If you fall behind in your studies due to circumstances beyond your control, you may be eligible for financial support in accordance with the Regulations on Financial Support for Students.

The following situations are considered to be circumstances beyond your control: 

• (chronic) illness;
• disability;
• pregnancy and childbirth;
• exceptional family circumstances (such as the loss of a relative);
• caring responsibilities;
• educational circumstances beyond your control (your study adviser can tell you whether this applies to your situation)

Is your study adviser not aware that you have fallen behind in your studies? If so, discuss your situation with them as soon as possible. Together you can draw up a revised study plan to prevent you from falling further behind.

You must meet one of the following criteria during the academic year in which you fall behind: 

• You are receiving DUO student finance (at least a student travel product) and the total period in which you have received it is not longer than the standard duration* of your current study programme, or;
• You are paying institutional tuition fee, or;
• Your study progress has been delayed due to educational circumstances beyond your control (your study adviser can tell you if this is the case).**

In addition, you must meet all the following criteria:

• You are registered as a student of Leiden University.
• You are paying tuition fee to Leiden University.
• Your study progress has been delayed due to one or more of the following situations:
  • illness, pregnancy or child birth;
  • disability or chronic illness (psychical or mental);
  • exceptional family circumstances (such as the loss of a family member);
  • caring responsibilities;
  • educational circumstances beyond your control (you study adviser can tell you if this is the case).**
• You reported your study delay to your study adviser within one month of it occurring. If you did not report the delay on time, you may still request financial support. But be aware that you will likely receive little or no financial support.

* Standard duration

• If you are following (or will follow) a bachelor's and master's programme, the standard duration is the nominal duration of your bachelor and master added together. 
• If you are following only a bachelor's programme or only a master's programme, the standard duration is the nominal duration of that study programme. 

** Note: if your study progress has been delayed due to adaptations to your study programme resulting from corona measures, you are not entitled to financial compensation via the Regulations on Financial Support.  

You can only request financial support for study delay that you have correctly registered. 

When?

• Do this every year for the preceding academic year.
• You can register your study delay from 1 October till 1 March in the academic year following the year in which you fell behind in your studies.

Example: If you fell behind in your studies in the academic year 2023-2024, you can register your study delay in the period 1 October 2024 till 1 March 2025.

How?

Complete the requesting registration of study delay form. 

What happens next?

Within six weeks you will receive a message letting you know if your study delay has been registered, how many months of delay have been registered, and the maximum amount of financial support you could be awarded for this delay. Note: this does not mean that you will definitely receive financial support! This will be decided by the university once you submit a request for payment of financial support.   

• You can only request financial support for study delay that you have correctly registered.

• You only need to request payment once: at the end of the standard duration* of your study programme, or from the penultimate month in which you will receive a DUO basic grant.

When?

• If you receive a DUO basic grant, you can request payment in the penultimate month in which you will receive the grant.
• Not receiving a DUO basic grant? You can request payment from the end of the standard duration* of your study programme onwards. 

* Standard duration

• If you are following (or will follow) a bachelor's and master's programme, the standard duration is the nominal duration of your bachelor and master added together. 
• If you are following only a bachelor's programme or only a master's programme, the standard duration is the nominal duration of that study programme. 

How?

Complete the Requesting payment of financial support for delayed study progress form. 

What happens next?

The university will decide whether you are entitled to financial support and if so, how much you are entitled to. You will receive notification within six weeks. Here below you can find out how the university determines what you are entitled to. 

Whether you are entitled to payment of financial support and if so, how much, depends on the following rules and factors.

Number of months

• For every 5 study credits (ECs) of the standard study schedule that you have missed out on due to circumstances beyond your control, you can receive one month's worth of financial support - to a maximum of 50% of the period in which you were registered at Leiden University. 
• If you make up (some of) the delay to your studies, the amount of financial support will be adjusted accordingly. If this occurs, you may receive less funds than originally determined.

Exceptions

• In the case of study delay due to top-level sports, you can receive a maximum of 3 months' worth of financial support - to a maximum of 25% of the period in which you were registered at Leiden University.
• In the case of study delay due to pregnancy and if there are no complications during the pregnancy and birth, the maximum duration of financial support for the mother is 4 months, and for the father one month.

In the message about the registration of your study delay, you can see how many months apply in your case. 

Amount per month

• If you fell behind after 1 September 2024 and correctly registered your study delay and were receiving a DUO basic grant, you will receive an amount per month that is equal to the DUO basic grant. If you were also receiving a DUO suplementary grant, you will also be compensated for this amount. 
• If you fell behind between 1 September 2015 and 1 September 2024 and correctly registered your study delay, you will receive an amount per month of 300 euro. If you were also receiving a DUO suplementary grant, you will also be compensated for this amount. 
• If the delay was caused by educational circumstances beyond your control, you will also receive the amount of tuition fee paid during this period.
• If you were paying institutional tuition fee when you fell behind in your studies, you may continue studying at the statutory tuition fee rate for the number of registered months of delay.

Other forms of compensation

• If you will receive an additional year of DUO student finance due to the circumstances beyond your control, you will receive less or no financial support via the Regulations on Financial Support for Students. 
• If you will not receive an additional year of DUO student finance but the university believes you are entitled to it, the student counsellor will assist you to submit a request for it. 
• If you have already received financial support via the Regulations on Financial Support for student board membership or top-level sport, the university will deduct this amount when awarding funds for circumstances beyond your control.  

Do you have any questions about financial support for delayed study progress caused by circumstances beyond your control? If so, send a mail to FOS@sea.leidenuniv.nl.