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Changes to SPSS on Radboud Workstations from Academic Year 2026-2027

Do you use SPSS for teaching, digital assessments, or research? Starting from the 2026-2027 academic year, a part of the availability of SPSS on Radboud-managed workstations will change. Read on to find out what this means for you and which changes will be implemented in August 2026.

Offering multiple SPSS versions side by side no longer possible

Due to technical limitations, it is no longer possible to provide multiple versions of SPSS simultaneously. Furthermore, vendor support for SPSS 27 will expire on September 30, 2026. Therefore, from the 2026-2027 academic year onward, only one version of SPSS will be available on Radboud-managed workstations. This version will always match the version available on digital assessment workstations. For the 2026-2027 academic year, this will be version 29.

Overview of available versions by academic year:

2025-2026

  • Assessment workstations: v29
  • Workstations: v27 and v29

2026-2027

  • Assessment workstations: v29
  • Workstations: v29

2027-2028

  • Assessment workstations: to be determined (v31, v32 or a future version)
  • Workstations: to be determined (v31, v32 or a future version)

Please note: Upgrading to a newer version in 2027-2028 will be necessary, as support for SPSS 29 will end in September 2027.

Changes in August and September 2026

The following changes will be implemented in August and September 2026:

  • No changes will be made to assessment workstations: SPSS 29 will remain available.

  • SPSS 27 will be removed from Radboud-managed workstations as of September 30. After that, only SPSS 29 will be available. 

  • The PROCESS Macro plug-in will be upgraded from version 4.2 to version 5 on both workstations and assessment workstations. 

Future approach

From now on, version upgrades will involve a direct transition to a new SPSS version. At the beginning of each calendar year, together with the faculties, it will be determined which SPSS version will be used in the following academic year.

Lecturers and other key users will then have the opportunity to test the new version in advance on a virtual workstation, ensuring there is no impact on their own workstation. This will allow lecturers sufficient time to update teaching materials if necessary. The final transition to the new SPSS version will take place annually during the assessment-free period in the summer.

License Server Upgrade on Wednesday Morning, 16 September

On Wednesday morning, 16 September, the SPSS license server will be upgraded. This may cause a few brief interruptions during which you will be unable to use SPSS. The work will be completed by 8:00 a.m. at the latest, so there will be no immediate impact on teaching, research, or digital exams. This change will not affect your use of SPSS in any other way. Once the work is complete, everything will function as usual.

Contact information

Questions about the SPSS version change? Please contact the ICT Helpdesk via icthelpdesk [at] ru.nl (icthelpdesk[at]ru[dot]nl) or +31 24 362 22 22 (opened during weekdays from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM).

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Information & Library Services