German Nationals Holding Higher Education Entrance Qualifications Awarded by Non-German Institutions

Recognition of qualifications

If you did not obtain your higher education entrance qualification in the German school system in Germany or at a school that applies the German Abitur examination regulations you usually have to submit your educational certificates to uni-assist before applying or enrolling at the University of Würzburg.
As an external partner, uni-assist evaluates your educational certificates, rates the grade within the German system of grades and about this creates the so-called preliminary review documentation (Vorprüfungsdokumentation-VPD).

You must attach this VPD to your application/enrollment at the University of Würzburg.

Please note here:   important informations  on the preliminary review documentation (VPD). Please check whether you need a VPD.

Attention: A request for VPD at uni-assist is NOT counted as application for a course at the University of Würzburg. For study programs with restricted admission, a separate application  at the University of Würzburg is always required.

An overview of the prerequisites for Higher Education Entrance Qualifications can be found at anabin. A self-check of your educational certificates is also provided by uni-assist: "Check: university admission"".

Information for holders of an International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma:
To find out what criteria have to be met for an IB Diploma to be recognised as a general higher education entrance qualification, read the information sheet Vereinbarung über die Anerkennung des International Baccalaureate Diploma...., which is available for download from the website of the Zeugnisanerkennungsstelle for the Free State of Bavaria (section Merkblätter).

In case that the VPD does not show a direct university entrance qualification, but attendance at the Studienkolleg (assessment test) is required before commencing your degree course, please read the information on “Applying for admission to Studienkolleg and the Feststellungsprüfung exam”.

Proof of proficiency in the German language

To be able to enrol in a programme at the University of Würzburg, holders of a higher education entrance qualification that was awarded by a non-German institution must also present an official language certificate showing evidence of their proficiency in German. As a rule, this certificate is also required from German nationals.

Applicants whose biographies suggest that they have an adequate proficiency in German (e. g. applicants who graduated from a secondary school in Germany before they moved abroad) may be waived from the language certificate requirement on a case-by-case basis.

For a few Bachelor`s Programmes we accept German B2-certificate for enrolment (please find the list  on the pages of the International Office).

For all other Bachelor`s programmes and state examinations programmes, which are taught in German, we only accept one of the following language certificates:

• Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang (DSH) exam, DSH2 or higher
• TestDaF language certificate with level TDN 4 in all four components (= DSH2)
• Feststellungsprüfung exam (subject German) administered by a German Studienkolleg school
• Language certificate Deutsches Sprachdiplom der Kultusministerkonferenz, level 2
• Language certificate Goethe-Zertifikat C2
• Deutsche Sprachprüfung II exam administered by Sprachen- und Dolmetscher-Institut Munich
• telc Deutsch C1 Hochschule exam

If you do not hold any of these certificates, you can sit the Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang (DSH) exam at the University of Würzburg before you enrol. The DSH-exam for summer semester 2025 is offered in early April. If you want to sign up for the DSH exam, please contact Ms Kömm (phone: +49 931-3182461, email: studienberechtigung@uni-wuerzburg.de) until by 1 February 2025.

Please note: From the winter semester 2025/26 onwards, there will be changes to the way the language exam is held. We will publish the specific information here in due course.

We recommend to acquire an official language certificate already while being in the education system abroad (for example  Goethe-Zertifikat C2).

Applying for admission to Studienkolleg and the Feststellungsprüfung exam

If your certificate does not qualify you for direct admission to the University of Würzburg, you have the option to attend the Studienkolleg school in Munich and take the Feststellungsprüfung exam. Upon successful completion of the exam, you will be awarded a subject-restricted higher education entrance qualification that qualifies you for admission to degree programmes in subjects that are related to the course you attended at Studienkolleg and will be considered to have demonstrated an adequate proficiency in German.

Please note that you cannot apply directly at Studienkolleg but must apply via University Würzburg. For more Informations contact us in advance by mid-May at the latest for a winter semester and by mid-November at the latest for a sommer semester : studienberechtigung@uni-wuerzburg.de .
For application via University Würzburg you have to submit preliminary review  documentation (Vorprüfungsdokumentation-VPD) from uni-assist and proof of proficiency in German language at level B2!