To receive compensation for disadvantages, you require proof that special circumstances beyond your control have affected your academic performance. Compensation for disadvantages does not automatically lead to admission. Only the proven disadvantage is compensated – this can lead to an improvement in the ranking, but does not guarantee a study place. Only well-founded information (certified copies of the original documents) will be considered.

In the last three years before obtaining the higher education entrance qualification

• Health impairments, e.g.: 
  • Longer periods of absence due to illness 
  • Serious illnesses or disabilities
  • Pregnancy
• Familial responsibilities, e.g.:
  • Caring for and looking after your own children or relatives in need of care
  • Responsibility for minor siblings in the household
  • Death of one or both parents, provided you were single and not older than 25 at the time of death
  • Multiple changes of school due to family moves
• Competitive sport, provided you have been part of a recognised sports squad (Olympic squad, prospective squad, etc.) without interruption in the last three years
• Specific economic or comparable special grounds

The compensation for disadvantages is applied for directly in the HTW Berlin application portal as part of your application for a study place. Please note the regular application deadlines. The supporting documents for the respective application must be uploaded in full and on time.

• Proof required to improve the waiting time: school certificate proving the reason for and duration of the delay in obtaining the higher education entrance qualification and stating when you would have obtained the higher education entrance qualification without the special circumstances
• Proof to required improve the average grade:
  • Report from the school (not individual teachers) or – if this is not possible – report from an educational psychologist
  • The last two school certificates prior to the occurrence of the adverse event and all subsequent certificates. These must show what grade point average you would have achieved without the special circumstances.
• Other suitable proof (e.g. birth certificate of the child in case of pregnancy)

The school management decides whether a report is to be drawn up. A reason for refusal is, for instance, if the person concerned has only been at the school for a short time and a well-founded assessment is therefore not possible. If appropriate and possible, a school psychologist can also be called in to prepare the report.

Mandatory contents of the report: 

• Brief description of the school career
• Type, cause and duration of the impairment (e.g. illness, family circumstances)
• Concrete effects on individual subjects, justified by the respective subject teachers
• Indication of a realistically expected grade or score if the impairment had not been present
• Utilisation clause: Reports may only be used for applications to universities
• Official school seal

In the event that the school report establishes that the applicant’s performance was actually impaired by the circumstances, its issuers must plausibly explain which grades would have been likely in which subjects. A mathematically improved average grade is derived from this. The greater the alleged difference in performance, the more specific and conclusive the reasons listed in the report must be.