What is the Recognised Parenting Period?

Students who become parents may register (report to their faculty’s student office) a Recognised Parenting Period (RPP). It is a tool designed for student-parents, which brings certain adjustments to their studies. The same tool may be used by students who have taken a child into their care (especially if the child is younger than 3 years).

Why register an RPP?

• The period of RPP is not counted towards the maximum length of study (i.e. it effectively extends it), but only from the moment it is reported to the faculty.

• If you report the RPP only after it has already ended (e.g. after your child turns 3), the maximum study length cannot be extended retroactively.

• The RPP is also not counted towards the length of study for the purpose of charging extended study fees. This means that the obligation to pay such fees is postponed by the duration of the RPP. However, if you have already exceeded the fee-free study period before the start of the RPP, fees will continue to be charged (in this case, you may request a remission of one fee due to the birth of a child – see Article 10 of the Rector’s Measure No. 25/2023).

• You do not have to interrupt your studies, but you are entitled to do so. If you do not interrupt, you must continue fulfilling your study obligations (see more below about the Individual Study Plan).

• Doctoral students may interrupt their studies even during the evaluation of their individual study plan.

• During the RPP you are entitled to request approval of an Individual Study Plan (ISP) (unless there are other reasons for its rejection, especially if grounds for termination of studies exist). You must apply for the ISP during the RPP.

• The form of ISP may differ across faculties (depending on the specific study programme). Generally, the ISP allows students to obtain the required number of credits for a given period over a longer time span than set by CU internal regulations. However, in order to successfully complete your studies, you must always acquire all required credits and meet all obligations defined by your study plan.

How long does the RPP last?

Both mothers and fathers can register RPP, and both simultaneously if both study at CU.

• Mothers: from 8 weeks before the expected date of delivery until the child’s 3rd birthday.

• Fathers: from the child’s birth until the child’s 3rd birthday.

We recommend reporting the RPP as soon as possible, since some benefits (especially the extension of maximum study length) are linked to the date of reporting, not retroactively.

In the case of taking a child into care, the RPP begins on the date of the final legal decision on taking the child into care and lasts until the child’s 3rd birthday. For a child aged 3 to 7 years, the duration of RPP is 22 weeks.

How to report an RPP?

• You need to fill in an RPP notification form, which will be available at your student office.

• If the RPP is initially reported using a copy of the pregnancy card, you must also submit a copy of the child’s birth certificate within 22 weeks after the child’s birth.

Where to read more?

• Rector’s Measure No. 36/2018 “Details on the Registration of Recognised Parenting Period”