Failing Medical School at Riga Stradins University? Exams, Dismissal and Transfer (2026)

Riga Stradins University medicine: exam rules

Key facts

• Interim tests in regular courses: up to 3 attempts per semester (Study Regulations I, point 3.11)
• Final exams in regular courses: up to 2 attempts, the second one free (point 3.12)
• A failed exam can be retaken once for free before a commission of at least two teachers (point 7.1)
• Appeal against an exam result: within 72 hours, for state exams within 24 hours (point 9.3)
• International students: continuation after a failure for up to 4 consecutive semesters (Rector's Decree No. 1-PB-2/409/2023)
• Tuition for Medicine for international students in 2026/2027: €13,500 per year

Medicine at RSU takes six years, or 12 semesters, and carries 360 ECTS. The English-taught programme follows the same Study Regulations as the Latvian-taught one. Latvian national law, mainly the Law on Higher Education Institutions, sets the frame, and the university fills it with its own regulations.

The version of the Study Regulations I cited here is the one dated 1 March 2023. RSU updates its regulations regularly, so check the current text in your student portal before you rely on a point number.

Academic debt at RSU

In programmes that use the modular system, the rules are stricter at the end of the study year. Then at most two debts are allowed: one in a compulsory course and one in an elective. Debts are cleared in January for the autumn semester and in June for the spring semester. Students with debts at the start of the final semester cannot defend the final thesis, and the programme director may propose exmatriculation (points 3.25, 3.29 and 7.7).

Consultations with lecturers count as an official way to correct academic debts (point 2.18). Use them early, before the commission retake.

Repeating a year at RSU as an international student

The decree sets out how continuation works:

• You apply to the dean, who weighs unfinished obligations, learning outcomes, absences and other circumstances (point 2).
• If the dean agrees, your contact person prepares an amendment to the study contract with an individual study plan (point 3).
• You complete the unfinished obligations in the next semester, in the winter or summer intake, with the relevant student group (point 3.1).
• If you passed no interim exam, you repeat the whole course. If you passed the interim exams but not the final, the dean decides whether you repeat the course or only the final exam. If you fail that final again, the whole course must be repeated (points 3.1.1 and 3.1.2).
• Tuition for unfinished obligations follows the tuition fee of the current academic year (point 3.3).

Exclusion after academic failure is optional, not mandatory. That is the part many students miss: the dean has room to decide.

Exmatriculation at Riga Stradins University

A student who misses a tuition deadline without applying for an extension is exmatriculated one month after the deadline (point 6.10). Failing the state exam, or not being admitted to it because of unmet obligations, also ends the student status (Study Regulations I, points 8.5 and 8.6).

Restoration and appeals at RSU

• Restoration: apply at least five working days ahead, settle debts such as service fees, library books and the previous year's tuition (points 10.1.1 and 10.1.3).
• Only the final exam failed: you pay only for that exam (point 10.1.2).
• Appeal against exmatriculation: to the Academic Arbitration Court, whose rulings can go to court under the Administrative Procedure Law (point 9.4).
• Appeal against a disciplinary decision of the rector: within one month of notification (point 5.12).
• Appeal against an exam grade: within 72 hours (Study Regulations I, point 9.3).

Study leave and illness at RSU

For illness, the Study Regulations I distinguish two cases. A planned absence needs a request at least two weeks ahead with supporting documents, and the dean answers within five working days (point 3.14). For an unplanned absence, show your sick-leave document to your contact person within five working days of your return, and the dean is informed if the absence exceeds three weeks (point 3.15). Before an exam, you can also ask for a change of time or format for objective reasons such as health (point 5.5).

Study leave helps in the right moment. It does not help once a debt exists, because leave is refused in that case. Talk to your dean before the debt arises.

Why students get stuck in Medicine

I started dental medicine in Sofia in 2015, at 24, years after most of my classmates, and graduated in 2021. A slower start says nothing about the doctor you will become. A programme can be excellent and still not fit your pace this year.

Switch early: checklist

• Request your transcript of records and a confirmation of your current semester.
• Collect the syllabi of every passed course, with hours and ECTS.
• Keep your study contract and the amendment, if you signed one.
• Do not sign an exmatriculation request before you know your alternative.
• Book the free transfer consultation with Medschool Experts.

Next four weeks

• Week 1: read your result, use the review of your paper (3 working days) and decide whether an appeal within 72 hours makes sense.
• Week 2: book the commission retake and talk to your dean about the options in the decree for international students.
• Week 3: collect transcript and syllabi, and send them to Medschool Experts.
• Week 4: compare your options: continue at RSU with an individual plan, or transfer with a placement in a higher year.

Transfer from Riga Stradins University

A study transfer is a complicated undertaking. Every university checks hours, content and syllabi in its own way, and the documents must arrive in exactly the right form. Our experts have almost ten years of experience with study transfers worldwide, and therefore plan and carry them out confidently.

For exactly this situation we have several of our 25+ partner universities in Europe. Medschool Experts can save your medical career when a single exam threatens it.

Returning home with an EU degree

The national licensing body of your home country decides on registration, and the documents differ slightly from country to country. We tell you before you enrol which papers you collect during your studies.

Costs of continuing Medicine

Repeating a course at RSU is paid at the tuition fee of the current academic year (Decree No. 1-PB-2/409/2023, point 3.3). Compare that with a transfer before you decide. It does not have to be expensive.

How Medschool Experts helps

Medschool Experts are experts in exactly this situation. We check your transcript in a free consultation, choose among 25+ partner universities in Europe, prepare the application and the visa file, and plan your route back. More than 500 students have been placed so far. The first step is always a free transfer consultation.