the assessment must be conducted in a controlled environment. 

The disciplinary body may decide to exclude the student from an assessment in a subsequent examination period, even if that occurs in the next academic year. In the case of fraud involving the Master’s dissertation during the resit exam period, the disciplinary body may decide to preclude the student from submitting their dissertation after the first term of the subsequent academic year.

Institutional Appeals Committee

Following an evaluation of the workload for paper appeals dossiers (logging registered mail for receipt at the Rector’s Office and the Office of the Ombudsperson), we will switch to a digital platform for submitting appeals dossiers. The corresponding website will include information on how students should submit an admissible appeals dossier.   

From now on, the student representatives may delegate a student member to attend the sessions of the Institutional Appeals Committee as a non-voting observer. 

Civil Liability of Staff Members

We have added a new article, Article 88, which addresses the civil liability of staff members and members of the governing bodies. The new article ensures that students cannot invoke the liability rules against any member of staff in the performance of their duties, despite amendments to Book Six of the Civil Code. However, we also set out the exceptional circumstances in which these liability rules can be invoked.