Information for exchange students
If you are looking for institutional/university level information (on housing, insurance, visa, student facilities,…) please consult the university website or contact the International Support Team.
Acceptance policy
You can only apply for an exchange if there is a student mobility agreement between the faculty of your home university and Ghent University Faculty of Law and Criminology. We do not accept freemovers.
Please check the application procedure and requirements.
Language requirements
Courses taught in English
If you want to apply for the courses taught in English we have 2 restrictions:
- Only students with a good command of English (written and oral) can be accepted. Do not forget to add a language certificate to your application.
- We can only accept students which are at an advanced level of their studies. If you are following a 5-year law program (leading to admission to legal practice) you must be in one of your last two years when coming to our faculty. If you are following a 3- or 4-year program you must be in your last year of studies.
Do not forget to provide a Transcript of Records in your application.
Courses taught in Dutch
If you are willing and able to follow courses taught in Dutch, you are welcome at Ghent University Faculty of Law and Criminology in any year of your studies.
Courses
As a rule, Ghent University students take 60 credits per year. Therefore, we advise inbound exchange students to compose a program of approximately 30 ECTS credits/semester with a minimum of 24 ECTS/semester. This corresponds with 4 to maximum 6 courses/semester.
Check our course offer for exchange students in the Study Guide. Dutch courses available at the Faculty of Law and Criminology can be found in the Study Guide as well.
Before selecting a course, check the course specifications by clicking on the course title. The course specifications will give you information on the course content and the admission requirements as well as on the evaluation methods. You cannot write a paper instead of taking part in courses or exams if such possibility is not available to regular students.
Milestones
Important milestones can be found in the academic calendar.
We expect exchange students to be present from the welcome days in the week prior to the official start of the academic year until the end of the exams.
Exam regulations: exceptions for exchange students
Bringing forward an exam
Bringing forward an exam - i.e. doing it earlier than during the regular exam period - is only possible in exceptional circumstances, to be discussed with the teaching professor. Whether or not you are allowed to bring forward an exam, depends on the professor teaching the course. It is not always feasible for professors to organize extra exams. If allowed, you will need to fill out the exam deviation request form and provide it, completed and signed, to the International Relation Office (iro.law@ugent.be) before 15 December.
Failed exam(s)
The examination regulation stipulates that a re-examination is only possible during the re-sit examination period between mid-August and mid-September, however, a deviation of this rule is possible for exchange students.
If you know that you failed an exam you have the opportunity to retake the exam:
1° during the current exam period OR
2° within one week following the announcement of the results of the exam period OR
3° if you are staying here for two semesters you can retake your failed exam of the first semester during the exam period of the second semester OR
4° during the official second re-examination period (mid-August – mid-September).
For the first three options you need to contact the professor in charge and agree on a date. Therefore you need to fill in the exam deviation request form. Do not forget to sign it and to have it signed by the professor before returning the form to the International Relations Office (iro.law@ugent.be) BEFORE the re-examination date.