• There is a written and/or an oral examination at the end of every study year. A sufficient score of 60 points for the practical and for the theoretical parts each is needed for promotion to a further year.
• In the clinic, the student is tested during apprenticeship on criteria that are considered relevant to the practice of TCM.
• Re-takes: students who have failed their exam, can re-take the exam within three months. If they fail the second time, they must wait until the following year to re-take the exam, and examination costs will then be charged.
• Students who do not take the exam but instead want to do the re-exam will be considered as ”skipping the exam”. If they fail the re-exam, they must wait until the following year to re-take the exam, and examination costs will then be charged.
• Students who do not show up for the exam, and who did not notify us at least three weeks in advance on this, loose the right for a free re-exam. Re-exam can be done after payment.
• SOU can refuse to accept students who failed twice any exam for further studies.

Cum Laude
Cum Laude is granted to students of Acupuncture, Herbalist or Tuina Course who have an average score of 8.5 or higher, AND finished Foundations of Western Medicine Course, if necessary. The average is calculated over the result of the Foundations of TCM and the results per year of the course of choice, divided by the subsequent number of years. Students who failed once or more, will not be granted Cum Laude status even though the final average score is 8.5 or higher.