Every student may take temporary leave of absence for good cause in accordance with section 12 of the Immatrikulationsordnung der TU Dresden (ImmaO: regulations governing enrolment at TU Dresden).

In accordance with section 12 para. 3 ImmaO, the duration of the leave of absence should not exceed 2 semesters. This does not apply to leave of absence taken for the purposes of studying abroad and for claiming statutory maternity leave or parental leave in accordance with the statutory regulations for employees. Similarly, in accordance with section 10 para. 3 ImmaO, deadlines that are missed through no fault of the student will not be counted towards periods of leave of absence.

Periods of leave of absence for an upcoming semester are to be applied for within the re-registration period (1^st July to 5^th September for the winter semester, and 15^th January to 5^th March for the summer semester) at the Imma-Amt (Admissions Office) or at the Akademisches Auslandsamt (International Office). If you are still not sure by the re-registration deadline whether you actually would like to apply for leave of absence (e.g. because the work placement you applied for has not yet been confirmed), you must in any event first re-register within the stipulated registration period (by paying the semester contribution in full by bank transfer). After re-registration has been effected, any subsequent application for leave of absence can only be granted if you have a valid reason for applying late. As a general rule, two months after the beginning of a semester, no leave of absence will be granted for that semester.

If you wish to extend your leave of absence for an additional semester, a new application for leave of absence must be submitted within the respective period for re-registration. The most recent application form is always available via the student portal during the re-registration period.

You can fill in the application form for leave of absence online at the Student Portal under [Organiation of Studies] and [Application Overview]. You must then print out the application form, sign it and send it to the Immatrikulationsamt/Auslandsamt (Admissions Office/International Office), together with the required supporting documents (e.g. work placement contract, authorisation to study abroad, medical certificate, birth certificate of your child etc.)  Once your application has been processed, you will receive an e-mail from the Admissions Office/International Office containing information regarding the semester contribution, which is due and payable.

It is not possible to apply retroactively for leave of absence for semesters that have already been completed. If there are demonstrable reasons that the student had no control over for not having taken courses and/or exams during a previous semester, the student can, as an alternative, submit an informal application to the Admissions Office or International Office to have semesters not spent studying disregarded. Such reasons are e.g. if the student has been ill or has taken parental leave. Work placements or unforeseen stays abroad are not reasons beyond the control of the student. In the application, the student must make a statement regarding the specific semester in which no courses or exams were completed. Additionally, a current overview of all courses and exams completed to date and a suitable document confirming the reason (e.g. child’s birth certificate or doctor’s note that in the semester concerned, the student was not fit to study on health grounds) must be submitted. As a rule, doctors’ notes need to be requested separately from your doctor. Further details on this are set down in section 10 para. 2 of the Immatrikulationsordnung der TU Dresden (ImmaO: regulations governing enrolment at TU Dresden).

Submitting an application to have semesters not spent studying disregarded leads to the number of semesters being reduced. As a general rule, a student should submit such an application if there are grounds for believing s/he will overrun his/her examination deadlines set down in section 10 para. 2 of the Immatrikulationsordnung der TU Dresden (ImmaO).

Ultimately, every student should take into account that the Admissions Office/International Office will only accept applications for disregarding semesters not spent studying if no courses or exams were attended for an entire semester. If some courses or exams were attended in spite of there being a reason beyond the control of the student, then only the appropriate examination board can make a decision concerning whether an application for an extension of the examination deadline can be granted. In such a case, please apply to the Examination Office.

A semester for which leave of absence has been granted does not count as a semester spent studying.

You are under no obligation to do any courses or examinations during a semester for which you have been granted leave of absence. However, it is also possible to take courses and examinations during a semester for which you have been granted leave of absence.

As a rule, you are not entitled to child benefit or “BAföG” (student loan) during a semester for which you have been granted leave of absence. Therefore, if you are entitled to such payments, you should contact the BAföG office and the child benefit office before you apply for leave of absence to clarify whether a leave of absence is advisable.

Courses and exams that you have completed during a leave of absence at a university abroad can be accredited following an application to the appropriate examination board. Please note that accrediting courses can also lead to the number of semesters being increased.

In these cases, the number of semesters spent studying will be increased accordingly.

Generally speaking, applications for a leave of absence are approved if the application meets all the necessary requirements described in paragraph 12 of TU Dresden’s enrolment regulations (German: Immatrikulationsordnung). If this is the case, your certificate of enrolment will contain a note stating the leave of absence. In case of approval, you will receive an e-mail confirming that your application has been processed and the outstanding, payable semester contribution has been registered. You should only transfer the amount due, once you have received that confirmation e-mail. Should your application be rejected, you will receive a separate notice of rejection.

Valid reasons need to be provided to apply for a leave of absence. Valid reasons are circumstances that temporarily have a significant negative effect on studying and are beyond the control of the student, or circumstances that are conducive to his/her studies. In particular, these are:

• Acquisition of competencies to support studies (e.g. study abroad, internship, language acquisition)
• Gainful employment, without which the continuation of studies would not be possible
• Acute crisis situation, during which studying is not possible (e.g. own illness, legal disputes, misfortunes in the family...)
• Maternity leave, parental leave, child care up to the age of 1 or care of relatives (Please also note the following important information on maternity leave!),
• Exam preparation
• Activities in special social interest (e.g. FSJ, voluntary work, participation in special competitions)

More than two semesters’ leave will be granted in accordance with section 12 para. 3 SächsHSFG (Saxon education act governing autonomy at universities) in the following cases in particular:

• leave of absence granted for the purpose of taking statutory maternity leave or parental leave (up to 6 additional semesters),
• leave of absence for the purpose of caring for your own child until s/he is 14 years of age (up to 4 additional semesters),
• leave of absence for the purpose of a period of study abroad.

If the maximum number of possible periods of leave of absence has been exhausted for the degree programme, but resuming his/her studies continues not to be possible for the student for personal reasons, the student will have to consider interrupting his/her studies by exmatriculating. As a rule, re-enrolment is possible within the next application period by applying for enrolment in the next semester up. In courses with restricted admission (numerus clausus), students should seek advice before interrupting their studies at the Admissions Office/International Office regarding whether a return to the degree programme is possible despite restricted admission.

Health insurance must be fully maintained in Germany during a leave of absence, even if the semester is spent abroad. If necessary, an additional private international health insurance policy must be taken out for the semester abroad. Specific information on this is available from your health insurance.

Students who are unable to study full-time for certain reasons (e.g. caring for their own children, financing their studies through part-time employment, health problems) have the option of studying part-time (50% of the required credits) in some degree programmes. A change to part-time studies or back to full-time studies must be applied for at the Admissions Office or the International Office within the usual application deadlines. Regulations for part-time studies can be found in the regulations for part-time studies of TU Dresden.

All courses of study in which part-time studies are currently possible at TU Dresden can be found in the study information system, in which you can use the detailed search to select the study option: part-time.