14 April 2021

The Board of Examiners has received many requests of students, who have asked for an extension of the submission date for their thesis as they are negatively affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

Extending thesis deadlines has considerable consequences for academic staff (supervisors and second examiners), as well as the education office, since the thesis will need to be processed during our well-deserved holidays. Therefore, we would like to ask you, as supervisors, to help us to assess the necessity of such extensions for each of your students.

The thesis has 2 deadlines:

•  May 1st, when the draft version needs to be handed in,
• June 15th, when the final version needs to be handed in

The draft version is a semi-official deadline, students will receive feedback within 3 weeks, allowing them to process this in the next 3 weeks. A well-written draft version enhances the chance to meet the final deadline.

We would propose the following procedure:

If a student feels he/she needs more time, the first step is to discuss this with you, as a supervisor. One solution is the extension of the due date of the draft, but this means that you need to give feedback within 1 or 2 weeks to make it possible to meet the final deadline. The second solution for the student is to ask the Board of Examiners for an extension of the final deadline. The Board of Examiners will only approve requests for an extension of the final deadline that are supported by the supervisors, because they will lead to a delay of the administration and grading into our well-deserved holidays. The maximum extension that is feasible is until July 1st . In very exceptional circumstances the Board of Examiners will approve of additional extensions and only if a supervisors agrees.

Please only approve such extensions if you feel that they will result in a pass.

Thank you for your cooperation.