Free trial
A free attempt (also "free test attempt", or colloquially "free shot") is an attempt at a university examination or state examination ( state examination ) that is considered not to have been taken if the examination is not passed. If the exam is passed, it can usually be repeated to improve grades.
Free attempts are granted for examinations that are taken by the examinee for the first time and at the latest on the regular date specified in the examination regulations. Taking the First State Examination for the first time, for example, is considered a free attempt, provided that it takes place no later than after the eighth semester. This is intended to motivate the student to pursue a purposeful course of study and to take the exam early.
The free trial eliminates the possible negative consequences of taking the exam for the examinee. If he fails an examination in which he has only a limited number of attempts in the free attempt, he will be treated as if he had not made the free attempt. This gives him an additional opportunity to repeat the test, because his actually second attempt is counted as the first attempt. If he has passed the exam but is not satisfied with the grade achieved, he can repeat the exam. Only the better result is then counted.
Whether a free trial or similar regulations are provided for in a university course depends on the provisions of the respective examination regulations .
development
The free attempt for the state examinations in legal training was first introduced in Bavaria by ordinance of June 1, 1990. This model was initially followed by the states of Rhineland-Palatinate (March 1991), Baden-Württemberg (June 1991), Saxony (August 1991), Saarland (October 1991), Berlin (December 1991), Hesse (April 1992) and Lower Saxony (April 1992) ), before the free trial was also established in federal law (§ 5d DRiG) (November 1992). It was then introduced in the rest of the federal states.
This was followed by the introduction of the free trial in other state examinations, such as the state examination for the teaching profession (see also Exam Repetition in State Exams).
Due to the amendment of the University Framework Act of 1998, the free attempt is to be provided for all suitable university final exams in addition to the state examinations. Both courses of study that conclude with a block examination and courses of study in which the final examination consists of course-related examinations (e.g. bachelor's and master's courses) are to be considered suitable for the free trial regulation. Artistic courses may be regarded as unsuitable for the free trial.
Guidelines for the free attempt are contained in the higher education laws of some federal states, whereas in other federal states the regulation of free attempts is completely left to the universities.
In its framework, the Standing Conference advocates the introduction of credit point systems and the modularization of modularized study programs for free trial regulations or equivalent regulations that encourage early completion of the modules provided for in the curriculum.
Goal setting and results
Free attempts are granted for exams that are taken early. The aim of introducing the free trial regulation is to motivate students to study more quickly and complete their studies more quickly. The students would concentrate more on their studies and thus successfully take the exams despite the shortening of the exam preparation time, so the expectation. By repeating the test, free trial graduates would also improve their grades and improve their overall chances in international comparison.
On the other hand, there were fears that the free trial regulation could lead to a narrowing of the qualification profile of the graduates or to the neglect of important additional and minor subjects. Furthermore, it was feared that only those who would study quickly would take part in the free trial, while the regulation would meet with little acceptance from the other students. An unsystematic familiarization with the examination material and the abuse of the examination as a mere "written exercise" would also be possible.
However, various empirical studies prove the success of the free trial. The free trial is not only noticed by the already fast, but has also met with broad acceptance and has sometimes led to a significant reduction in the duration of the studies and the average age of graduates. The success of the examination does not suffer from the shortened study duration. Both the pass rate and the average grades are significantly more advantageous for the free trial participants than for the non-participants. Ultimately, the breadth of the qualification profile does not suffer from the early participation in examinations in the free attempt, since (e.g. in law) even difficult subjects are still more often attended by the students, according to studies.
The free attempt encourages students to pursue a more determined study from the outset and avoids idle times and sagging. This creates more key qualifications. For the incentive to perform through the free trial and for the fact that no gaps need to arise despite the shortened study period, speaks e.g. B. also the significantly higher success rate of the free trial participants in the first state legal examination in the later second examination after the two-year legal traineeship. For example, only 5% of the former free marksmen failed the second legal examination in Bavaria in 1997, whereas 20% of the other participants failed. In the free trial participants, 60% of the participants achieved a distinction (a grade better than "sufficient"), whereas it was only 30% of the others.
Regulations for free attempts and repetitions to improve grades are also welcomed from the point of view of examination law, since in this way the performance assessment is broadened and it becomes more reliable.
Aspects of the free trial
Grade improvement in free trial
The free attempt is often designed in such a way that it allows an additional test repetition in any case. If an examination was not passed in the free attempt, it is considered not to have been taken; if it was passed, it can be repeated once to improve the grade.
Where the possibility of repeating to improve grades after a successful first attempt was created independently of the free attempt, the option of improving grades was mostly deleted from the free attempt regulation (e.g. for the legal state exams in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Lower Saxony). In some places, however, it was retained in parallel (e.g. for the teaching examinations in Bavaria). There, in the event of participation in the free attempt, two repetitions are permitted to improve grades, otherwise one repetition.
Stratification in free trial
In North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony , in addition to the free attempt and the opportunity to improve grades, there is also the option of having to take the exam exams within two weeks, as is customary in the other federal states and within the two federal states mentioned in the regular examination run to be divided according to legal areas over a period of one and a half years.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, the exam exams in the three legal areas of civil law, public law and criminal law can be divided into three semesters (from the 6th to the 8th semester) in accordance with Section 12 of the North Rhine-Westphalia Legal Training Act, whereby here more of several smaller ones than one has to speak of a compulsory subject examination.
In Lower Saxony, the exams in the three areas of law in accordance with Section 4, Paragraph 2, Clause 2 of the Lower Saxony Law on the Training of Jurists (NJAG) can be divided into two examination dates that can be written between the 6th and 8th semester. The exams are written and corrected together with the regular exams.
In Hesse , when the lawyers' training law came into force on March 8, 2004, the possibility of training was abolished, so the last time an application could be made before March 8, 2004.
Application to various examination models
The free attempt can be provided for both state examinations and university examinations (both for block examinations and course-related examinations) that have been completely taken by the regular date. The universities also often provide other regulations for the repetition of examinations, which are not explicitly referred to as "free attempt", but contain similar elements or have a similar incentive effect (e.g. repeating examinations to improve grades).
In the case of block examinations, the free trial regulation causes a certain time pressure to adhere to the regular study period in order to be able to take part in the free trial at the end. It is only necessary to concentrate on the essential content of the course or sometimes to “have the courage to leave gaps”. These negative effects do not apply, however, if the free attempt is not only used at the end of the course, but at the end of each semester, as is possible with courses with course-related examinations.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bavaria: Ordinance of June 1, 1990 (GVBl S 192); Rhineland-Palatinate: Law of March 15, 1991 (GVBl S 78); Baden-Württemberg: Ordinance of June 4, 1991 (GBl S 305); Saxony: Ordinance of 22 August 1991 (SächsGVBl S 327); Saarland: Law of October 29, 1991 (OJ S 1262); Berlin: Ordinance of December 3, 1991 (GVBl S 277); Hessen: Law of April 2, 1992 (GVBl IS 118); Lower Saxony: Ordinance of April 13, 1992 (NdsGVBl S 99); Federal Government: Law of November 20, 1992 (Federal Law Gazette IS 1926)
- ↑ §15 Abs. 2 HRG, introduced by the fourth law amending the higher education framework law of August 20, 1998 (BGBl I p. 2190)
- ↑ a b c Waldeyer in higher education law in the federal and state levels Hailbronner / Geis §15 HRG marginal no. 31
- ^ Resolution of the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of September 15, 2000 as amended on October 22, 2004 - Definitions and standards for modularization: Archive link ( Memento of the original from August 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked . Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ A b Stewart: The free trial regulation for state examinations in Bavaria, expectations, experiences. Findings Section 1, in Contributions to University Research 3-2000, Bavarian State Institute for University Research and Planning , ISSN 0171-645X
- ↑ Schöbel: The "free shot" on the test stand in Bayerische Verwaltungsblätter 9/1996, p. 257ff; Schacher: Law students to assess the free attempt in the first state law examination , HIS 1994; Knemeyer: The Free Trial - The first goal of the study reform achieved in Hermann; Day: University legal training - empirical and theoretical analyzes of study duration and academic performance , Deutscher Hochschulverband 63/1996; See also the report of the Bavarian State Judicial Examination Office for the year 2009 under point 4 b: Archive link ( memento of the original from June 15, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ see Stewart: The free trial regulation for state exams in Bavaria ; see. also statistics: In 2005, according to statistics from the Federal Bar Association, 35.6% of the candidates in Germany attempted a free attempt to archive link ( memento of the original from December 14, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; In Bavaria, 40.35% attempted a free attempt to archive link in 2009 ( memento of the original from June 15, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c Stewart: The free trial regulation for state exams in Bavaria, expectations, experiences. Findings Section 2
- ↑ so Niehues under No. 781 in: Examination Law , 5th edition CH Beck, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-406-59542-4
- ↑ § 12 Legal Training Act of North Rhine-Westphalia, "Stratification" : "Anyone who registers for the state compulsory subject examination after the fifth semester by the end of the seventh semester of an uninterrupted course at the latest can, upon request, do the supervisory work in two or three time-separated segments (stratification) . “- Leaflet of the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court on stripping ( memento of the original from January 30, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF).
- ↑ Lower Saxony Law on the Training of Jurists (NJAG) in the version of January 15, 2004 ( Memento of the original of March 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 49 kB)
- ↑ Hessian law for the implementation of the reform of the legal education of March 2, 2004, GVBl I No. 5, pp. 86–92.
- ↑ Stewart: The free trial regulation for state exams in Bavaria, expectations, experiences. Findings Section 5
