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UvA Students UvA Students

Facilities

for students with a disability or dyslexia

If you have a disability or dyslexia, you may qualify for an examination facility. An important condition is that the examination provisions are necessary and that these provisions do not conflict with the learning outcome of the programme.

  • When do you qualify for an arrangement?

    In order to request an arrangement, you will need proof of your disability or dyslexia. The following proof is required:

    • For mobile or sensory disability: in consultation with the student a statement by a General Practitioner or a specialist stating how your disability affects your studies or a print of your medical record
    • For psychiatric disorders, for example, ADD/ADHD, ASD: a diagnostic report by a psychiatrist or a clinical psychologist
    • For dyslexia and dyscalculia: a report of a health care psychologist, a child and youth psychologist or a general remedial educationalist

    Please note: facilities at the UvA may deviate from advice for facilities by experts or other educational institutions.

  • How to apply for an arrangement

    Please make a timely appointment with a student counsellor to start the application for an exam or other arrangement. After the appointment, the student counsellor will advice your study programme, on the the basis of your dyslexia report or other supplied statement, about the type of arrangement(s) you need and the duration of the arrangement period.

    If you have dyslexia, you don’t need to make an appointment for the arrangement of extra exam time, as uploading your dyslexia report is sufficient. Go to the web page about dyslexia and check out the video.

  • How does a request work?
    • The student counsellor will ask you such questions as: On what grounds do you want to request a special arrangement? Is the special arrangement necessary for you? What are your difficulties or why are you requesting the special arrangement? Why do you need this special arrangement? Did you also have special arrangements at your secondary school, and how did that work for you?
    • You will always be asked to provide a statement/report to substantiate your request. Once the statement/report has been received, a decision will be made on whether or not to grant you a temporary special arrangement.
    • The student counsellor will then advise the Examinations Board on whether to offer you a special arrangement or not, or on a temporary basis. The final decision is in the hands of the Examinations Board.
  • Arrangements

    Examples of exam arrangements

    • Extra time during exams
    • Laptop (only with motoric disabilities and after consultation with the study adviser)
    • Other facilities, depending on the disability and necessity (after consultation with the study adviser)

    Examples of financial assistance

    • Compensation in study delay 
    • Compensation in study allowance - in some cases, you can apply for a study allowance in the town or city you live in. (For Amsterdam, you can find information in Dutch on the I Amsterdam website. This study allowance is meant for students with a disability who are not able to work (at all or full-time)).

    Examples of other arrangements

    • Arrangements of the University Library, for example:
      • conversion of books to a pdf file
      • text-to-speech software
      • voice recognition software
      • extra large screens
      • adjustments for rheumatism, RSI
    • (Lecture) rooms within the UvA that are accessible to students with restricted mobility (Please note: this list is not up to date. If you have any questions about this, please contact a student counsellor.)
    Overview of (lecture) rooms (pdf, 5 p.)