Inspection of Examination Documents and Storage

The originals of the examinations and coursework remain with the examiners or the secretariats of the respective institute/chair. Only in exceptional cases are these available at the Central Examination Office. They can also be collected there after the deadline for objections (see Semester Schedule) if the examination regulations provide for this. Examination transcripts are prepared for examinations and coursework for which there is no physical examination record. These are sent to the Central Examination Office by the examiners after the examination procedure has been completed.

Students at the University of Greifswald have the right to inspect the examiners' reports and the examination records upon request. This request must be submitted in writing or by email to the Central Examination Office.

An application to inspect the complete examination documents (including expert reports) can be submitted within one year of the conclusion of the respective examination procedure. Individual examination records may also be inspected within one month of the announcement of the respective examination result. Upon receipt of the application, the Central Examination Office will check the responsibility and whether all documents are complete. Depending on the type of examination (e.g. oral, written, practical), the documents are located either in the Examinations Office or at the respective institute or department. In some cases, the examiners will be consulted to ensure access to the documents.

A viewing appointment is then arranged. This can take place in person or digitally (e.g. through scanned documents with a link sent via Nextcloud). The inspection usually takes place under supervision and upon presentation of proof of identity.

Once the inspection has taken place, the process is documented internally. A late application (after expiry of the specified deadlines) can generally lead to exclusion from the right of inspection.

Costs for copies or digital provision are not charged for the first inspection of the respective examination documents. The background to this is a decision by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on 20 December 2017, which concluded that this is personal data within the meaning of data protection law.

Retention Periods

• Examination results must generally be kept for five years after the examination procedure has been completed; coursework, on the other hand, must only be kept for two years
• Only then may they be destroyed or deleted.
• The conclusion of the examination procedure is the point in time at which the last performance was completed and assessed.

Consideration of Legal Procedures

• The above-mentioned deadlines are effectively extended if judicial or administrative proceedings (e.g. objection, legal action) are or could be pending.
• In such cases, the documents may only be destroyed or deleted once the proceedings have been finalised.
• If in doubt, please check with the staff at the Central Examination Office beforehand whether proceedings are pending or deadlines should be suspended.

Digital Examination

• If the examination or coursework was completed electronically on university-owned devices or submitted by email/platform, it must be completely deleted after the respective deadline has expired.
• This also includes examinations in Moodle, digitally submitted assignments, e-mail submissions with attachments, examination transcripts in Word/PDF form
• Deletion must comply with data protection regulations, i.e. not just “move to the recycle bin”

Organisation and Responsibility

• The responsibility for the proper storage and timely destruction/deletion lies with the respective examiners or the institute/department (if administered there) or the Central Examination Office - depending on where the examination and coursework is archived or administered.
• It is advisable to establish standardised procedures for archiving and deadline monitoring in institutes and departments (e.g. through digital calendars or archiving notes).

Avoid Offences

• The deliberate or negligent retention of personal data (e.g. examination results with names and student numbers) beyond the prescribed period may constitute a breach of data protection regulations. This can be particularly critical in the case of digital files (e.g. on lecturers' private computers or cloud storage).