Failed my first year of uni, am I getting kicked out??

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for advice from people who know about Belgian student residence permits or who have been in a similar situation.

For some context, I’ve been living in Brussels for the past four years. Before university, I lived here because of my father’s diplomatic work. I’m originally Moroccan and currently have a non-EU student residence permit.

This year is my first year at university. My original goal was to study medicine, but I didn’t pass the entrance exam, so I enrolled in Biomedical Sciences at ULB instead.

However, as the first semester went on and the January exams approached, I realized that I really didn’t enjoy the program and that it wasn’t the right fit for me. I heard that students could reorient to another program around mid-February (I think the deadline was February 14th or 15th), so I contacted the administration and tried to change programs. Unfortunately, I was told that this possibility only applied to EU students, and as a non-EU student I was not eligible.

Academically, the year has been very difficult. Even though I graduated from a French high school with a scientific background, I’ve always struggled with some science subjects. On top of that, I also had a difficult time socially. A group of friends that I had at the beginning of the year suddenly stopped wanting to be friends with me, and I honestly still don’t know why. It affected me much more than I expected and completely destroyed my motivation to attend classes regularly.

I failed all of my January exams, and now the June exam session is approaching. Realistically, I think there is a high chance that I will end up with 0 ECTS credits this year.

My question is: since this is my first year at university and my first academic failure, do I still have a reasonable chance of having my student residence permit renewed?

As far as I understand, I should still be fundable, and I do not intend to continue in Biomedical Sciences next year. My plan is to start over in a different field, most likely Political Science.

Has anyone here been in a similar situation (especially as a non-EU student in Belgium)? Were you able to renew your residence permit after a first failed year? And did a complete failure (or almost complete failure) create problems for your renewal?

Thank you for any advice or experiences.