Germany: where an application actually starts

What you need to do

Start with the certificate, not the programme. Germany grants the right to apply through a separate higher education entrance qualification, and a foreign school certificate is either treated as equivalent or it is not. Until that is settled, choosing a programme is premature: the answer decides whether you apply to a university straight away or first to a preparatory course — the Studienkolleg — which ends in an examination.

The second step is to find out where the application physically goes. Some German universities accept international applications through a shared admissions service, some take them directly, and many use both routes for different programmes. This is a property of the programme, not of the university, so its own page is what to read.

The third step is language. The requirement is set by the programme, not by the country: one accepts an international certificate, another requires a German examination taken inside Germany. The level and the list of accepted certificates are published by the university itself.

Where the official answers live

• anabin — the database of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education: how the German side assesses certificates and degrees from your country, and which institutions it recognises. This is the starting point for the question of eligibility.
• Study in Germany — the official portal for international applicants: the order of steps, types of institution, admission requirements.
• uni-assist — the shared admissions service a large share of universities use, and the place where each university's chosen route is stated.

How to check that the requirement has not changed

Check your programme's page rather than an article or a summary: it is what sets the language requirement, the deadline and the route your application takes. A university's own requirement does not override the general rule on eligibility, nor does it replace it — you will have to satisfy both.

Deadlines and amounts for Germany are collected in the facts on the country page, each with a link to its primary source and the date it was checked. An expired fact is not shown at all, deliberately: an outdated number should not look like a current one.