Request for Improvement of the Waiting Time

How to Submit a Request

You can submit a request for improvement of your waiting time as part of your application in the PULS portal. The request must be submitted within the deadlines indicated on the PULS portal homepage (late requests cannot be considered).

After submitting your request in PULS portal, you must:

select the applicable reason(s) for your request (see “Eligible grounds” below),
upload a personal statement, and
provide supporting documentation.

What This Request Is For

Selection based on waiting time depends on the number of half-years that have passed since you obtained your university entrance qualification (e.g., Abitur). However, circumstances may have delayed the completion of your university entrance qualification. In such cases, your waiting time will appear shorter than it would otherwise have been. If your request is approved, an earlier date for obtaining your university entrance qualification will be used in the admissions process. Your application will then be assessed based on the waiting time you would likely have accumulated without the delay.

Example: Kay applies for admission for the winter semester 2024/25. Her school-leaving certificate is dated May 2023, which corresponds to a waiting time of two half-years. However, she provides evidence that she had to repeat Grade 11 due to illness. Without repeating the year, she would have graduated in May 2022 and would therefore have a waiting time of four half-years. Kay is therefore considered with a waiting time of four half-years. If the selection threshold for her intended program in the winter semester 2024/25 is three half-years, she will be admitted. If it is five half-years, she will not be admitted despite the adjustment.

The example shows that providing evidence of the circumstance itself (in this case, illness) is not sufficient. You must also demonstrate that the circumstance delayed the completion of your university entrance qualification. This can be documented by a formal statement from your school confirming the reason for and duration of the delay, along with any additional supporting documentation.

Eligible Grounds for a Request

In the following exemplary cases, a request for improvement of the waiting time can generally be approved if circumstances beyond the applicant’s control and directly affecting the applicant prevented them from obtaining their university entrance qualification at an earlier point in time. In addition to the supporting documents listed in parentheses, you must submit a formal statement from your school confirming the reason for and duration of the delay, as well as any additional supporting documentation.

Special health-related circumstances
1. Extended absence from school due to illness (specialist medical report)
2. Severe disability of 50 percent or more (official determination from the competent authority and copy of the disability identification card)
3. Prolonged serious disability or illness (specialist medical report)
4. Other comparable serious health-related reasons (specialist medical report)
5. Pregnancy of the applicant during their school years (specialist medical report or child’s birth certificate)
Special economic circumstances (appropriate supporting documentation required)
Special family circumstances
1. Care of the applicant’s own minor children during the applicant’s school years (birth certificates of the children)
2. Care of dependent relatives in the direct ascending line (e.g., parents, grandparents) or siblings during the applicant’s school years (documentation of care level 3 to 5 under the German long-term care system (Social Code XI), or a medical report confirming the need for care)
3. Care of minor siblings living in the same household during the applicant’s school years (birth certificates of the siblings)
4. Death of one parent or both parents prior to obtaining the university entrance qualification, provided the applicant was unmarried and under the age of 25 at that time (death certificates of the parents and a declaration of marital status at the time)
5. Multiple school changes due to relocation of the parents (school leaving certificates and official registration certificates of the parents)
6. Other comparable special family circumstances (appropriate supporting documentation required; for example, the applicant had already intended to pursue the desired course of study and demonstrably worked toward this goal, but had to postpone their education due to significant family obligations, such as caring for their own minor children or engaging in employment to support a spouse’s university studies without reliance on public funding)
Membership in relevant elite sports squads
Applicants who were members for at least one uninterrupted year of an Olympic squad, perspective squad, supplementary squad, junior squad 1, junior squad 2, or team squad of a national sports federation may claim this circumstance by submitting the following documentation: confirmation from the relevant national sports federation, training plans, records of training camps and competitions, and a school statement.
Other comparable special circumstances (appropriate supporting documentation required)

Eligible Grounds for a Request

Ineligible Grounds for a Request