Registration and withdrawal

Registration and withdrawal from exam

All activities that form part of the programme must be assessed. To obtain an assessment, students must be registered for the exam in the activity. Students may not participate in an exam or have, for example, a substitution paper assessed if they are not registered for the exam in the course.

Students cannot register for exams in courses that have already been passed (grade 02 or higher or ‘Pass’).

How to register and deregister for exams
All course registrations are automatically transferred to exam registrations. The transfer takes place before the registration period for the exam begins. Students are responsible for all other exam registrations.

The student must ensure that all exam registrations are correct, whether automatically transferred or not.

The student must be aware that registration and deregistration for the exam occur via www.tilmelding.dtu.dk. Course registration takes place via the Study Planner. Therefore, the student's check of whether the exam registrations are correct takes place at www.tilmelding.dtu.dk. That is also where the student can unsubscribe and register for exams in courses other than those that have been transferred from the course registrations, e.g. a re-exam.

Students can find the deadlines for exam registrations, etc., at DTU Inside under Study rules'/'Exam'/‘Registration deadlines for courses and examinations’.

Registration for the exam after the deadline
Post-registration for the exam/re-exam can, as a rule, only take place for students who, due to special circumstances, have not been able to register for the exam during the ordinary registration period. Special conditions can be:

  • The student has been awaiting a decision from the Board of Exemptions regarding an additional examination attempt or a decision regarding exam cheating. 
  • Own illness or illness/death in the immediate family.
  • Special permits from a course coordinator, e.g. in connection with exam prerequisites approved after the registration deadline.
  • If the registration results in the student being able to complete the education immediately after the exam period.

After the exam registration deadline has expired, an electronic application form can be found at DTU Inside under 'Study rules'/'Exam'/'Registration and deregistration deadlines'. The application must be accompanied by documentation regarding the special circumstances.

When does a course become binding?
If the student does not withdraw from his/her first exam attempt in a course before the deadline for exam withdrawal, the course registration is binding, and the course becomes part of the student’s programme specification. Thus, the student must pass the course to complete the programme, cf. DTU Inside under 'Study rules'/'Teaching'/'Binding courses'.

A student may apply for cancellation of an exam registration in a course, but the application may only be met if the student does not plan to participate in the exam or, if the exam has been held, has not participated in the exam. Find more information on this type of exemption at DTU Inside under 'Study rules'/'Exemption'.

Registration for the second and third exam attempt
Students must register for and withdraw from any subsequent second or third exam attempt within the current deadlines. Find more information under 'Exam attempts' below. Similarly, students who have withdrawn from their first exam attempt in a course must register for a new exam in the course unless they register for the course once more.

Overlap of exams in time
If, after the publication of the dates for written exams, it transpires that a student has registered for two exams that overlap, the student is entitled to withdraw from one of the written exams and instead take the exam in question in the next (re-)exam period for the course. The same applies to oral exams if the student cannot arrange a different examination time for the oral exam with the examiner. The student must contact the Study Administration via student email at studadm@adm.dtu.dk before the exam is held.

Exam in final projects, project courses, and internship
BEng projects, BSc projects, and MSc theses also conclude with an exam (an oral defence), but registration is made by the main supervisor for the final project via the project reporting system. The same applies to project courses and internships.

Special rules apply for exam registration for guest students and students in part-time programmes. These rules are accessible on DTU's webpage.

Exam attempts
Students are entitled to three exam attempts in each course or project.

Even though several versions of the same course with different course numbers may be available, students only have three exam attempts. That also includes one or more exam attempts used under the vacant place scheme (vacant place on DTU’s courses offered to students as a part-time programme). Several versions of the same course both cover courses with different course numbers and/or titles and courses that are not applicable to other courses.

It counts as an exam attempt if a student does not participate in an exam and gets the grade EM (Not met). Read more at DTU Inside under 'Study rules'/'Exam'/'Assessment forms and grading'. The only exception is where the student can present documentation of illness. Read more about the rules at DTU Inside under 'Study rules'/'Exam'/'Illness in connection with exams'.

It also counts as an exam attempt if the student does not meet any exam prerequisites, e.g. compulsory assignments, and the deadline for registering for the exam has been exceeded. The student will then receive the registration IG (Not approved). Read more at DTU Inside under 'Study rules'/'Exam'/'Assessment forms and grading'.

Courses with part-exams
Even if a student has passed one or more part-exams in a course, this does not count as an exam attempt if the student withdraws from the exam within the current deadlines. At the first (re)exam, already approved exam prerequisites or/and passed part-exams will remain valid. In addition, the general rules apply that:

  • the student can only participate in an offered re-exam without having participated in the previous ordinary exam in a course, provided that the student meets the prerequisites for participation in the ordinary exam and
  • in a course with part exams, the re-exam is merely a repetition of the final part exam in the course. 

If the student wishes to register for the course again, exam prerequisites/part-exams may be re-taken. The re-exam rules can be found at DTU Inside under ‘Study rules'/'Exam'/'Re-exams’. 

Used up exam attempts
Students have three attempts to pass a course/project. If the student has used three attempts without passing, they will be expelled from the university unless they apply for an exemption and are granted an additional exam attempt. The student must apply for an exemption no later than one of the biannual regulation checks conducted by the Office for Study Programmes and Student Affairs. Rules on exemption can be found on DTU Inside under Study rules'/'Exemption'