Student rights

As a student, it can be difficult to keep track of the rights that actually exist for us students at Uppsala University. Here we have gathered some of the most important points from the university’s own page for student rights that may be useful to know.

“All students at Uppsala University should be offered a good study environment and a structured study situation, which should be adapted to the level of study and the nature of the studies. The scheduled teaching and the students’ self-study time shall be planned as normal 40-hour working weeks or equivalent for education with a lower rate of study than full-time education.”

Examination

  • Students must be informed of the rules that are in effect for a particular examination, for example, what aids are allowed or (in the case of group work) what is demanded in terms of individual performance, and what kinds of behaviour are deemed fraudulent in connection with an examination (such as plagiarism, unauthorised collaboration, prohibited aids and alteration of a paper after it has been marked). When a written examination is given in an examination hall, codes must be used for anonymity unless there are special reasons not to do so.
  • Unless there are special reasons to the contrary, students have the right to have all types of examinations marked and graded within a maximum of 25 calendar days and at least 14 calendar days before a retake. After the marking and grading is completed, examination results must be documented promptly in Ladok.
  • Students who, for special reasons, such as an accident or sudden illness, have been unable to complete a compulsory course component must be offered the opportunity to make up for this at another time or in another way.
  • Retakes for different courses or modules during a particular semester should be scheduled for different dates, and on different dates and at different times than compulsory components of other modules that semester.
  • No student may be denied the opportunity to take an examination because of failure to complete all compulsory components of a course before the time of the examination. To receive a passing grade, the student must instead afterwards complete the compulsory component or make up for that component.
  • A student who has attended two examinations for a course or part of a course without passing, which, according to the Higher Education Ordinance, entitles the examiner to have another examiner appointed, but who for special reasons cannot get a new examiner, is entitled to another examination form.

  • Each time grades have been assigned, students must be given the opportunity to receive an explanation from the examiner of why a certain grade has been assigned. If students come to collect their examination papers, they must be informed that this may make it more difficult to have the grade reassessed or corrected later. Students must in this case be offered the option of taking a copy of the documents with them or photographing the documents

Course Planning and Schedules

  • A broad timetable of compulsory teaching sessions, examinations and retakes, as well as a reading list, must be in place at least five weeks before a course starts. A finalised timetable must be available at least one week before the course starts. In those parts of the University that divide the academic year into periods, a finalised timetable must be available at least one week before a new period starts.
  • Unless otherwise indicated at the time of registration, both compulsory teaching sessions and examinations should be held on Monday to Friday between 08:00 and 17:00 (08:00–19:00 for examinations in examination halls). Special reasons may require examinations at other times, for example, in the case of retakes. Placements may also take place on evenings and weekends; this must be stated in the course syllabus.

Physical and psychosocial work environment

  • No one at the university, students as well as teachers and other emplyees, may be subjected do discrimination or harassment due to gender, gender transgression identity or expressions, ethnicity, religion or other beliefs, disability, sexual orientation or age. If you consider that you have been treated unfairly, do not hesitate to inform the concerned institution’s Study Principal.
  • Students with disabilities have a right to special support. At the beginning of a course or programme, students must be informed who their contact for students with disabilities is. A student with a disability is personally responsible for contacting the coordinator for students with disabilities at the Student Affairs and Academic Registry Division to obtain access to the special support to which they are entitled. Further information can be found here.

Quality development and student influence

  • Under the Higher Education Act, students have the right to be represented in all decision-making and deliberating bodies whose activities affect their education and situation. The students themselves select their representatives via the students’ unions or via bodies appointed by the students’ unions. To enable them to participate in meetings of various university bodies, elected student representatives must be given the opportunity to take compulsory course components at another time, or to make up for them in another acceptable manner, where this is practically and economically feasible.
  • Course evaluations must be carried out every time a course is given, in accordance with university guidelines.

At the University webpage you will find more working conditions and other links to additional important information. If you have any questions regarding the points above, if you feel there is something missing or if you have been treated unfairly, do not hesitate to contact the K-section’s Student Welfare Liable Person at k-soc@utn.se or Education Liable Person at k-ua@utn.se.