Germany

• No tuition fees at public universities for EU/EEA students - you pay only a semester contribution, usually including a public transport pass.
• Ikast-Brande Gymnasium is named in Annex 1 of the KMK IB agreement, which removes the Maths SL penalty that blocks most IB students from STEM subjects in Germany.
• Very large system: hundreds of universities and Fachhochschulen, so there is almost always somewhere that teaches your subject.
• Strong engineering, natural sciences and economics, with close links to industry and paid internship semesters at applied-sciences universities.
• Living costs outside Munich, Frankfurt and Hamburg are low by Northern European standards.

• The KMK subject-combination rule is absolute. If your six IB subjects do not match it, no amount of points will fix it.
• Taking Mathematics AA SL or AI SL normally restricts you to non-STEM subjects - unless your school is on the KMK Annex 1 list (Ikast-Brande and Grenaa are).
• English-taught bachelor's are the exception, not the rule. Many attractive programmes require German at C1/DSH level.
• Non-EU students pay tuition in Baden-Wurttemberg (1,500 EUR per semester at Heidelberg, Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Tubingen, Mannheim, Konstanz) and at TUM in Munich (usually 2,000-3,000 EUR per semester for a bachelor's, for students starting since winter 2024/25). EU citizens are exempt from both.
• Popular subjects have a Numerus Clausus: places are rationed by grade, and your converted German grade is what you are ranked on.
• The German medical application has a paper half. An online application by the July exclusion deadline is not enough - hochschulstart also needs the signed form and your documents on paper about five days later, and that second date is an exclusion deadline too. With IB results on 6 July, plan the postal leg before you have your results.
• In the DoSV coordination phase you rank your own offers only until a cut-off about a week after the July deadline. After it the system converts your highest-ranked offer automatically and deletes the rest, so a list left in the wrong order costs you the place you wanted rather than any place at all.

Accepted

Yes

Minimum

24 points (a full IB Diploma). Each of the six required subjects must be graded at least 4. If exactly one subject is a 3, it can be compensated by a grade of at least 5 in another subject at the same or a higher level, provided the total is at least 24 points.

Subjects and levels

KMK agreement of 10.03.1986 in the version of 15.06.2023, section 1. Among your six IB subjects there must be: (1) two languages at level A or B, of which at least one is a continued foreign language taken as Language A or Language B HL; (2) a natural science (Biology, Chemistry or Physics); (3) Mathematics (Analysis and Approaches or Applications and Interpretation); (4) a social science (History, Geography, Economics, Psychology, Philosophy, Social Anthropology, Business and Management or Global Politics). The sixth subject may be another of those, or: Visual Arts, Music, Theatre, Film, Literature and Performance, a further modern foreign language, Latin, Classical Greek, General Chemistry, Applied Chemistry, Environmental Systems and Societies, Computer Science, Design Technology, World Religions, Sports Exercise and Health Science, or Digital Society. From the May 2025 session onwards, at least one of your three Higher Level subjects must be a language, Mathematics or a natural science (section 1b). All six subjects must have been taken across the full two years of the Diploma Programme.

Score conversion

The KMK sets one formula for the whole country: N = 1 + 3 x (Pmax - P) / (Pmax - Pmin), where P is your IB total including bonus points, Pmax = 42 and Pmin = 24. Any total from 42 to 45 points is set equal to the top German grade 1.0. Worked examples from that formula: 42+ points = 1.0; 40 = 1.3; 38 = 1.6 (the KMK keeps one decimal and does not round); 36 = 2.0; 34 = 2.3; 30 = 3.0; 24 = 4.0.

• Mathematics at Standard Level is the trap to watch. Under footnote 3 of the agreement, anyone presenting Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches SL or Mathematics: Applications and Interpretation SL from the May 2021 session onwards can normally only be given a subject-restricted university entrance (fachgebundene Hochschulzugangsberechtigung) for subjects outside maths, science and technology.
• There is a written exception, and Denmark is in it. Annex 1 of the agreement (version of 26.03.2026) lists Ikast-Brande Gymnasium (school code 004672, valid from the May 2022 session) and Grenaa Gymnasium (001488, from May 2025). Graduates of these schools are treated as meeting the mathematics requirement even with Maths SL, so they get the general Hochschulzugangsberechtigung.
• The Diploma must have been earned after at least twelve consecutive years of full-time schooling.
• German citizens who did not take German in the IB programme must prove sufficient German before starting a degree in Germany; the detail is set by each federal state.
• If your combination does not satisfy section 1, the fallback is the Feststellungspruefung at a Studienkolleg, or one successfully completed year of university study in a country whose leaving certificate gives direct access to German universities.
• Course Results (certificates without the full Diploma) are not covered by the agreement.

1. From autumn 2026, check each programme you like against the KMK subject rule above - do this before anything else, because it cannot be fixed later.

2. Check on anabin (anabin.kmk.org) or with the university whether your Diploma is treated as a general or subject-restricted entrance qualification.

3. Find out for each university whether it takes applications directly or through uni-assist, and whether the programme is taught in German or English.

4. If German is required, get the certificate (DSH, TestDaF or equivalent) organised in good time - this is usually the thing that makes people miss a year.

5. Open your uni-assist or university account in spring 2027, upload school documents and predicted grades, and pay the handling fee.

6. For medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine or pharmacy, register on hochschulstart.de and submit by the July deadline.

7. Send the final IB Diploma as soon as it arrives in early July 2027, then enrol and pay the semester contribution before the semester starts in October.

Many programmes are open admission (zulassungsfrei): meet the requirements and you are in. Others carry a local Numerus Clausus, where places are ranked by your converted German grade. Medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine and pharmacy are restricted nationwide and allocated centrally through hochschulstart.de. Applicants with a foreign leaving certificate are often handled in a separate quota with its own place count, which can work either for or against you.

• 1 September 2025

  Check the KMK subject rule against your IB choices

  Your own plan Via Germany

  Details

  Not published by anyone — a date worth setting yourself.

  Not a deadline anyone sets, and the most important date on this page. The rule governs which six subjects you take, so it has to be checked while those are still changeable. Nothing later can repair it.

• 1 March 2027

  Start the uni-assist preliminary review

  Your own plan Via Germany

  Details

  Not published by anyone — a date worth setting yourself.

  Foreign qualifications are normally checked by uni-assist before a university will consider the application. uni-assist says a result usually takes 4 to 6 weeks and asks you to apply at least 8 weeks before the deadline. Starting late is a common and avoidable way to miss an institutional deadline.

• 27 April 2027
  2027 entry - projected from Wintersemester 2026/27; hochschulstart has published nothing for 2027/28

  DoSV application phase opens

  Details

  Published as "27.04.2026 - Start der Bewerbungsphase (09:00 Uhr)" for Wintersemester 2026/27, with a time as well as a day. The same date governs locally restricted courses: an application filed earlier through a university's own portal becomes visible in the hochschulstart portal only from that morning. hochschulstart.de carries only two tables, Wintersemester 2026/27 and an archive of Sommersemester 2026, and no Wintersemester 2027/28 dates exist anywhere on the site. Judging by this cycle the winter table appears in spring, so recheck from about March 2027.

  Source

• 31 May 2027

  Medicine group closes for gap-year applicants (leaving certificate before mid-January)

  Hard deadline Via Germany

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  This deadline applies if your school-leaving certificate predates 16 January of the application year, which for an IB candidate means you took a gap year. Straight from the Diploma, this is not your deadline.

  Published as "31.05.2026 - Ende der Bewerbungsphase (Ausschlussfrist) fuer Alt-Abiturient*innen", qualified "mit einem HZB-Zeugnis vor 16.01.2026". If you take a gap year and apply with your 2027 diploma for 2028 entry, you become an Altabiturient and the deadline moves forward by six weeks. An Ausschlussfrist cannot be extended, and hochschulstart says so explicitly - not even where the applicant is blameless. hochschulstart.de carries only two tables, Wintersemester 2026/27 and an archive of Sommersemester 2026, and no Wintersemester 2027/28 dates exist anywhere on the site. Judging by this cycle the winter table appears in spring, so recheck from about March 2027.

  Source

• 15 June 2027
  2027 entry - projected from Wintersemester 2026/27; hochschulstart has published nothing for 2027/28

  Medicine group - gap-year applicants: signed application and paper documents must arrive by post

  Hard deadline

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  Published as "15.06.2026 - Fristende: Nachreichen von Unterlagen (Ausschlussfrist) durch Alt-Abiturient*innen". The online application is not the whole application: hochschulstart also needs the signed form and supporting documents on paper. Evidence you only obtain after this day may still be sent up to 20 July, provided the online application arrived by 31 May. Since January 2025 German post typically takes three to four working days and the risk of late arrival is yours. hochschulstart.de carries only two tables, Wintersemester 2026/27 and an archive of Sommersemester 2026, and no Wintersemester 2027/28 dates exist anywhere on the site. Judging by this cycle the winter table appears in spring, so recheck from about March 2027.

  Source

• 6 July 2027

  IB results released

  Via Germany

  Details

  Early July, which is what places an IB candidate in the later medicine group rather than the earlier one.

• 15 July 2027

  Medicine and neighbours close — for applicants with a 2027 certificate

  Hard deadline Via Germany

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  The deadline for a student applying straight from the May 2027 session. Roughly a week after results, so the paperwork has to be ready before they arrive.

  Published as "15.07.2026 - Ende der Bewerbungsphase (Ausschlussfrist) fuer Neu-Abiturient*innen", qualified "mit einem HZB-Zeugnis nach 15.01.2026". Your IB results arrive 6 July 2027, so you fall in the Neuabiturient group and this is the deadline that matters. Which group you are in turns on the date printed on the certificate, not on when you apply. hochschulstart.de carries only two tables, Wintersemester 2026/27 and an archive of Sommersemester 2026, and no Wintersemester 2027/28 dates exist anywhere on the site. Judging by this cycle the winter table appears in spring, so recheck from about March 2027.

  Source

• 15 July 2027
  Typical deadline - each university sets its own, and some English-taught programmes close as early as January

  Most other bachelor's programmes, winter semester

  Details

  uni-assist publishes this only as a hedge: "The application deadline is often July 15th if the course starts in the winter semester", under a heading saying the deadlines listed "apply for many, but not all, university courses in Germany". No year is attached, and it is not stated as a bachelor's rule. The German version of the same page goes further than the English one - "Immer mehr Hochschulen setzen aber fruehere Fristen", more and more universities are setting earlier deadlines - so treat 15 July as a fading default rather than a deadline. uni-assist's own rule is that its deadline is whatever deadline the university set. Always take the date from the programme page.

  Source

• 16 July 2027
  2027 entry - projected from Wintersemester 2026/27; hochschulstart has published nothing for 2027/28

  DoSV coordination phase opens

  Details

  Published as "16.07.2026 - Start der Koordinierungsphase". From this day universities may make admission offers for locally restricted courses, subject to their releasing their ranking lists. An offer is not a place: hochschulstart issues a Zulassungsbescheid only after you accept an offer or after the coordination rules convert one automatically, which is what the priority deadline four days later is for. hochschulstart.de carries only two tables, Wintersemester 2026/27 and an archive of Sommersemester 2026, and no Wintersemester 2027/28 dates exist anywhere on the site. Judging by this cycle the winter table appears in spring, so recheck from about March 2027.

  Source

• 20 July 2027
  2027 entry - projected from Wintersemester 2026/27; hochschulstart has published nothing for 2027/28

  Medicine group - signed application and paper documents must arrive by post

  Hard deadline

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  Published as "20.07.2026 - Fristende: Nachreichen von Unterlagen (Ausschlussfrist) durch Neu-Abiturient*innen". This is the one an IB candidate is most likely to be caught by: results on 6 July, online application by 15 July, and then paper documents physically in hochschulstart's hands five days later. It is an Ausschlussfrist, so it cannot be extended, and German post is quoted at three to four working days. hochschulstart.de carries only two tables, Wintersemester 2026/27 and an archive of Sommersemester 2026, and no Wintersemester 2027/28 dates exist anywhere on the site. Judging by this cycle the winter table appears in spring, so recheck from about March 2027.

  Source

• 22 July 2027
  2027 entry - projected from Wintersemester 2026/27; hochschulstart has published nothing for 2027/28

  DoSV - last day to rank your offers before the coordination rules take over

  Hard deadline

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  The hidden deadline in the German system. Published as "22.07.2026 - Stichtag, bevor die Koordinierungsregeln greifen". Until this day you set the priority order of your applications yourself. From the next day - "23.07.2026 - Beginn der Anwendung der Koordinierungsregeln" - the system converts your highest-ranked offer into an admission automatically and deletes every lower-ranked one. Leaving your list in the wrong order therefore does not lose you a place; it loses you the place you wanted. hochschulstart.de carries only two tables, Wintersemester 2026/27 and an archive of Sommersemester 2026, and no Wintersemester 2027/28 dates exist anywhere on the site. Judging by this cycle the winter table appears in spring, so recheck from about March 2027.

  Source

• 24 August 2027
  2027 entry - projected from Wintersemester 2026/27; hochschulstart has published nothing for 2027/28

  DoSV coordination phase ends

  Details

  Published as "24.08.2026 - Ende der Koordinierungsphase". The portal is locked for the two days before it - "22.08.2026 - Beginn der Portalsperre (ab 00:00 Uhr)" to "24.08.2026 - Abschluss der Portalsperre (24:00 Uhr)" - so you cannot change anything over that weekend. Remaining admission and deferral decisions are published the following day. hochschulstart.de carries only two tables, Wintersemester 2026/27 and an archive of Sommersemester 2026, and no Wintersemester 2027/28 dates exist anywhere on the site. Judging by this cycle the winter table appears in spring, so recheck from about March 2027.

  Source

• 25 August to 27 August 2027
  2027 entry - projected from Wintersemester 2026/27; hochschulstart has published nothing for 2027/28

  DoSV - registration window for Koordiniertes Nachrücken (the clearing round)

  Hard deadline

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  Published as "25.08.2026 - Beginn der Anmeldephase Koordiniertes Nachruecken" to "27.08.2026 - Ende der Anmeldephase Koordiniertes Nachruecken". Three days, and you have to opt in: if you have no place after the coordination phase, this is the only route left, and missing the registration window closes it whatever places later fall free. hochschulstart.de carries only two tables, Wintersemester 2026/27 and an archive of Sommersemester 2026, and no Wintersemester 2027/28 dates exist anywhere on the site. Judging by this cycle the winter table appears in spring, so recheck from about March 2027.

  Source

• 30 September 2027
  2027 entry - projected from Wintersemester 2026/27; hochschulstart has published nothing for 2027/28

  DoSV - Koordiniertes Nachrücken ends

  Details

  Published as "30.09.2026 - Ende des Koordinierten Nachrueckens", the end of the whole allocation procedure. Decisions go out twice a week through September, on Monday and Thursday afternoons. hochschulstart.de carries only two tables, Wintersemester 2026/27 and an archive of Sommersemester 2026, and no Wintersemester 2027/28 dates exist anywhere on the site. Judging by this cycle the winter table appears in spring, so recheck from about March 2027.

  Source

• Date not published
  2027 entry

  uni-assist preliminary review (VPD) - submit well before the university deadline

  Your own plan

  Details

  Not published by anyone — a date worth setting yourself.

  A lead time, not a date anyone publishes, which is why it carries no day. uni-assist states that you "will usually receive your evaluation result in 4 to 6 weeks", counted from the day it receives your online form, and that applications are evaluated in order of arrival. Its regional table - keyed to where your certificates were issued, not where you live - puts "Western Europe and Latin America: 3-4 weeks", the slowest band on the list, which is the one a Danish IB diploma falls into. The VPD section itself gives no processing figure at all and says only to apply as early as possible. uni-assist's own recommendation is to apply "at least 8 weeks before the deadline expires" so that it can tell you in time if a document is missing. With IB results on 6 July and a 15 July university deadline, that is impossible to do on results - so start the uni-assist file in spring 2027 with predicted grades and school documents.

  Source

• Not yet announced for this intake
  2027 entry

  hochschulstart.de - Wintersemester 2027/28 timetable

  Details

  Nothing for Wintersemester 2027/28 is published. The Termine page carries the 2026/27 table and an archive of Sommersemester 2026, and the only forward-looking date on the whole site is on its homepage: "Die Bewerbungsphase fuer das Sommersemester 2027 startet am 26.10.2026 um 09:00 Uhr" - a February 2027 start, which is not your intake. Every DoSV date on this page is the 2026/27 day carried forward and marked provisional. The structure has been stable across cycles, so the shape is safe to plan against even though the days are not yet fixed; the 2027/28 table should appear around March or April 2027.

  Source

English-taught bachelors

A real but limited option. Most public universities teach bachelor's in German; English-taught bachelor's cluster at universities of applied sciences (such as Rhine-Waal), a few public programmes (University College Freiburg's Liberal Arts and Sciences) and private institutions. Search the DAAD International Programmes database and filter for Bachelor + English.

Proving your English

For English-taught programmes, IB English A (Literature or Language and Literature) is normally accepted; English B HL is often accepted too but is decided programme by programme. Otherwise IELTS or TOEFL. The exact requirement is set per programme - check each programme page.

Local language needed?

Yes, for most programmes

• For German-taught degrees you normally need DSH-2 or TestDaF 4x4 (roughly C1). Four years of German B in the IB is not automatically enough.
• German citizens who studied abroad without German in the IB must prove German knowledge before enrolling, under section 1e of the KMK agreement.
• Even on an English-taught degree, everyday life, part-time work and housing searches happen in German.

Tuition, EU/EEA

No tuition at public universities. You pay a semester contribution (Semesterbeitrag) of roughly 70-430 EUR per semester, which usually includes a local or regional transport ticket. Example: University of Hamburg charged 402 EUR for winter semester 2026/27. (2026/27)

Tuition, non-EU

Free at most public universities, with two exceptions. Baden-Wurttemberg charges non-EU/EEA students 1,500 EUR per semester, plus the normal semester contribution. TUM in Munich has charged non-EU students who started from winter semester 2024/25 onwards usually 2,000 or 3,000 EUR per semester for a bachelor's. Students with a German school-leaving qualification are exempt from both. (2026/27)

Application fee

uni-assist charges 75 EUR for the first programme and 30 EUR for each further one in the same semester, the same for a standard application and a VPD; some universities pay it for their applicants. Private universities set their own - WHU, for example, charges 75 EUR until 31 March 2027 with its published voucher code, and 150 EUR from 1 April.

Living costs

About 876 EUR per month on average (2023 social survey), with 900-1,200 EUR realistic depending on the city. Non-EU students must show 992 EUR per month in a blocked account for a student visa. (2023 survey figure, visa figure from 1 January 2025)

• The uni-assist fee is per semester applied for: apply again for a later semester and you pay again (uni-assist, as of September 2026).
• The semester contribution is not tuition. It funds the Studierendenwerk, the student body and, at most universities, a transport pass.
• Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne and Stuttgart are markedly more expensive than Leipzig, Dresden, Bochum or Kiel.

Funding you could actually get

• Danish SU can follow you here if you can claim it (Danish citizens, or EU/EEA citizens with equal status under EU rules) and meet the ties-to-Denmark requirement. The programme must be SU-approved, and outside the Nordics SU is capped at four years (48 klip). It is usually the largest single source of money. If you cannot claim SU, look first at your own country's student finance: several EU/EEA systems fund a full degree in another country.
• Deutschlandstipendium: merit-based scholarships awarded by individual German universities; you apply to the university, not centrally.
• BAfoeg (German state study support) is open to some EU citizens, typically where you or a parent have worked or lived in Germany; it is not automatic for a newly arrived EU student.
• DAAD scholarship database: mostly master's and research level, but worth searching.
• Erasmus+ only helps once you are enrolled and want to spend a period elsewhere.

Residency

EU citizens do not need a visa or residence permit. You register your address (Anmeldung) at the local Buergeramt or Einwohnermeldeamt shortly after moving in, which gets you a tax ID and is needed to open a bank account and enrol. Non-EU students apply for a national student visa at the German embassy before travelling and then convert it into a residence permit at the local Auslaenderbehoerde.

Working

As an EU/EEA citizen you have full access to the German labour market with no permit and no hour limit - you are only limited by tax and social-insurance thresholds for student jobs. Non-EU students on a residence permit under section 16b of the Residence Act may work 140 full days or 280 half days per calendar year, or alternatively up to 20 hours a week during the lecture period, a rule in force since 1 March 2024. Source: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/aufenthg_2004/__16b.html

Housing

Student halls are run by the regional Studierendenwerk and are the cheapest option, but demand far exceeds supply in Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne, Hamburg, Berlin and Stuttgart. Apply to the Studierendenwerk as soon as you have an offer, and search shared flats (WG) in parallel on wg-gesucht.de. In the big cities expect a hunt of several weeks and be ready to start the semester in temporary accommodation.

Healthcare

Health insurance is compulsory and you cannot enrol without proof of it. As an EU/EEA student with an EHIC you can usually apply to a German statutory insurer for an exemption (Befreiung), which they confirm electronically to the university - do this before enrolment day. If you take a job in Germany or your EHIC does not cover you, you join German statutory student insurance instead, which in 2026 costs about 137-161 EUR a month: 87.38 EUR plus the insurer's own additional contribution, plus 30.78 EUR long-term care insurance (35.91 EUR if you are 23 or over and childless). Confirm the current rate with the insurer.

One rule is yours alone: German citizens who did not take German in the IB must prove German before enrolling. Your IB is still a foreign qualification, so the IB entry rules on this page still apply.