Universities | Audit failed, lawsuit too expensive?

You study at university, but sometimes failed exams lead to court. Photo: IMAGO/Funke Photo Services One last exam attempt can make the difference over years of study. Anyone who ultimately fails a crucial exam is threatened with exmatriculation. At least 3,577 Berlin students are currently facing their last possible exam attempt in a subject. In 2025, universities reported 945 ultimately failed exams.

But what if students think an exam decision is wrong? It's not just about passing or failing. There are also disputes about grades, access to files, compensation for disadvantages or extended processing times.

Emily is a speaker for teaching and studying in the Humboldt University's RefRat student representation and advises students in such cases. According to Emily, the experiences in the counter-presentation process, with which exam results can be checked again, are different. “The decisions of the examination committees depend very much on their composition,” says Emily. The committees are committees within an institute. Decisions would be made by people who often work together as colleagues in the same subject.

After a counter-presentation process, students only have to go to the administrative court. How often this happens is shown by a request from the university policy spokesman for the left-wing faction in the House of Representatives, Tobias Schulze, which is available exclusively to »nd«. Since 2019, more than 600 examination proceedings have been conducted in the first instance. Last year there were 72. In addition to the question about their chances of success, students also have a second question: Can they even afford the procedure?

An audit dispute can cost several thousand euros. Both legal and court costs depend on the amount in dispute - for example, whether it concerns an individual module examination or a final thesis. In addition, the universities may incur legal fees. If you lose in court, you have to pay the other side's legal fees. If the university is represented externally and not by its own legal department, this further increases the cost risk for students

Emily describes this as a hurdle. »Students are often in a financially difficult situation anyway. Court and legal costs are difficult to calculate and can quickly rise. Legal aid can be applied for, but there is still a risk of costs initially.

»Independent representation in court is one of the core tasks of universities«

Lawyer Michael Lippa, who regularly represents students in examination law proceedings, also sees the costs as a problem and adds: "The lengthy process time of up to three years is also a hurdle." Anyone who sues against a final failed examination can initially continue studying - but won't know for years whether the course will last.

Different practices at universities

The financial risk is also not the same for all students. While many Berlin universities conduct examination disputes themselves, according to the response from the Senate, the Charité, Berlin University of Technology (BHT) and the University of Economics and Law (HWR) are generally represented externally.

The HWR justifies this with a lack of its own capacity. There is no judicial office or legal office with appropriate staffing there. External representation is therefore an “economically sensible procedure,” the university told “nd”. Despite the higher cost risk for students, the HWR considers external representation to be appropriate and points out the possibility of applying for legal aid. Despite a comparatively small number of students, HWR students carry out a particularly large number of examination law proceedings in court. According to the HWR, it is impossible to explain why this is the case. Our own internal processes did not reveal any fundamental problems with grading or conducting exams.

The Free University is now doing things differently. She was also represented externally until 2024. After giving up the law firm she commissioned due to age, she decided to handle the cases in her own legal office in the future. This makes it easier to ensure close coordination with the internally responsible departments, the FU said. There were no additional staff for this.

Schulze thinks outsourcing to external law firms is wrong. “Independent representation in court is one of the core tasks of universities and should not be outsourced to external law firms,” he says. The additional cost risk could deter low-income students in particular from judicial review. He is therefore calling for the objection procedure to be reintroduced in higher education and examination law - as a free legal remedy before going to court.

The differences between the universities are clear. However, it remains unclear how many students do not even have a potentially incorrect decision reviewed in court because they cannot afford the procedure. So far there is no data on this.

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