Student Support for Educational Systems

When do I get access to Brightspace and my courses?

Updated on

New students will get access to Brightspace approximately 60 days prior to the beginning of the new academic year. 

Courses that start in September will be opened in Brightspace within 2 weeks prior to the beginning of the academic year. Courses that start in February will be opened 2 weeks prior to the start of the second semester. Keep in mind that the opening date can be different per course. The courses will be open before the first lecture.

Beneath you will find possible reasons for why the course is not (yet) visible and why you cannot (yet) login to Brightspace.

Students who start in September

If you are a new student at Leiden University, access to Brightspace will be provided within 60 days prior to the beginning of the academic year. Unfortunately, you will not be able to login nor to access courses in the mean time. 

Register for your courses in uSis

You need to enroll for courses in uSis. You can read here how to do so. Sometimes the Education Administration Office takes care of your registration for courses in uSis. In those cases you cannot register yourself in uSis. Please contact the Education Administration Office to verify whether this is the case. If your faculty contacted you about enrollment in Brightspace,  you can follow this article. 

You are an alumnus or you were not registered as a student for a longer period

You cannot access Brightspace as an alumnus. More information is provided here. You will become an alumnus 60 days after your graduation.

If you have not been registered as a student for more than 120 days, for example if you unregister as a Bachelor's student and later enroll as a Master's student, you will not have access to Brightspace until 60 days prior to the new academic year. 

The course is grayed out

If you are able to see your course, but it is grayed out, it means that the course is not opened yet. However, this means that you are enrolled for this course! You can find more information about grayed out courses here.

The course has ended

Courses from the previous year automatically close on September 30th. You will not be able to access this course. An instructor can also choose to end the course earlier. Contact your instructor if you need information from their course. Learn more about a course's 'Life cycle' here.

You are taking part in Compulsory Matching

Compulsory Matching activities take place before you start studying at Leiden University. Contact your faculty's spokesperson if you do not see the course in Brightspace. Contact the Brightspace Support Team if you can not log in to Brightspace. 

Previous Article FAQ Students
Next Article How do I register for courses in Brightspace?