This depends on your chosen course.
Each university has different application requirements. Please find out from the universities which documents you need. The requirements vary between universities and courses of study.
For all universities, you generally need:
- the application form that you create when you apply in My assist.
- educational certificates such as secondary school leaving certificates and proofs of completed university courses, including an overview of all subjects and grades. Depending on your country of origin and chosen course of study, other documents may be necessary, such as proof of having passed a University entrance exam, for example.
- recognised language certificates showing German language proficiency for your desired course. Other language certificates may be necessary for other foreign languages. For international courses of study, English language certificates are sometimes sufficient.
Additional application documents may be required. These could include, for example, special application forms, your CV, internship certificates or letters of motivation and letters of recommendation. It depends on your chosen course of study.
Further information:
You need to submit each document once only, even if you are applying to multiple universities or for several courses of study. These documents must meet the requirements in form and content for all universities. The requirements for application documents vary between different universities and courses of study.
During processing, your documents will be stamped and may be cut. After the safekeeping period ends, we destroy the documents. uni-assist does not return any documents.
For this reason, you should only send us officially certified copies, never original documents!
uni-assist does not take any responsibility for loss or damage incurred during postage.
Yes. You can submit documents at any time before the application deadline expires.
Have we already forwarded your application to the university? In this case, please ask the university’s admission office where to send your documents.
Are you applying for the preliminary review documentation (VPD)? If so, you should allow sufficient time for your application, because with the VPD, you still have to apply to the university directly.
More information:
No. uni-assist does not return documents. After the safekeeping period ends, we destroy the documents.
For this reason, you should only send us officially certified copies, never original documents!
uni-assist does not take any responsibility for loss or damage incurred during postage.
You can easily submit your TestAS results online in your My assist account.
Digital TestAS:
Upload your TestAS certificate under “My applications“ / “Documents.“
Paper-based TestAS:
Submit your TestAS information via “My account“ / “Change applicant information“ / “Educational history.“
We will then be able to retrieve and verify your TestAS results online.
Some universities accept applications with preliminary education certificates. Some will only do so if you took or are studying for your bachelor's degree in Germany or in an EU country.
If accepted, you will need an attestation from your current university on your future degree and the studies you have completed so far.
If the university does not accept applications with preliminary certificates, you can only apply with a completed undergraduate degree.
Please contact your chosen university directly before applying to find out if you can apply with a preliminary certificate.
Which documents do I need to submit about my semester(s) abroad?
Please submit an overview of all subjects and grades for your entire studies, including semesters abroad.
If the overview of subjects and grades issued by your university does not show clearly that your semesters abroad are recognised for your degree, ask your university for a letter of acknowledgement to confirm this. Submit the letter together with your other documents.
My university did not issue an overall grade for my degree. Does uni-assist take into account the grades achieved during my semester(s) abroad when calculating my average grade in the German grading system?
In order to do this, all grades that count towards your degree need to be stated using the same grading system. This means: Your university must give you an overview of subjects and grades which shows all grades in a unified grading system. Otherwise, we cannot take into account any grades achieved during your semester(s) abroad when calculating an average grade in the German grading system.
This depends on your chosen course.
Universities have very different requirements for language skills. Make sure that you find out from the university about the required language level and necessary language certificates. The requirements vary from university to university and from course to course.
You will find a general overview on the website study-in.de and on our website under Language certificates.
Tips on language skills and language certificates:
- German is the language of instruction for most courses of study in Germany. This is why you generally have to prove sufficient German proficiency, for example with a DSH or TestDaF certificate or a certificate from the Goethe Institut.
- Some courses of study require other language certificates for other foreign languages (for example, for language studies or international courses of study). TOEFL or IELTS certificates may be required for English, for example.
- If you want to apply for a Studienkolleg (preparatory course) or a preparatory German language course, then you generally need to prove a certain level of German proficiency. This applies for the Studienkolleg, even if you later want to take a bachelor's course with English as language of instruction. This is because the language of instruction in the Studienkolleg is German.
- Some courses of study are offered in English, in which case you may need little or no German. You will find international courses of study in the DAAD “International Programmes” database.
Please note:
Your language certificates must be received by uni-assist before the end of the application deadline, in the original language and, if necessary, also in certified translation (either English or German). Before you apply, please check with each university which language certificates are required.
Check here if your chosen university accepts online-only applications. Does your university still require officially certified copies? Then, please send them to us by post.
We can verify your TestDaF certificate online. Simply upload your certificate to your My assist account within the application deadline. A certified copy is not required.
Have you completed a TestDaF exam but your TestDaF certificate is not yet available online? Then please upload your confirmation of registration for the exam. The confirmation of registration must show your test date and participant number so that we can verify your results online
You will find all relevant information on how to submit these language certificates on our website.
Your chosen university determines whether your documents need to be certified.
Many universities allow online-only applications using simple copies (scans) of all documents. Check here if your chosen university accepts online-only applications.
If so, simply submit all required documents as an upload – even without official certification.
Does your chosen university require officially certified copies of your educational certificates (including Overviews of subjects and grades) and proofs of language proficiency? Then, please send them to us by post. This applies both to copies of the certificates in the original language and to copies of certified translations.
To find out how and where to get documents certified, please check:
If your documents were not issued in German or English, then they generally have to be translated into either German or English.
This applies to your educational certificates (including your transcript or overview of subjects and grades) and to proofs of language proficiency, for example.
Does your chosen university require application documents in paper form? If so, please send us officially certified copies of the translations and of the original documents. Do not send us original documents. We will not return documents to you.
Check here if your chosen university accepts online-only applications.
To find out who is authorised to translate your certificates and proofs of language proficiency, please check:
Yes. Officially certified copies must be submitted as hard copies, because they must bear the original official stamp and the original signature of the certifying person.
Scans, uploads or simple photocopies of officially certified copies are not valid.
Do you hold a high school diploma from a school recognised by a US Accreditation body?
You will need to submit the following documents:
- Your certificates from grade 9 to 12 stating your cumulative GPA (unweighted!), generally as officially certified copies.
Important: We need certificates issued using the US grading system – i.e. the numerical 0-4 or A, B, C, D scale. If you were not graded according to the US grading system, we need a comparison of the system that was used with the US grading system.
Two important notes:
- Your high school diploma must conform to the US curriculum.
This means that all course names must conform to the US curriculum.
Course names like “Mathematics” or “English” are not sufficient. We always need the specific US course name, such as “Algebra”, “Geometry”, “Trigonometry”, “Pre-Calculus”, “English I-IV”, “English Honors” or “AP English”, for example.
- A US high school diploma alone does not allow you to study in Germany.
You must first complete the Studienkolleg (preparatory course). Direct studies are possible only if you have passed AP exams with specific results.- More information about your University entrance qualification: Check: university admission.
- More information on AP exams: country-specific information for the United States
Please submit your application and your documents at least 8 weeks before the application deadline.
If you already have an International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma, you will need to submit the following documents:
Your final IB Diploma including all subjects and grades, issued by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO)
All reports from the last two school years of the IB programme (term / semester reports or transcripts), including the report from the last term / semester with the final marks
These reports must show at which level (Standard or Higher Level) you studied the six IB subjects throughout the last two school years.
For some universities, officially certified copies are required. If your reports are only provided electronically, your school can certify these by printing, signing and stamping them.
Please submit additional written confirmation from your school if:
your reports do not show the level for all six IB subjects
the names of the subjects in the reports are different from those in the IB Diploma
the reports do not indicate whether the languages were taken as “A“, “B“ or “ab initio“ and/or the level is missing
not all of the reports / subjects contain the information mentioned here
your school does not issue a report for the last semester of the second year in the IB programme
It is not sufficient that your IB Diploma shows the level and precise subject information. In addition, all of your reports must contain this information, or additional written confirmation from your school is required.
If your final IB Diploma has been issued, you need to submit a copy of this document. It is then no longer sufficient just to make your results available to uni-assist on the IBO website or to submit a transcript of grades. This can only be accepted for a limited period of time.
How to apply if you have not yet received your final IB Diploma / your IB results
Please submit all your reports that have already been issued and, if required, additional written confirmation from your school as early as possible, even if your IB results will not be released until a few weeks later.
We are able to verify your IB results on the IBO website after they have been published at the beginning of January or July – but only if you follow these steps:
You must ask the IB coordinator at your school to make your results available to uni-assist via the IB secure website (IBIS). If the results have already been published, you must make a results request via the IB website so that your results are made available to uni-assist. If you don‘t do this, we will not be able to verify your results.
Next you must inform us of the release of your results. Please send us a message via the contact form on our website (https://my.uni-assist.de/hilfe). Additionally, you need to upload your IB results to your My assist account.
Please also submit the report from the last term / semester of the second year in the IB programme with the final marks as soon as the report has been issued by your school. If your school does not issue a report for the last semester, then please submit written confirmation from your school about this. In addition, the school needs to list which six IB subjects you studied during the last semester of the second IB year.
We do not automatically verify all results which IBO makes available to uni-assist. Therefore it is necessary for you to contact us as soon as your results have been released.
Regardless of the verification of your IB results, we still need your reports from the last two school years. For some universities, these are required as officially certified copies. If your reports are only provided electronically, your school can certify these by printing, signing and stamping them.
Please read the information above about the reports and additional written confirmation from your school that might be required.
How to apply if you have retaken any IB exams
Please send us a message via the contact form on our website (https://my.uni-assist.de/hilfe). You also need to upload your new IB results to your My assist online account. Please also submit your first IB Diploma or the results of the first IB exam.
How to apply if you have not yet received your final IB Diploma after the retakes
Please refer to “How to apply if you have not yet received your final IB Diploma / your IB results”
How to apply if you have already received your final IB Diploma after the retakes
Please refer to “If you already have an International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma, you will need to submit the following documents”
Language requirements
Applicants who have taken German in the IB Diploma must still enquire at the university to which they are applying about language requirements. Taking German in the IB Diploma does not automatically mean that no further evidence of German language proficiency is required.
University entrance qualification
To find out more about the possibilities of studying in Germany with an IB Diploma, please refer to the anabin database, run by the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB):
Click “Schulabschlüsse mit Hochschulzugang“
Select the country “International Baccalaureate (IB / GIB)“