Preparatory German Language Course

First of all: Apply for admission

Please apply for admission to study at the University of Stuttgart via the online portal C@mpus. This ist possible since May 2021. Afterwards, please wait for the decision of the Admissions Office.

Letter of admission and invitation to the course

After you are admitted for winter semester 2021/22 by the Admissions Office, you will receive an inivitation to the preparatory German language course via C@MPUS. You can register for the course by paying the deposit and the fee for the placement test (in total EUR 500). The invitation letter indicates the university's bank details and the payment deadline.

Register by paying EUR 500

After receiving the invitation to the preparatory German language course, please transfer the amount of EUR 500 (deposit + placement test fee) by September 3, 2021 to the university's bank account as stated in the invitation to the German language course you received from the Admissions Office in order to register for the German course. These EUR 500 will later be deducted from your course fees.

Please remember: You first have to apply for admission at the University of Stuttgart and you have to have received a letter of admission from the University of Stuttgart. Without an admission from the University of Stuttgart for the winter semester 2021/22, we will not admit you 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'll need this e.g. for applying 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 will need our confirmation that you have got a place for your visa application. You 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 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 our email. As long as place is still available in the course, we 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.

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 September 3, we may decline further registrations even before the deadline. (in this case we will refund your 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 until September 3 (by email), we will refund your deposit of EUR 450. After September 3, refund of your deposit will not be possible anymore. Exception: You cannot attend the course for reasons you cannot be held responsible for, e.g. illness.

We are currently 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 after the registration deadline.

The placement test fee (EUR 50) will not be refunded. If you cannot join the course for reasons you cannot be held responsible for, you can ask for a refund of the fees. Please contact us via e-mail. A refund is only possible within the semester you have registered for. After the end of the semester, your deposit cannot be refunded. 

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 in October.

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 online 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 probably take place from October 4 through 8, 2021. It will probably 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!

The University of Stuttgart decided on February 5, 2021 that all courses will be offered only online in summer semester 2021. Therefore, the preparatory German course is offered online as well.

The University of Stuttgart has not yet decided whether courses in winter semester 2021/22 will also be offered only online or in classroom or online with single classroom days. As soon as the university will have decided, we will let you know here, how the German course will be offered in the winter semester.

Please note that the final exam (TestDaF) will in any case be a classroom examination. It will not be offered online. For the TestDaF, students will have to be in Stuttgart.

Requirement:

Level A2

• Placement test: probably online between October 4 and 8, 2021
• Course duration: October 18, 2021  - March 18, 2022
• Holidays and lecture-free periods: November 1, December 23, 2021  - January 6, 2022
• Teaching units: 470

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 1.490 (includes: placement test, Level B1 and B2)

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

Requirement:

Level B1

• Placement test: probably online between October 4 and 8, 2021
• Course duration: October 18, 2021 - March 23, 2022
• Holidays and lecture-free periods: November 1, December 23, 2021 - January 6, 2022
• Teaching units: 486
• TestDaF exam: March 24, 2022

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 1.538 (includes: placement test, Level B2 and C1, TestDaF training)
• TestDaF exam: EUR 195

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

Requirement:

Level B2

• placement test: probably online between October 4 and 8, 2021
• Course duration: October 18, 2021 - January 28, 2022
• Holidays and lecture-free periods: November 1, December 23, 2021 - January 6, 2022
• teaching units: 302
• TestDaF exam: February 17, 2022

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 971 (includes: placement test, Level B2 and C1, TestDaF training)

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

Please note: Due to the restrictions caused by the Corona crisis, at present we can offer the  TestDaF training and the TestDaF exam only to students registered in our preparatory German course.

TestDaF training course January

Requirement: C1 level completed

If you are not a student of the University of Stuttgart and you are interested in joining the January taining course, please contact the head of the department or the secretary's office between November 26 and December 10, 2021, 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: January 10  - 28, 2022
• teaching units: 72
• TestDaF exam: February 17, 2022 

Fees:

• course: EUR 280
• TestDaF exam: EUR 195

TestDaF training course March

Requirement: C1 level completed

If you are not a student of the University of Stuttgart and you are interested in joining the April training course, please contact the head of the department or the secretary's office between February 11 and 25, 2022, 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: March 14  - 23, 2022
• teaching units: 39
• TestDaF exam: March 24, 2022

Fees:

• course: EUR 181
• TestDaF exam: EUR 195

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 deposit 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 or your visa is issued too late). 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 transferred EUR 500 (deposit + placement test fee), you were registered for the course and you have already been enrolled as a student of the University of Stuttgart, and you de-register (before or after the registration deadline): 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). The placement test fee (EUR 50) will not be refunded.

You finished the B1+B2 course and registered for the following C1 course by paying the full C1 course fees: If you de-register before the deadline for paying the full course fees (one week after the start of classes in the following course), we will refund you the course fees minus EUR 450 (deposit). This is the case as well if you should not pass the B2 final exam and therefore will have to repeat the B2 level in the following course: If you de-register, you will be refunded the course fees minus EUR 450 (deposit).

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 don't need the TestDaF exam anymore 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 classes started. 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

After you registered for the course paying the deposit (EUR 450) and the placement test fee (EUR 500), de-registration and refund of the down payment is possible before the registration deadline: If you de-register before the registration deadline, you will be refunded the deposit (EUR 450) in full. The placement test fee will not be refunded. If you de-register after the registration deadline, you will be refunded the down payment in case you cannot attend the course because you got ill or did not receive your visa on time. The placement test fee will not be refunded. If you de-register after the registration deadline for reasons that you can be hold accountable for, you will neither be refunded the down payment nor the placement test fee.

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