Illness during exams

If you become ill during your studies and are unable to participate in examinations or meet other mandatory requirements, you must submit a notification of illness.

If acute illness prevents you from participating in an exam or submitting your exam assignment, you must report it immediately.

Deadline: You must report your illness via SDBF no later than 4:00 PM (16:00) on the day of the exam or submission deadline.
Procedure: Fill out the form titled "Sygemelding akut / Notification of illness acute."
Documentation: You must provide medical documentation (a doctor's note). Please note that you are responsible for any costs associated with obtaining a medical certificate.

If you do not have the medical certificate ready when you submit the form, it must be sent via email to eksamen@ek.dk no later than 5 business days after the exam/submission date. The day of the exam/submission does not count toward these 5 days.

Warning: If you fail to report your illness by the deadline or fail to provide proper documentation, you will be considered to have used one of your exam attempts.

1. How to Report Your Illness

You must report your illness by 4:00 PM (16:00) on the day of the exam or submission.
Reporting is done by completing the form: "Sygemelding akut / Notification of illness acute" via the SDBF from system.

It is your own responsibility to ensure that the form is submitted on time.

2. Documentation for Illness

You must submit a medical certificate (lægeerklæring) as documentation.
If the certificate is not ready on the exam day and cannot be attached in SDBF, it must be emailed to eksamen@ek.dk within 5 business days of the exam/submission date. (The exam day itself is not included in this count).
You are responsible for paying the cost of the medical certificate yourself.

Important
The medical certificate must contain a medical assessment. A statement that simply says, for example, "the patient informs," is not sufficient documentation. You can read more about what a medical certificate must contain below.

3. If You Do Not Meet the Deadlines

If you:

Fail to report your illness via SDBF by 4:00 PM (16:00) on the day of the exam, and
Fail to submit valid documentation within 5 business days after the exam/submission,

Then your illness cannot be approved, and you will be considered to have used one exam attempt.

4. Where Can You Get Help?

If you are unsure about the procedure:

Read the full procedure in the Student Handbook.
Consult EK’s Study and Exam Rules (a new edition is available as of March 1, 2026).
Contact the exam team as soon as possible at eksamen@ek.dk.

Long-term illness: If you require a long-term sick leave, please contact Student Counseling at studievejledning@ek.dk or by phone at +45 36 15 45 15.

Medical Certificate (Lægeerklæring)

EK has developed some general guidelines to help you understand what a medical certificate must contain. Additionally, reference is made to the Executive Order on the Issuance of Certificates  and the Danish Medical Association's (Lægeforeningen)  guidelines for certificeres for educational institutions.

1) Formal Requirements
The following formal details must appear on the medical certificate:

Your information: Full name.
The doctor's information: Name, authorization ID, business address, and medical credentials.
Issuance date: The date the certificate was issued.
Authentication: The doctor’s signature and official stamp.

2) The certificate must demonstrate a clear temporal connection:

In which period have you been ill, and for how long are you expected to be ill moving forward?
When did the doctor physically see or consult with you?
Does the certificate concern a chronic illness?

3) Medical Assessment

There must be a professional medical assessment included:

The doctor must clearly explain how your illness or functional impairment affects you (the doctor is not required to state the specific diagnosis/name of the illness).
It must be clear which information in the certificate is based on your own statements to the doctor and which information is based on the doctor’s own clinical assessment.

Instructions for forms in SDBF

1. Choose organisation

4. Fill out a new form

From the menu, select "Start New".

Then click "Students" to display the available forms. Select the form you need.

You can, for example, complete forms for:

Notification of Illness
Notification of Childbirth
Application – Examinations

Once you have completed the form, submit it. You also have the option to cancel your form before submission.

5. Easily Attach Photos and Files

In SDBF, you have access to a File Box, which makes it easy to send files directly to your SDBF account and attach them to forms. You can find the File Box under "Functions" and "File Box".

If you need to attach a photo to a form, simply take a picture with your mobile phone and send it directly to filboks@sdbf.dk. In the email subject line, enter a description of what the photo relates to, making it easy to identify in your File Box.

It is important that you send the email from the email address registered in SDBF under "Mine oplysninger/My Information". Alternatively, you can add an alternative email address in the File Box settings.

Once you have sent a file to filboks@sdbf.dk, it will appear in your File Box. Files are automatically deleted after 60 days.

If you have files stored in your File Box, you can easily attach them to your form.

6. Legal Basis

6. Legal Basis
EK assesses your applications and notifications regarding parental leave and illness in accordance with the following legislation:

The Executive Order on Admission (Adgangsbekendtgørelsen)
The Executive Order on Examinations and Tests (Eksamensbekendtgørelsen)
The Executive Order on Academy Profession Programmes and Professional Bachelor’s Degree Programmes (Bekendtgørelse om erhvervsakademiuddannelser og professionsbacheloruddannelser)