Exam retake
The repetition of an examination (in the sense of a determination of performance and knowledge of persons) should on the one hand give the candidate the opportunity to achieve a previously failed training goal, on the other hand it serves the objectivity and reliability of the performance assessment, since examinations never fall below (for all candidates at the same time ) optimal conditions can take place.
General principles of auditing law
Germany
Failed exam
According to the law on examinations , it can be assumed that disruptive factors and uncertainties can never be completely avoided during an examination. The examinee has form fluctuations or is by chance particularly well / poorly prepared for a very specific topic, examination tasks have different difficulties, the assessment standard of the examiner varies. The possibility of repeating the test should largely eliminate these disruptive factors and offer the test subjects homogeneous conditions.
Under constitutional law, freedom to choose a profession results in the right to at least one, regular repetition of an examination that has not been passed for all professionally relevant exams. Due to fluctuations in shape of the examinee and other uncertainties in the examination procedure, no sufficient evidence has been provided that the examinee is unsuitable for the desired occupation due to the one-time failure.
Whether the examinee is allowed to repeat a failed examination a second or more is at the discretion of the respective examiner ( state law , examination regulations , school regulations, etc.). (See also free trial ). In addition, the repetition of a failed exam may have to be. U. take place within a certain period.
Passed the exam
In contrast to a failed exam, if the exam is passed it is constitutionally unobjectionable if the possibility of repeating it once to improve the grade is excluded, according to the prevailing opinion. In contrast to the failed examination, the OVG Lüneburg does not see the freedom of occupation affected because the candidate, at least formally, receives admission to a certain occupation by passing it. A good grade only increases career opportunities, but is irrelevant for professional admission. Admittedly, access to the profession should be constitutionally kept as open as possible in both legal and factual terms, but an increase in career opportunities cannot be derived from the freedom of occupation.
On the other hand, Lindner sees in the reasoning of the OVG Lüneburg and the prevailing opinion, particularly through the fixation on an alleged legal equivalence of all passed examinations (regardless of the grade), the right to examinations "dominant principle" of equal opportunities is disregarded. Failing with a bad grade, which severely restricts career opportunities, and failing, which opens up a “second chance”, could, according to Lindner, be on a par. According to Lindner, comparable test conditions and evaluation criteria should apply to comparable test subjects. Absolute fairness in examinations can never be established anyway, but fairness in examinations must be made effective as much as possible. The exclusion of a repetition to improve grades is an unnecessary and therefore avoidable hardship. (Eg. When job-related oral and written examinations Baccalaureate , university audit , state exam ) was composed commanded constitutionally even for those one-time repetition possibility, but not in intermediate examinations without impact on the final grade and continuous performance assessments, such as graded homework or school exams that flow into the high school graduation mark.
Otherwise, only the repetition is successfully completing an examination as part of a free trial regulated at university examinations by law (§ 15 para. 2 HRG and comparable standards of higher education legislation ). Apart from that, the possibility of repeating examinations that have already been passed is mostly at the discretion of the respective examiner (regulated by examination regulations for universities , and school regulations for schools ).
If an examination is repeated to improve grades, the better result usually applies in Germany, not the last one. The first test result does not become null and void, but remains in place if no improvement has been achieved. A subsequent failure is therefore not possible.
Deregistration / withdrawal
The admissibility of withdrawal after a certain point in time (e.g. one week before the examination, or after official admission to the state examination) can be made dependent on evidence of an "important reason". In the event of an effective withdrawal / deregistration, the examination is deemed not to have been taken. The necessary repetition should therefore be treated as the first attempt. Nevertheless, there may be an obligation to repeat within a certain period of time.
Deficiencies in the examination procedure / legal protection
If there are deficiencies in the examination procedure, it must first be determined whether these are significant for the examination result (e.g. unsuitable examination questions or the lack of a second correction are significant). If the result is not based on the deficiency, or if it can be ruled out that the test result would have turned out differently without the deficiencies, the deficiencies are insignificant (e.g. multiple-choice question in which two answers B and C are incorrectly correct , for which the examinee has, however, chosen answer A, which is always incorrect).
If the deficiencies that are significant for the result are in the assessment, a new assessment must be carried out. However, if a reassessment is not possible (oral examination, loss of the examination paper) or if the deficiencies are already affecting performance (unsuitable examination questions, no equal opportunities), the examination must be repeated.
Within the administration, the examinee can reconsider the examination assessment or repeat the examination by submitting specific objections and also lodge a formal objection. In a lawsuit before the administrative court, the examinee concerned can complain about deficiencies in the content (but can only be checked by courts to a limited extent) in the assessment as well as procedural errors (see also examination law ).
Austria
Failed exam
If university exams are assessed negatively, the Austrian University Act (UG) stipulates that students are entitled to at least three repetitions (a total of four attempts). The university's statutes determine whether further repetitions are allowed.
Passed the exam
In the case of university examinations with a positive assessment, the University Act stipulates that students are generally entitled to repeat them once. This is restricted only at some art colleges where only two courses from the central artistic subject can be repeated during the course.
In any case, the result of the passed initial test becomes null and void and the last result (not the best) applies, even if it turns out negative. In this case, the examinee is entitled to the full three repetitions for negative exams.
Deregistration / withdrawal
(Basically as in Germany ) In some examinations, however, unexcused absence from the examination does not lead to a negative assessment, but only to one, e.g. B. eight-week, examination ban in this subject.
Deficiencies in the examination procedure / legal protection
In Austria (in contrast to Germany or Switzerland) there is no general constitutional guarantee of legal recourse . The judicial review of an examination assessment is fundamentally excluded in the University Act (Section 79, Paragraph 1). Only in the event of serious deficiencies in the performance of an examination that was subsequently assessed negatively can the examination be canceled and repeated internally.
Switzerland
Regular repetition
Swiss higher education law does not give the universities any specific requirements with regard to regular repetition attempts, although at all universities there is always at least one repeatability.
Deficiencies in the examination procedure / legal protection
If there are deficiencies in the examination procedure, it is also crucial here to what extent they were causal for the result. If such a causality exists, a reassessment or the cancellation and repetition of the examination can be carried out at universities by the appeals committee, which is independent of the administration (at some universities in the second instance by the university council).
At cantonal level, examination decisions are subject to content-related (specific examination assessment, grading) and formal review by the administrative courts of the cantons. In the next instance, complaints in public matters can be lodged with the Federal Administrative Court (no judicial review of decisions on examination assessment, but only decisions of an organizational nature, such as admission to examinations), or a subsidiary constitutional complaint (in this case, the substantive examination assessment is generally also subject to the limited judicial review) against cantonal decisions at the Federal Court be collected.
Regulations in schools and universities
Germany
School tuition / transfer
(see article transfer ). In addition to repeating a grade level because of insufficient performance, voluntary repetition (if performance is actually sufficient) is also possible in many federal states. This is intended to close existing gaps in the student's knowledge in order to create a better basis for the next higher grade level. In Bavaria, for example, voluntary repetition is most frequently used (4.1% of pupils) in grade 12 with a view to admitting / preparing for the Abitur. If a class test turns out very badly, it is repeated. In Hesse, for example, a repetition is required if more than half of the students were assessed as unsatisfactory or unsatisfactory. Only the better grade of a student is taken into account.
Secondary school final exams
Failed final exams can be repeated once in all federal states. For this purpose, the last class can also be repeated with the approval of the school management. In Bavaria, for some years now, final exams that have been passed can be repeated once to improve grades. An additional repetition of the final class for the purpose of improving grades again requires the approval of the school principal. The Bavarian regulation applies to the final examinations for the qualifying secondary school leaving certificate, the secondary school leaving certificate and the vocational high school diploma and high school diploma (but not so far for the high school diploma).
Diploma, bachelor and master courses
The universities regulate the regular repetition possibilities of diploma , bachelor and master courses largely independently.
Examinations that have not been passed can regularly be repeated once. However, a second repetition is often only possible for a limited number of exams in the course. If the second repeat examination is also not passed, the examination is often considered to have been definitively failed and can no longer be repeated.
In some courses, as an alternative to limiting the number of exam attempts, a so-called malus point system has been set up, in which the student receives a certain number of malus points for each failed exam (e.g. the number of credits with which the exam is weighted). If the student exceeds a certain number of malus points, he loses the right to retake the exam and has to end the course. A bonus point system, in which the student may not fall short of a certain number of bonus points that he receives for each passed exam, has also been introduced in some places as an alternative to limiting the number of exam attempts.
At some universities, passed exams can be repeated either on the basis of a free trial regulation or another regulation.
State examination
If the 1st state law examination is taken after the standard period of study, but not passed, the examination in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt is considered not to have been taken (Free trial). A failed 1st state law examination can be repeated once in full in all federal states; the free attempt does not count as an attempt. In Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin and Brandenburg, admission to a second repetition of a failed 2nd state examination depends on reaching a minimum number of points (usually 3 points), in the other states on the approval of a hardship case.
If you pass the state examination in law, you can repeat it in all federal states to improve your grades. In Bremen and Saxony, repeatability to improve grades is limited to the first state examination. In Berlin, Hamburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia, an improvement in grades for the first state examination that has been passed can only be applied for as part of a free attempt, in the other countries an improvement is possible regardless of the free attempt. Only in Bavaria is a repetition to improve grades always free of charge, in the other federal states, especially for the 2nd state examination, fees of between 255 and 600 euros are regularly charged.
A failed first state examination for teaching at public schools can usually be repeated once. The free attempt, which was introduced in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Bremen, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland and Schleswig-Holstein, offers an additional possibility of repetition in the event of failure. A grade improvement is also possible as part of the free trial. In Bavaria, there is also another possibility of repeating the first exam, independent of the free attempt, to improve grades. The second state examination for teaching qualifications can only be repeated once in Bavaria to improve grades.
For other state examinations ( medicine , pharmacy , food chemistry , higher forest service ) there are different regulations, whereby at least one repeatability is given in the event of failure. Only in Bavaria is there a fundamental repeatability in all first and second state exams passed (with the exception of medicine).
Austria
School lessons / advancement
If a maximum of two compulsory subjects in a student's annual report have been rated “insufficient”, a repeat examination will take place in the relevant subject matter at the beginning of the next school year. If successful, this will avoid repeating the school year. However, a voluntary repetition of the school level is also possible if the performance is sufficient.
Written performance assessments in which more than half of the students were rated “insufficient” must be repeated. The better result of a student counts.
Secondary school final exams
All partial exams of the school leaving examination must be passed for the Matura and can be repeated three times. In addition to the main examination date in summer, there are also two additional dates (autumn / spring) available each year.
Diploma, bachelor and master courses
The repetition options result from the University Act and are uniformly regulated (see above). In the case of negative assessments, there is at least three repeatability. The last, and at the request of the student, the penultimate exam, must be held before a committee .
For examinations that have been assessed positively, a one-time repeatability to improve grades applies.
United States
University entrance exams
In the American higher education sector, in addition to the high school diploma , participation in the statewide ACT or SAT is required for university entrance . At some universities very high scores are often expected from applicants, corresponding to the 1–3% quantile of the best participants. For this reason, the tests are regularly repeated at least once by the applicants.
The ACT can be repeated up to twelve times, the SAT as often as required. Applicants can choose independently which results they want to send to the target universities. Usually the tests are written around the middle of the 11th grade and a second time at the beginning of the 12th grade (senior year) of high school .
Bachelor and master courses
At almost all colleges and universities, failed courses can be repeated any number of times. At most universities (e.g. Harvard , Minnesota , Washington ), courses that have been passed can be repeated one or more times to improve grades or for practice, whereby the corresponding credits are only counted once.
literature
- Norbert Niehues: School and Examination Law 2nd Volume Examination Law , 4th Edition CH Beck, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-406-49173-1 .
- Kay Hailbronner: University law in the federal and state levels, 1st volume, Müller, Heidelberg, ISBN 978-3-8114-1054-1 .
- Max-Emanuel Geis: University Law in the Free State of Bavaria , CF Müller, Heidelberg 2009, ISBN 978-3-8114-7716-2 .
- Wolfgang Zimmerling, Robert G. Brehm: Examination rights , 2nd edition Carl Heymann, Cologne-Berlin-Bonn-Munich 2001, ISBN 3-452-24752-X .
Remarks
- ↑ an already published case as an examination task, BVerwG in NVwZ-RR 1994, p. 585.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Waldeyer in examination law in the federal and state levels §16 HRG marginal no. 33
- ↑ BVerwG decision of May 8, 1989- 7 B 58.89, Waldeyer in audit law in the federal and state governments §16 HRG marginal note 33, Zimmerling / Brehm audit law 2nd ed. Marginal note 28, Niehues audit law 4th ed. Marginal note 745, on the other hand Reich HRG §16 marginal note 3
- ↑ Zimmerling / Brehm right of examination, 2nd ed. Marginal note 30
- ↑ University law in the Free State of Bavaria II, marginal number 161 and footnote 170
- ↑ Lawsuit against the exclusion of repetitions to improve grades in the 2nd state examination in Lower Saxony (meanwhile, an improvement in grades is also permissible in Lower Saxony in the second state examination) http://www.dbovg.niedersachsen.de/Entscheid.asp?Ind=0500020060002132 + LA
- ↑ Against unnecessary hardships in examination law - on the right to repeat a passed examination to improve grades - in RdJB 2/2008, p. 218
- ↑ BVerwG NJW 1991, p. 422; BVerfGE 84, 34, 52, Zimmerling / Brehm right to examine marginal number 56
- ↑ Zimmerling / Brehm right to examine marginal number 305
- ^ Niehues right of examination 4th ed. No. 517
- ↑ Zimmerling / Brehm right of examination marginal no. 571
- ↑ Niehues marginal note 493ff
- ↑ Niehues marginal note 503ff
- ↑ Niehues recital 726
- ↑ Niehues marginal notes 808 and 811
- ↑ Section 77 (2) of the Austrian Universities Act UG http://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFnahm/Bundesnormen/20002128/UG%2c%20Fnahm%20vom%2001.05.2011.pdf
- ↑ Section 77 (1) UG
- ↑ Registration and deregistration of exams ( Memento from June 23, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), on studieren.univie.ac.at
- ↑ Study law , at www.univie.ac.at
- ↑ Collection of federal and cantonal university laws: http://www.crus.ch/information-programme/studieren-in-der-schweiz/hochschulen/universitaere-hochschulen/hochschulgesetze.html
- ^ Federal and cantonal university laws
- ↑ Collection of the decisions of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, BGE 2C_577 / 2009
- ↑ Swiss Federal Court, BGE 136 I 229 E. 1
- ↑ Typical cases of high school resignation and voluntary repetition ( Memento from January 3, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ § 27 of the ordinance on structuring the school relationship ( memento from January 19, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), on www.kultusministerium.hessen.de
- ↑ Links to individual state school regulations in: http://www.bildungsserver.de/haben.html?seite=72
- ↑ School regulations: Laws, ordinances, notices, school regulations, official gazette ( Memento of February 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Niehues right of examination 4th ed. Marginal note 744
- ↑ e.g. §3 Paragraph 5 Bachelor Chemistry, TU Braunschweig: http://www.tu-braunschweig.de/Medien-DB/flw/bpo-chemie-310305.pdf ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ e.g. §12 Abs. 4 Bachelor-Physik, Universität Bonn: http://www.physik-astro.uni-bonn.de/fileadmin/Fachgruppe/pdf/pobsc29_6_09.pdf ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ last introduced in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on March 24, 2011 see JAG http://www.landesrecht-mv.de/jportal/portal/page/bsmvprod.psml?showdoccase=1&st=lr&doc.id=jlr-JAGMVrahmen and JAPO http : //www.landesrecht-mv.de/jportal/portal/page/bsmvprod.psml? showdoccase = 1 & st = lr & doc.id = jlr-JAPOMVrahmen
- ↑ Training regulations for teaching positions in Bavaria Laws, ordinances, notices, school regulations, official gazette ( Memento from February 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Section 23, Paragraph 1 of the School Education Act http://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFnahm/Bundesnormen/10009600/SchUG%2c%20Fassung%20vom%2003.05.2011.pdf
- ↑ § 27 School Education Act
- ↑ http://www.bmukk.gv.at/schulen/unterricht/ba/reifepruefung.xml
- ↑ Section 77 (3) of the Austrian University Act
- ↑ Compare e.g. B. Harvard admission limit (31 points in the ACT Composite Score) http://collegeapps.about.com/od/collegeprofiles/p/harvard_profile.htm with the average results in the ACT ACT HIGH SCHOOL PROFILE: SECTION II, ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT ( Memento from June 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Retake the Test ( Memento of July 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), on actstudent.org
- ↑ Score Reporting and Score Choice ( Memento June 18, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), on sat.collegeboard.com
- ↑ http://sat.collegeboard.com/register/when-to-take-sat
- ↑ Examples: University of Washington http://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/front/Grading_Sys.html#GRADING , Minnesota http://policy.umn.edu/Policies/Education/Education/GRADINGTRANSCRIPTS.html , California - Berkeley http://registrar.berkeley.edu/current_students/academic_records_transcripts/courserep.html , Massachusetts IT http://web.mit.edu/registrar/reg/grades/repeatsubject.html
