Passive semester 

Last modified: 26. January 2023

​​​​​​​The students have to declare in each autumn and spring semester about their active or passive status in the current semester.

Based on a voluntary statement by the student, a passive semester is one in which the student does not take any subjects and does not continue their studies. A semester will be deemed passive if the student fails to provide the required statement for the given semester by the deadline specified in the schedule for the academic year, but no later than 14th October in the autumn semester and 14th March in the spring semester. In cases where the semester is automatically deemed to be passive, this finding will be recorded in the Neptun System by the competent organizational unit of the Educational Directorate.

The Campus Registrar’s Office shall send a notice in the form of a Neptun message to the students who have not registered for the semester once in the registration period and once in the week following the registration period to complete their registration obligation. The student can request that the passive semester be declared active by 14th October in the autumn semester and 14th March in the spring semester at the latest, or can request the suspension of their studies with an application submitted through the Neptun System. If a student does not register for an active or passive semester during the registration period, the Campus Registrar’s Office shall ex officio declare the semester passive after the statistical deadline for the semester.

The student status may be suspended (made passive) several times during the student’s training period, however, the period of continuous suspensions (passive semester) shall not exceed two semesters, except for cases of childbirth, accident, illness or other unforeseen reasons that prevent the student from fulfilling their academic obligations, without any fault on their part. A passive status for more than two semesters for exceptional reasons is subject to an authorization procedure and the justification described in the request must be substantiated by a formal written document. The Campus Deputy Director General of Education makes the decision on requests for a passive status exceeding two semesters.

The Campus Registrar’s Office shall notify the students who have had passive semesters for two consecutive semesters once through the Neptun System before the start of the following semester that the student has an obligation to register for an active semester and the administrators shall inform the student of the legal consequences of failing to do so. If the student does not fulfil the obligation to register for the active semester by the end of the semester registration period, the Campus Director General shall terminate the student’s student status upon the recommendation of the Campus Registrar’s Office.

If an active student is forced to make their semester passive for any unforeseeable reason after the deadline for changing their status to passive (14 October in the autumn semester and 14 March in the spring semester), the student has the possibility to submit a Special request for a passive semester until the end of the examination period.

If a student has registered for an active semester and fulfilled their subject registration obligation and does not initiate to change for a passive semester by 14th October in the autumn semester and 14th March in the spring semester, they must be registered as a student completing an active semester even if they do not participate in the sessions, and do not meet the study requirements of any curriculum. It is not possible to make a semester passive after the deadline, except for a special request for a passive semester submitted via Neptun the System—as defined in the SER—until the end of the examination period, where the student can provide official proof of childbirth, accident, illness or other unforeseeable reasons that prevent the student from fulfilling their academic obligations, without any fault on their part.