Summary
Students who do not pass their internship semester in the autumn must, in principle, restart it in the spring. It is difficult to find a new internship placement very quickly, so often the internship cannot start in week 1 and a defense in week 18/19/20 is not always possible. This concerns a limited number of students, roughly 5‑10 % of the total number of interns. A number of the options below can be initiated by the Internship Coordinator without involvement of the Examination Board.

If something is found within the first three weeks, the normal trajectory can continue (which is already the case now). The defense can take place in the regular defense week or, after discussion with assessors, be postponed to week 21/22. In that case the defense occurs before the summer holidays start (the date of the final graduation ceremony is essentially the last possible day).

• Advantage: the student knows before the summer holidays what the outcome will be and receives full‑term feedback.
• Disadvantage: the student has a relatively short period to find a new assignment. If the new assignment is with the same company or the student acts efficiently, this can still be a good option.

Postpone the start of the internship period to no later than week 10. The student has an internship defense in week 0 of the next semester.

• In the final phase there is little supervision or feedback available because of the summer holidays;
• The portfolio‑submission deadline in this case is the Sunday of week ‑1;
• The internship coordinator coordinates with the student desk and scheduling;
• Very careful expectation management is required before the holidays. If there is doubt that the student will succeed, this must be stated explicitly. Then the student can already start looking for a new assignment or pre‑select an alternative programme in case the internship is not passed again.
• Advantage: more time to search for an assignment, since the start can be delayed up to ten weeks.
• Disadvantage: very limited supervision and feedback during the final weeks.

If a Main semester still needs to be started or restarted, this can also be pursued then.

• Advantage: the student has plenty of time to search and can restart regularly in a subsequent semester.
• Disadvantage: none, aside from the normal study delay that the student incurs because of the restart.

Instead of a restart, the free space in S7 can be used to either follow a minor (if the student has not yet taken one) or another Main semester. This route requires permission from the Examination Board.

• Advantage: the student has ample time to search and can restart regularly in a later semester.
• Disadvantage: the student will no longer have free space in the final phase.

If the student also fails the restart, the alternative programme is the only option unless (very quickly) a new assignment is found.

These rules do not apply to students who, for other reasons, do not have an internship placement in time