Absence policies at the Department of Film

Late arrivals and absences within a teaching day 

Students may not enter the classroom or lesson late. 

If a student is late, they must wait for the next coffee or lunch break for a possibility to enter the classroom. 

It is the student’s responsibility to obtain the necessary information covered during their absence. The student can ask for help or notes from fellow students or obtain information elsewhere.  

The student must demonstrate with a substitute report (the responsible teacher determines the topic and length) that they have mastered the issues covered during their absence. The report must be written in a polite academic format. 

If the student has to leave in the middle of the day, it is necessary to inform the responsible teacher well in advance. For such an absence (more than 30 minutes), the student must write a report corresponding to the tardiness on the matters dealt with during the absence. 

All these absences increase the absence balance. If you are absent for more than 20 %, the course cannot be accepted. 

Full day absences 

Always let the teacher know beforehand and as soon as possible if you are absent. Communication is key! 

All courses have an 80 % attendance requirement. If the student is absent for more than 20 % of the course, the course cannot be accepted. Any exceptions and clarifications to the attendance requirements for individual courses can be found in the course description.

Individual absences are compensated like lateness - by finding out the taught subject area yourself. If the content of the course cannot be learned other than in contact teaching, the course cannot be accepted if the absence time exceeds 20 %. 

In case of longer sick absences, the responsible teacher can assign additional tasks to make up for the absences. Additional assignments can be completed after the end of the course, but by the deadline given by the responsible teacher, otherwise the course cannot be accepted. 

Acceptable reasons for absences are illnesses, doctor’s/therapist’s/ appointments, and other grave reasons. 

(This policy has been updated on 16.8.2024)