Presidential decree grants an exceptional academic year to students who have exhausted their chances of failing and advancing to exams

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa issued Decree No. (180) of 2026, which grants students who have exhausted their chances of failing or taking exams an exceptional academic year for the 2026-2027 academic session, in accordance with the decree’s provisions.

The decree grants undergraduate students who have exhausted their chances of failing, from the 2010-2011 academic year through the 2025-2026 academic year, an exceptional academic year for 2026-2027, regardless of whether they benefited from a previous decree or not.

The decree also covers students admitted under the provisions of Article 103 of the Executive Regulations of the Law Regulating Universities who have exhausted their chances of failing.

According to the decree, students in the preparatory year for medical colleges who have exhausted their chances of failing do not benefit from the decree’s provisions, and the general approved rules apply to them.

The decree also grants a postgraduate qualification and specialization student who has exhausted their chances of taking exams from outside the university, during the period specified in the decree, an exceptional academic year for the 2026-2027 academic session.

The decree also covers postgraduate students in the coursework phase who have exhausted their chances of taking exams, as well as master’s students who have completed their coursework years and exhausted the specified period for registration in the thesis phase, in accordance with the conditions and timeframes outlined therein.

Under the decree, master’s and doctoral students in the thesis phase who were dismissed from their degree status from September 15, 2010, until the date of the decree’s issuance, are granted an additional calendar year from their registration date, provided that the student registers during the 2026-2027 academic year. Meanwhile, the status of students dismissed for disciplinary reasons will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the relevant committees.

The decree’s provisions apply to students at higher institutes affiliated with universities and higher institutes affiliated with the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, private universities, open education students, nursing schools at public universities, as well as students at institutes supervised by the Supreme Council for Technical Education within the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

Executive instructions for the decree and the required university fees for beneficiaries covered by its provisions shall be issued by a decision of the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research.