Preparatory German language course

Please note: After the end of the application period (October 15 through December 15) it is not possible any more to apply for summer semester 2025.

First of all: Apply for admission

Please apply for admission into the preparatory German course of the University of Stuttgart on the online portal C@mpus. Apply from October 15 through December 15, 2024. If your application was successful, you will be sent a "Vormerkung" (non-binding admission) probably December until mid-January.

Letter of admission and invitation to the course

In your "Vormerkung" for summer semester 2023/24, we will inform you how to register for the preparatory German course. You will register for the course by paying the registration fee (deposit and the fee for the placement test  - in total EUR 500). The "Vormerkung" will state the university's bank details.

Register by paying EUR 500

After receiving the "Vormerkung" for the preparatory German language course, please transfer the amount of EUR 500 (deposit + placement test fee) by January 15, 2025 to the university's bank account as stated in the "Vormerkung" in order to register for the German course.

Please remember: You first have to apply for admission to the preparatory German course of the University of Stuttgart and you have to have got a "Vormerkung". Without a "Vormerkung" for the preparatory German course for the summer semester 2025, we will not admit you into the German course even if you pay EUR 500.

After receiving your admission ("Vormerkung"), you may read in C@mpus that you have got to enroll and to pay the semester fees. Please ignore that at this point: You will be able to enroll only after the placement test in March and it's only then that you'll have to pay the semester fees. You can then be enrolled until November 15.

Why EUR 500 and what has still to be paid later?

Your course fee deposit (EUR 450) and placement test fee (EUR 50), in total EUR 500, and our subsequent confirmation of your registration to the German course guarantee you a place in the preparatory German course (you may need this confirmation e.g. for your visa). The course fee down payment is a security for us that your course registration is binding. If you attend the course after your registration, these EUR 500 will be deducted from your course fees, i.e. you have already paid EUR 500 and will have to pay only the rest of your course fees.

For example: You paid EUR 500 (deposit + placement test fee) and our subsequent confirmation guarantees you a place in the course. You may need our confirmation that you have got a place for your visa application. You do the placement test and you are placed e.g. on level B2/C1. The level B2/C1 course fees are EUR 1.600 (please note: not the actual course fees). The EUR 500 you already paid will be deducted from these EUR 1.600. So, you will actually have to pay only EUR 1.100 at the start of the course.

Our confirmation of your course registration

As soon as your EUR 500 (deposit + placement test fee) have been credited to the university's account, we will send you an email. It may take up to 5 or 7 days until your payment appears in our account and only after that we will be able to send you the email. As long as place is still available in the course, we will confirm to you by this email that you have been registered to the university's preparatory German language course and invite you to the placement test. You may need this confirmation and invitation for your visa application.

Before you arrange a visa application appointment or take any other important steps that our confirmation of your course registration is needed for, please note again that we will send you this confirmation only after your money has arrived on our account.

If you have registered by paying EUR 500 but you don't receive from us any confirmation of your registration for 10 days, please check if you gave us the correct email address (and check your spam folder). We will send our confirmation to the address you gave us while applying. If you haven't received our confirmation for more than 10 days, please get in contact with us and send us your transfer voucher.

Places are limited

Please note that the number of places is limited and places in the course will be given to students according to the order of their registration fee as received by us. If the course is fully booked before January 15, we may decline further registrations even before the deadline. In this case we will put you on a waiting list or  - if you decide not to stay on the waiting list - refund you the complete EUR 500.

We have got to receive EUR 500

There may be additional bank charges on international money transfer that you may have to pay (please ask your bank). Due to the limited places and high demand, incomplete payments will not be accepted.

De-registration?

Your course registration is binding. If you de-register, refund of your deposit will not be possible. Exception: You cannot attend the course for reasons you cannot be held responsible for, e.g. illness, proven by a medical certificate. The EUR 50 placement test fees will in any case not be refunded.

We are planning to offer an online course for those students who cannot obtain their visa on time. Therefore, a delayed issue of your visa is not a reason for refunding the deposit if you de-register. If your visa application is rejected, we will refund your deposit after you proved to us that you applied on time and correctly. The 50 EUR placement test fee will not be refunded.

If you cannot join the course for reasons you cannot be held responsible for, please ask for a refund of the fees within the semester you have registered for. After the end of the semester, your deposit cannot be refunded any more.

For technical reasons, it is not possible to move your registration fees into the following semester: If you cannot join the course for reasons you cannot be held responsible for, please have your fees refunded within the same semester. If you want to register for the course in one the following semesters, you will have to register again by paying the full registration fees.

What next?

After you registered for the course and received our confirmation of your course registration, please wait: About one week after the end of the registration deadline (January 15) we will get in contact with you and inform you about the next steps. We will also inform you about the placement test.

Please apply for your visa now. You will probably need our conformation of your course registration for the visa application process.

Placement test

The decision on your level in the course (B1, B2 or C1) will be based on your result in the placement test (onSET) that you will have to take after your course registration and before the start of the course. We will invite you to the placement test in our confirmation of your course registration.

About 4 - 7 days before the placement test, we will send you an email that invites you once more to the placement test and contains your user name and password for the placement test. You have to bring your user name and password on the day of the placement test. Please do not try to log in before the placement test. You will log in using your user name and password at the start of the placement test.

Placement Test: The placement test will take place from March 3 through 14, 2025. It will be online.

Please check this website regularly for any changes regarding time and form (online or classroom) of the placement test.

We are looking forward to meeting you in our German course in April!

If students get their visa too late and cannot be in Stuttgart for the course start, we can offer the course online for the first 2 weeks until the students are able to come to Stuttgart.

If students are rejected their visa or if they get their visa so late that even after the first 2 online weeks they are still not given a visa, they can de-register from the course and will be refunded their course fees minus EUR 50 after proving that they had applied for their visa on time and correctly.

In summer semester 2025, classes will be given in classroom teaching with single online days ('hybrid learning').

If students do not get their visa on time and cannot be in Stuttgart for the course start, we can offer the course for the first 2 weeks completely online until the students can come to Stuttgart.

Requirement:

Level A2

• Placement test: online probably March 3  - 14, 2025
• Course duration: April 14 to September 12, 2025
• Holidays and lecture-free periods: April 18, April 21, May 1, May 29, June 9, June 19, August 4 through 8
• Teaching units: 474

Teaching hours:

• in the mornings: 8.30 am - 1 pm or
• in the afternoons: 1.30 pm - 6 pm 
• 24 teaching units per week

Fees:

• Course: EUR 1472,- (placement test + 10 weeks B1 + 10 weeks B2))

Certificate (according to the European Reference Frame): Level B2 

Requirement:

Level B1

• Placement test: online probably March 3  - 14, 2025
• Course duration: April 14 to September 26, 2025
• Holidays and lecture-free periods: April 18, April 21, May 1, May 29, June 9, June 19, August 4 through 8
• Teaching units: 522
• TestDaF exam: October 16, 2025

Teaching hours:

• in the mornings: 8.30 am - 1 pm or
• in the afternoons: 1.30 pm - 6 pm 
• 24 teaching units per week

Fees:

• Course: EUR 1616,- (placement test + 10 weeks B2 + 9 weeks C1 + 3 weeks TestDaF training)
• TestDaF exam: EUR 215,-

Certificate (according to the European Reference Frame): Level C1

Requirement:

Level B2

• placement test: online probably March 3  - 14, 2025
• Course duration: April 14 to July 18, 2025
• Holidays and lecture-free periods: April 18, April 21, May 1, May 29, June 9, June 19
• teaching units: 306
• TestDaF exam: July 16, 2025

Teaching hours:

• in the mornings: 8.30 am - 1 pm or
• in the afternoons: 1.30 pm - 6 pm 
• 24 teaching units per week

Fees:

• Course: EUR 968,- (placement test + 10 weeks C1 + 3 weeks TestDaF training)
• TestDaF: EUR 210,-

Certificate (according to the European Reference Frame): Level C1

TestDaF training course June/July

Requirement: C1 level completed

If you are not a student of the University of Stuttgart and you are interested in joining the July training course, please contact the head of the department between May 12 and 23, 2025, 12 a.m.: Places will first be given to the students of the C1 courses of the preparatory German language course and only at this time we will be able to tell you if places are still available. Please send or bring us a copy of your C1 certificate when getting in contact with us.

• course duration: June 30 to July 18, 2025
• teaching units: 72
• TestDaF exam: July 16, 2025

Fees:

• course: EUR 280,-
• TestDaF exam: EUR 210,-

TestDaF training course September

Requirement: C1 level completed

If you are not a student of the University of Stuttgart and you are interested in joining the September training course, please contact the head of the department between June 16 and 27, 2025, 12 a.m.: Places will first be given to the students of the C1 courses of the preparatory German language course and only at this time we will be able to tell you if places are still available. Please send or bring us a copy of your C1 certificate when getting in contact with us.

• course duration: September 8 to September 26, 2025
• teaching units: 72
• TestDaF exam: October 16, 2025

Fees:

• course: EUR 280,-
• TestDaF exam: EUR EUR 215,-

1. Registration and prerequisites

You can register for the preparatory German language course only after having received your admission to the University of Stuttgart issued by the admissions office (Studiensekretariat). You register for the German course by paying the deposit (EUR 450) and the placement test fee (EUR 50), in total EUR 500, to the university's bank account as given in the invitation to the German course that you will receive shortly after the letter of admission. You have to pay before the registration deadline 4 weeks before the placement test. Your registration is binding and as soon as your payment has been credited to the university's bank account, you will receive an email confirming your registration.

There is one exception: Contrary to what is stated above, you can register for the three-week TestDaF training courses without an admission to the University of Stuttgart, provided place is still available.

If the number of registrations exceeds the number of places available in the course, further registrations may be declined even before the end of the registration deadline. In this case, the deposit plus placement test fee (EUR 500) will be refunded in full.

1. Anmeldung und Voraussetzungen

2. Course Fees

The course starts with a placement test. Students are placed into the different course levels according to their results in the placement test. The course fees depend on the courses and their different course levels and duration. The following three courses are offered every semester: (I) levels B1 plus B2 (20 weeks), (II) levels B2 plus C1 plus TestDaF training (23 weeks) and (III) level C1 plus TestDaF training (13 weeks). The deposit (EUR 450) and the placement test fee (EUR 50) are deducted from the course fees. The rest of the course fees has to be paid within one week after the placement test. It's not possible to pay only one course level without the following one: The courses can only be booked as a whole.

2. Kursgebühr

3. Cancellation and refund of registration fees and course fees

Course registration by payment of EUR 500 is binding: If you de-register, refund of the course deposit (EUR 450) is only possible if you cannot attend the course due to illness as proven by a medical certificate. The placement test fee will not be refunded.

After you paid the complete course fee in the first week after classes started, you will be refunded the course fees in case you wish to de-register only for reasons you cannot be hold accountable for (e.g. if you cannot attend the course due to an illness). In this case you will be refunded the course fees for the part of the course you are not able to attend due to your illness.

3. Rücktritt und Erstattung der Gebühren bei Anmeldung und der Kursgebühren

4. Placement test

The email that confirms your course registration also invites you to the compulsory placement test at the start of the course. Students are placed in the different course levels according to their results in the placement test. The university is not obliged to take into account any German language course certificates issued by other institutions.

If you have already attended the preparatory German course offered by the University of Stuttgart in the previous semester, the decision is based on the final exam of the previous course level: If you pass the exam, you will proceed onto the next course level, in case of failing you will have to repeat the previous course level. If you attended a previous course and did not continue it for one semester or more, a placement test can be done again and its result can be taken into account.

4. Einstufung

5. Certificates and duplicates

Any kind of certification requires that students attend the course regularly. At the end of each course level, every student is given a certificate of performance (Zeugnis) that states the results of the final exam and the number of teaching units (Unterrichtseinheiten). If a student attended the course regularly without taking the final examination, he or she can be given a certificate of attendance (Teilnahmebescheinigung) which states the number of teaching units only. In order to be given any certificate, students are required not to miss more than 10 % of their classes. Attendance and absence is documented on the attendance lists as kept by the teachers. Duplicates of certificates can be issued within 5 years after the attended course. Such duplicates are subject to a charge of EUR 25. More than 5 years after the attended course, certificates or duplicates cannot be issued any more.

5. Zeugnisse, Bescheinigungen, Zweitausfertigungen

6. Data protection

The International Office records the students' personal data only for administrative purposes and does not submit them to any third party. It keeps students' personal data for 5 years in order to be able to issue duplicates at the students' request.

6. Datenschutz

First of all: Apply for admission

Please apply for admission into the preparatory German course of the University of Stuttgart on the online portal C@mpus. Apply from April 15 through June 30, 2025. If your application was successful, you will be sent a "Vormerkung" (non-binding admission) probably in June or mid-July.

Letter of admission and invitation to the course

In your "Vormerkung" for winter semester 2025/26, we will inform you how to register for the preparatory German course. You will register for the course by paying the registration fee (deposit and the fee for the placement test  - in total EUR 500). The "Vormerkung" will state the university's bank details.

Register by paying EUR 500

After receiving the "Vormerkung" for the preparatory German language course, please transfer the amount of EUR 500 (deposit + placement test fee) by July 15, 2025 to the university's bank account as stated in the "Vormerkung" in order to register for the German course.

Please remember: You first have to apply for admission to the preparatory German course of the University of Stuttgart and you have to have got a "Vormerkung". Without a "Vormerkung" for the preparatory German course for the winter semester 2025/26, we will not admit you into the German course even if you pay EUR 500.

After receiving your admission ("Vormerkung"), you may read in C@mpus that you have got to enroll and to pay the semester fees. Please ignore that at this point: You will be able to enroll only after the placement test in March and it's only then that you'll have to pay the semester fees. You can then be enrolled until November 15.

Why EUR 500 and what has still to be paid later?

Your course fee deposit (EUR 450) and placement test fee (EUR 50), in total EUR 500, and our subsequent confirmation of your registration to the German Course guarantee you a place in the preparatory German course (you may need this confirmation e.g. for your visa). The course fee down payment is a security for us that your course registration is binding. If you attend the course after your registration, these EUR 500 will be deducted from your course fees, i.e. you have already paid EUR 500 and will have to pay only the rest of your course fees.

For example: You paid EUR 500 (deposit + placement test fee) and our subsequent confirmation guarantees you a place in the course. You may need our confirmation that you have got a place for your visa application. You do the placement test and you are placed e.g. on level B2/C1. The level B2/C1 course fees are EUR 1.600 (please note: not the actual course fees). The EUR 500 you already paid will be deducted from these EUR 1.600. So, you will actually have to pay only EUR 1.100 at the start of the course.

Our confirmation of your course registration

As soon as your EUR 500 (deposit + placement test fee) have been credited to the university's account, we will send you an email. It may take up to 5 or 7 days until your payment appears in our account and only after that we will be able to send you the email. As long as place is still available in the course, we will confirm to you by this email that you have been registered to the university's preparatory German language course and invite you to the placement test. You may need this confirmation and invitation for your visa application.

Before you arrange a visa application appointment or take any other important steps that our confirmation of your course registration is needed for, please note again that we will send you this confirmation only after your money has arrived on our account.

If you have registered by paying EUR 500 but you don't receive from us any confirmation of your registration for 10 days, please check if you gave us the correct email address (and check your spam folder). We will send our confirmation to the address you gave us while applying. If you haven't received our confirmation for more than 10 days, please get in contact with us and send us your transfer voucher.

Places are limited

Please note that the number of places is limited and places in the course will be given to students according to the order of their registration fee as received by us. If the course is fully booked before July 15, we may decline further registrations even before the deadline. In this case we will put you on a waiting list or  - if you decide not to stay on the waiting list - refund you the complete EUR 500.

We have got to receive EUR 500

There may be additional bank charges on international money transfer that you may have to pay (please ask your bank). Due to the limited places and high demand, incomplete payments will not be accepted.

De-registration?

Your course registration is binding. If you de-register, refund of your deposit will not be possible. Exception: You cannot attend the course for reasons you cannot be held responsible for, e.g. illness, proven by a medical certificate. The EUR 50 placement test fees will in any case not be refunded.

We are planning to offer an online course for those students who cannot obtain their visa on time. Therefore, a delayed issue of your visa is not a reason for refunding the deposit if you de-register. If your visa application is rejected, we will refund your deposit after you proved to us that you applied on time and correctly. The 50 EUR placement test fee will not be refunded.

If you cannot join the course for reasons you cannot be held responsible for, please ask for a refund of the fees within the semester you have registered for. After the end of the semester, your deposit cannot be refunded any more.

For technical reasons, it is not possible to move your registration fees into the following semester: If you cannot join the course for reasons you cannot be held responsible for, please have your fees refunded within the same semester. If you want to register for the course in one the following semesters, you will have to register again by paying the full registration fees.

What next?

After you registered for the course and received our confirmation of your course registration, please wait: About one week after the end of the registration deadline (July 15) we will get in contact with you and inform you about the next steps. We will also inform you about the placement test.

Please apply for your visa now. You will probably need our conformation of your course registration for the visa application process.

Placement test

The decision on your level in the course (B1, B2 or C1) will be based on your result in the placement test (onSET) that you will have to take after your course registration and before the start of the course. We will invite you to the placement test in our confirmation of your course registration.

About 4 - 7 days before the placement test, we will send you an email that invites you once more to the placement test and contains your user name and password for the placement test. You have to bring your user name and password on the day of the placement test. Please do not try to log in before the placement test. You will log in using your user name and password at the start of the placement test.

Placement Test: The placement test will take place from September 1 through 12, 2025. It will be online.

Please check this website regularly for any changes regarding time and form (online or classroom) of the placement test.

We are looking forward to meeting you in our German course in October!

If students get their visa too late and cannot be in Stuttgart for the course start, we can offer the course online for the first 2 weeks until the students are able to come to Stuttgart.

If students are rejected their visa or if they get their visa so late that even after the first 2 online weeks they are still without a visa, they can de-register from the course and will be refunded 450 EUR from their registration fees after proving that they had applied for their visa on time.

In winter semester 2025/26, classes will be given in classroom teaching with single online days ('hybrid learning').

If students do not get their visa on time and cannot be in Stuttgart for the course start, we can offer the course for the first 2 weeks completely online until the students can come to Stuttgart.

Course Dates

• placement test: September 1 through 12, 2025
• course duration: October 13, 2025 through March 13, 2026. The course covers two levels: B1 and B2.
• vacation and holidays: December 23, 2025 through January 6, 2026
• teaching units: 475

Classes

• 8:30 am – 1:00 pm or
• 1:30 pm – 6:00 pm
• 24 teaching units per week

  ---

Fees

• course: EUR 1475,- (placement test + 10 weeks B1 + 10 weeks B2)

Qualification (according to European Reference Framework): Level B2

Course Dates

• placement test: September 1 through 12, 2025
• course duration: October 13, 2025 through March 27, 2026. The course covers two levels: B2 and C1 as well as a 3-week TestDaF training course.
• vacation and holidays: December 23, 2025 through January 6, 2026
• teaching units: 523
• TestDaF exam: (yet to be completed)

  ---

Classes

• 8:30 am – 1:00 pm or
• 1:30 pm – 6:00 pm
• 24 teaching units per week

  ---

Fees

• course: EUR 1619,- (placement test + 10 weeks B2 + 10 weeks C1 + 3 weeks TestDaF training)
• TestDaF exam: EUR (yet to be completed) 

Qualification (according to European Reference Framework): Level C1

Course Dates

• placement test: September 1 through 12, 2025
• course duration: October 13, 2025 through January 23, 2026. The course covers the level C1 as well as a 3-week TestDaF training course.
• vacation and holidays: December 23, 2025 through January 6, 2026
• teaching units: 317
• TestDaF exam: (yet to be completed)

  ---

Classes

• 8:30 am – 1:00 pm or
• 1:30 pm – 6:00 pm
• 24 teaching units per week

  ---

Fees

• course: EUR 1001,-  (placement test + 10 weeks C1 + 3 weeks TestDaF training)
• TestDaF exam: EUR (yet to be completed) 

Qualification (according to European Reference Framework): Level C1

TestDaF training course January

Prerequisite: level C1

Course Dates

• course duration: December 22, 2025 through January 23, 2026
• teaching units: 72
• TestDaF exam: (yet to be completed)

  ---

Classes

• 8:30 am – 1:00 pm or
• 1:30 pm – 6:00 pm
• 24 teaching units per week

  ---

Fees

• course: EUR 280
• TestDaF exam: EUR (yet to be completed) 

Registration

• If you are not a student of the University of Stuttgart and you are interested in joining the January training course, please contact the head of department between (yet to be completed) , 12 a.m.: Places will first be given to the students of the C1 courses of the preparatory German language course and only at this time we will be able to tell you if places are still available. Please send or bring us a copy of your C1 certificate when getting in contact with us.

TestDaF training course March

Prerequisite:  level C1

Course Dates

• course duration: March 9 through 27, 2026
• teaching units: 72
• TestDaF exam: (yet to be completed)

  ---

Classes

• 8:30 am – 1:00 pm
• 1:30 pm – 6:00 pm
• 24 teaching units per week

  ---

Fees

• course: EUR 280
• TestDaF exam: EUR (yet to be completed) 

Registration

• If you are not a student of the University of Stuttgart and you are interested in joining the March training course, please contact the head of department between (yet to be completed) , 12 a.m.: Places will first be given to the students of the C1 courses of the preparatory German language course and only at this time we will be able to tell you if places are still available. Please send or bring us a copy of your C1 certificate when getting in contact with us.

1. Registration and prerequisites

You can register for the preparatory German language course only after having received your admission to the University of Stuttgart issued by the admissions office (Studiensekretariat). You register for the German course by paying the deposit (EUR 450) and the placement test fee (EUR 50), in total EUR 500, to the university's bank account as given in the invitation to the German course that you will receive shortly after the letter of admission. You have to pay before the registration deadline 4 weeks before the placement test. Your registration is binding and as soon as your payment has been credited to the university's bank account, you will receive an email confirming your registration.

There is one exception: Contrary to what is stated above, you can register for the three-week TestDaF training courses without an admission to the University of Stuttgart, provided place is still available.

If the number of registrations exceeds the number of places available in the course, further registrations may be declined even before the end of the registration deadline. In this case, the deposit plus placement test fee (EUR 500) will be refunded in full.

1. Anmeldung und Voraussetzungen

2. Course Fees

The course starts with a placement test. Students are placed into the different course levels according to their results in the placement test. The course fees depend on the courses and their different course levels and duration. The following three courses are offered every semester: (I) levels B1 plus B2 (20 weeks), (II) levels B2 plus C1 plus TestDaF training (23 weeks) and (III) level C1 plus TestDaF training (13 weeks). The deposit (EUR 450) and the placement test fee (EUR 50) are deducted from the course fees. The rest of the course fees has to be paid within one week after the placement test. It's not possible to pay only one course level without the following one: The courses can only be booked as a whole.

2. Kursgebühr

3. Cancellation and refund of registration fees and course fees

Course registration by payment of EUR 500 is binding: If you de-register, refund of the course deposit (EUR 450) is only possible if you cannot attend the course due to illness as proven by a medical certificate. The placement test fee will not be refunded.

After you paid the complete course fee in the first week after classes started, you will be refunded the course fees in case you wish to de-register only for reasons you cannot be hold accountable for (e.g. if you cannot attend the course due to an illness). In this case you will be refunded the course fees for the part of the course you are not able to attend due to your illness.

3. Rücktritt und Erstattung der Gebühren bei Anmeldung und der Kursgebühren

4. Placement test

The email that confirms your course registration also invites you to the compulsory placement test at the start of the course. Students are placed in the different course levels according to their results in the placement test. The university is not obliged to take into account any German language course certificates issued by other institutions.

If you have already attended the preparatory German course offered by the University of Stuttgart in the previous semester, the decision is based on the final exam of the previous course level: If you pass the exam, you will proceed onto the next course level, in case of failing you will have to repeat the previous course level. If you attended a previous course and did not continue it for one semester or more, a placement test can be done again and its result can be taken into account.

4. Einstufung

5. Certificates and duplicates

Any kind of certification requires that students attend the course regularly. At the end of each course level, every student is given a certificate of performance (Zeugnis) that states the results of the final exam and the number of teaching units (Unterrichtseinheiten). If a student attended the course regularly without taking the final examination, he or she can be given a certificate of attendance (Teilnahmebescheinigung) which states the number of teaching units only. In order to be given any certificate, students are required not to miss more than 10 % of their classes. Attendance and absence is documented on the attendance lists as kept by the teachers. Duplicates of certificates can be issued within 5 years after the attended course. Such duplicates are subject to a charge of EUR 25. More than 5 years after the attended course, certificates or duplicates cannot be issued any more.

5. Zeugnisse, Bescheinigungen, Zweitausfertigungen

6. Data protection

The International Office records the students' personal data only for administrative purposes and does not submit them to any third party. It keeps students' personal data for 5 years in order to be able to issue duplicates at the students' request.

6. Datenschutz

First of all: Apply for admission

Please apply for admission into the preparatory German course of the University of Stuttgart on the online portal C@mpus. Apply from October 15 through December 15, 2025. If your application was successful, you will be sent a "Vormerkung" (non-binding admission) probably in December until mid-January.

Letter of admission ("Vormerkung") and invitation to the course

In your "Vormerkung" for summer semester 2026, we will inform you how to register for the preparatory German course. You will register for the course by paying the registration fee (deposit and the fee for the Placement Test  - in total EUR 500). The "Vormerkung" will state the university's bank details.

Register by paying EUR 500

After receiving the "Vormerkung" for the preparatory German language course, please transfer the amount of EUR 500 (deposit + Placement Test fee) by January 15, 2026 to the university's bank account as stated in the "Vormerkung" in order to register for the German course.

Please remember: You first have to apply for admission to the preparatory German course at the University of Stuttgart and you have to have got a "Vormerkung". Without a "Vormerkung" for the preparatory German course for the summer semester 2026, you will not be admitted into the German course even if you pay EUR 500.

Why EUR 500 and what has still to be paid later?

Your course fee deposit (EUR 450) and Placement Test fee (EUR 50), in total EUR 500, and our subsequent confirmation of your registration to the German course guarantee you a place in the preparatory German course (you may need this confirmation e.g. for your visa). The course fee down payment is a security for us that your course registration is binding. If you attend the course after your registration, these EUR 500 will be deducted from your course fees, i.e. you have already paid EUR 500 and will have to pay only the rest of your course fees.

For example: You paid EUR 500 (deposit + Placement Test fee) and our subsequent confirmation guarantees you a place in the course. You may need our confirmation that you have got a place for your visa application. You do the Placement Test and you are placed e.g. on level B2/C1. The level B2/C1 course fees are EUR 1.600 (please note: not the actual course fees). The EUR 500 you already paid will be deducted from these EUR 1.600. So, you will actually have to pay only EUR 1.100 at the start of the course.

Our confirmation of your course registration

As soon as your EUR 500 (deposit + Placement Test fee) have been credited to the university's account, we will send you an email. It may take up to 5 or 7 days until your payment appears in our account and only after that we will be able to send you the email. As long as place is still available in the course, we will confirm to you by this email that you have been registered to the university's preparatory German language course and invite you to the Placement Test. You may need this confirmation and invitation for your visa application.

Before you arrange a visa application appointment or take any other important steps that our confirmation of your course registration is needed for, please note again that we will send you this confirmation only after your money has arrived on our account.

If you have registered by paying EUR 500 but you don't receive from us any confirmation of your registration for 10 days, please check if you're using the email address you gave us (and check your spam folder). We will send our confirmation to the address you gave us while applying. If you haven't received our confirmation for more than 10 days, please get in contact with us and send us your transfer voucher.

Places are limited

Please note that the number of places is limited and places in the course will be given to students according to the order of their registration fee as received by us. If the course is fully booked before January 15, we may decline further registrations even before the deadline. In this case we will put you on a waiting list or  - if you do not wish to stay on the waiting list  - refund you the complete EUR 500.

We have got to receive EUR 500

There may be additional bank charges on international money transfer that you may have to pay (please ask your bank). Due to the limited places and high demand, incomplete payments will not be accepted.

De-registration?

Your course registration is binding. If you de-register, refund of your deposit will not be possible. Exception: You cannot attend the course for reasons you cannot be held responsible for, e.g. illness, proven by a medical certificate. The EUR 50 Placement Test fees will in any case not be refunded.

We will offer the course online for the first two weeks if students cannot obtain their visa on time. Therefore, a delayed issue of your visa is not a reason for refunding the deposit as long as the course is offered online. If your visa application is rejected, we will refund your deposit after you proved to us that you applied on time and correctly. The 50 EUR Placement Test fee will not be refunded.

If you cannot join the course for reasons you cannot be held responsible for, please ask for a refund of the fees within the semester you have registered for. After the end of the semester, your deposit cannot be refunded any more.

For technical reasons, it is not possible to transfer your registration fees into the following semester: If you cannot join the course for reasons you cannot be held responsible for, please have your fees refunded within the same semester. If you want to register for the course in one the following semesters, you will have to apply and register again by paying the full registration fees.

What next?

After you registered for the course and received our confirmation of your course registration, please wait: About one week after the end of the registration deadline (January 15) we will get in contact with you and inform you about the next steps. We will also inform you about the Placement Test.

Please apply for your visa now. You will probably need our conformation of your course registration for the visa application process.

Placement Test

The decision on your level in the course (B1, B2 or C1) will be based on your result in the written Placement Test (onSET) and an oral Placement Test that you will both have to take after your course registration and before the start of the course. We will invite you to the Placement Tests in our confirmation of your course registration.

Shortly before the Placement Test, we will offer you to send us any new course certificates. These can be considered in the decision about your level in the course.

About 4 - 7 days before the Placement Test, we will send you an email that invites you once more to the Placement Test and contains your user name and password for the Placement Test. You have to bring your user name and password on the day of the Placement Test. Please do not try to log in before the Placement Test. You will log in using your user name and password at the start of the Placement Test.

Placement Test: The Placement Test will take place on March 2 through 13, 2026. It will be held online.

Please check this website regularly for any changes regarding time and form (online or classroom) of the Placement Test.

We are looking forward to meeting you in our German course in April!

If students get their visa too late and cannot be in Stuttgart for the course start, we can offer the course online for the first 2 weeks until the students are able to come to Stuttgart.

If students are rejected their visa or if they get their visa so late that even after the first 2 online weeks they are still not given a visa, they can de-register from the course and will be refunded their course fees minus EUR 50 after proving that they had applied for their visa on time and correctly.

In summer semester 2026, classes will be given in classroom teaching with single online days ('hybrid learning').

If students do not get their visa on time and cannot be in Stuttgart for the course start, we can offer the course for the first 2 weeks completely online until the students can come to Stuttgart.

Course Dates

• Placement Test: probably March 2 through 13, 2026
• course duration: (to be completed). The course covers two levels: B1 and B2.
• vacation and holidays: (to be completed)
• teaching units: (to be completed)

Classes

• 8:30 am – 1:00 pm or
• 1:30 pm – 6:00 pm
• 24 teaching units per week

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Fees

• course: EUR (to be completed) (including: placement test + 10 weeks B1 + 10 weeks B2)

Qualification (according to European Reference Framework): Level B2

Course Dates

• Placement test: March 2 through 13, 2026
• course duration: (to be completed) The course covers two levels: B2 and C1 as well as a 3-week TestDaF training course.
• vacation and holidays: (to be completed)
• teaching units: (to be completed)
• TestDaF exam: (to be completed)

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Classes

• 8:30 am – 1:00 pm or
• 1:30 pm – 6:00 pm
• 24 teaching units per week

  ---

Fees

• course: EUR (to be completed) (placement test + 10 weeks B2 + 10 weeks C1 + 3 weeks TestDaF training)
• TestDaF exam: EUR (to be completed)

Qualification (according to European Reference Framework): Level C1

Course Dates

• Placement Test: March 2 through 13, 2026
• course duration: (to be completed) The course covers the level C1 as well as a 3-week TestDaF training course.
• vacation and holidays: (to be completed)
• teaching units: (to be completed)
• TestDaF exam: (to be completed)

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Classes

• 8:30 am – 1:00 pm or
• 1:30 pm – 6:00 pm
• 24 teaching units per week

  ---

Fees

• course: EUR (to be completed) (including: placement test + 10 weeks C1 + 3 weeks TestDaF training)
• TestDaF exam: EUR (to be completed)

Qualification (according to European Reference Framework): Level C1

TestDaF Training Course July

Prerequisite: level C1

Course Dates

• course duration: (to be completed)
• teaching units: (to be completed)
• TestDaF exam: (to be completed)

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Classes

• 8:30 am – 1:00 pm or
• 1:30 pm – 6:00 pm
• 24 teaching units per week

  ---

Fees

• course: EUR (to be completed)
• TestDaF exam: EUR (to be completed)

Registration

• If you are not a student of the University of Stuttgart and you are interested in joining the July Training Course, please contact the head of department between (to be completed): Places will first be given to the students of the C1 courses of the preparatory German language course and only at this time we will be able to tell you if places are still available. Please send or bring us a copy of your C1 certificate when getting in contact with us.

TestDaF Training Course September

Prerequisite: level C1

Course Dates

• course duration: (to be completed)
• teaching units: (to be completed)
• TestDaF exam: (to be completed)

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Classes

• 8:30 am – 1:00 pm
• 1:30 pm – 6:00 pm
• 24 teaching units per week

  ---

Fees

• course: EUR (to be completed)
• TestDaF exam: EUR (to be completed) 

Registration

• If you are not a student of the University of Stuttgart and you are interested in joining the September Training Course, please contact the head of department between (to be completed): Places will first be given to the students of the C1 courses of the preparatory German language course and only at this time we will be able to tell you if places are still available. Please send or bring us a copy of your C1 certificate when getting in contact with us.

Your deposit (EUR 450) and Placement Test fee (EUR 50), in total EUR 500, and our confirmation of your registration to the German course guarantee you a place in the preparatory German language course (you'll need this e.g. for receiving your visa). The course fee down payment is a security for us that your course registration is binding. If you attend the course after your registration, your registration fee will be deducted from your course fees, i.e. you have already paid EUR 500 and will have to pay only the rest of your course fees.

An example: You paid EUR 500 (deposit + Placement Test fee) and you are guaranteed a place in the course. You will need our confirmation that you have got a place for your visa application. After receiving your visa, you will come to Stuttgart, you will do the Placement Test at the start of the course and you are placed e.g. on level B2/C1. The level B2/C1 course fees are EUR 1.600 (please note: not the actual course fees). The EUR 500 you already paid will be deducted from these EUR 1.600. So, you will actually have to pay EUR 1.100 at the start of the course.

You transferred EUR 500 (deposit + Placement Test fee), you were registered for the course but you have not yet been enrolled as a student of the University of Stuttgart, and you de-register before the registration deadline (by email): We will refund your deposit (EUR 450). The Placement Test fee (EUR 50) will not be refunded.

You transferred EUR 500 (deposit + Placement Test fee), you were registered for the course and you de-register after the registration deadline (by email): We will refund your deposit (EUR 450) only if you cannot be held responsible for the reasons of your de-registration (e.g. if you are ill). If you are responsible for the reasons of your de-registration, we will not refund your deposit. The Placement Test fee (EUR 50) will not be refunded.

You took the Placement Test and started the course, you already paid the course fees of your course (B1+B2 course, B2+C1 course or C1 course) and you de-register from the ongoing course: We will refund your course fees if you cannot be held responsible for the reasons of your de-registration (e.g. if you are ill and therefore cannot attend the course any more). In this case, we will refund the course fees for the part of the course that you cannot attend any more. If you are responsible for the reasons of your de-registration, we will neither refund your full course fees nor part of them.

This is the case as well if you pass the TestDaF exam in another test center or if you do not need any more the TestDaF exam at the end of our course and you want to leave the preparatory German course: In this case, we will neither refund your full course fees nor part of them.

1. Registration and prerequisites

You can register for the preparatory German language course only after having received your admission to the University of Stuttgart issued by the admissions office (Studiensekretariat). You register for the German course by paying the deposit (EUR 450) and the placement test fee (EUR 50), in total EUR 500, to the university's bank account as given in the invitation to the German course that you will receive shortly after the letter of admission. You have to pay before the registration deadline 4 weeks before the placement test. Your registration is binding and as soon as your payment has been credited to the university's bank account, you will receive an email confirming your registration.

There is one exception: Contrary to what is stated above, you can register for the three-week TestDaF training courses without an admission to the University of Stuttgart, provided place is still available.

If the number of registrations exceeds the number of places available in the course, further registrations may be declined even before the end of the registration deadline. In this case, the deposit plus placement test fee (EUR 500) will be refunded in full.

1. Anmeldung und Voraussetzungen

2. Course Fees

The course starts with a placement test. Students are placed into the different course levels according to their results in the placement test. The course fees depend on the courses and their different course levels and duration. The following three courses are offered every semester: (I) levels B1 plus B2 (20 weeks), (II) levels B2 plus C1 plus TestDaF training (23 weeks) and (III) level C1 plus TestDaF training (13 weeks). The deposit (EUR 450) and the placement test fee (EUR 50) are deducted from the course fees. The rest of the course fees has to be paid within one week after the placement test. It's not possible to pay only one course level without the following one: The courses can only be booked as a whole.

2. Kursgebühr

3. Cancellation and refund of registration fees and course fees

Course registration by payment of EUR 500 is binding: If you de-register, refund of the course deposit (EUR 450) is only possible if you cannot attend the course due to illness as proven by a medical certificate. The placement test fee will not be refunded.

After you paid the complete course fee in the first week after classes started, you will be refunded the course fees in case you wish to de-register only for reasons you cannot be hold accountable for (e.g. if you cannot attend the course due to an illness). In this case you will be refunded the course fees for the part of the course you are not able to attend due to your illness.

3. Rücktritt und Erstattung der Gebühren bei Anmeldung und der Kursgebühren

4. Placement test

The email that confirms your course registration also invites you to the compulsory placement test at the start of the course. Students are placed in the different course levels according to their results in the placement test. The university is not obliged to take into account any German language course certificates issued by other institutions.

If you have already attended the preparatory German course offered by the University of Stuttgart in the previous semester, the decision is based on the final exam of the previous course level: If you pass the exam, you will proceed onto the next course level, in case of failing you will have to repeat the previous course level. If you attended a previous course and did not continue it for one semester or more, a placement test can be done again and its result can be taken into account.

4. Einstufung

5. Certificates and duplicates

Any kind of certification requires that students attend the course regularly. At the end of each course level, every student is given a certificate of performance (Zeugnis) that states the results of the final exam and the number of teaching units (Unterrichtseinheiten). If a student attended the course regularly without taking the final examination, he or she can be given a certificate of attendance (Teilnahmebescheinigung) which states the number of teaching units only. In order to be given any certificate, students are required not to miss more than 10 % of their classes. Attendance and absence is documented on the attendance lists as kept by the teachers. Duplicates of certificates can be issued within 5 years after the attended course. Such duplicates are subject to a charge of EUR 25. More than 5 years after the attended course, certificates or duplicates cannot be issued any more.

5. Zeugnisse, Bescheinigungen, Zweitausfertigungen

6. Data protection

The International Office records the students' personal data only for administrative purposes and does not submit them to any third party. It keeps students' personal data for 5 years in order to be able to issue duplicates at the students' request.

6. Datenschutz