Germany guide · verified 2026-07-04
Germany University Admissions: Requirements and Intakes
Universities & admissions
German public universities are tuition-light but selective on academic fit and document authenticity. The two gatekeepers for Indian students are (1) an APS certificate verifying your degrees and (2) meeting the specific subject and grade requirements of each program.
Degree recognition
Indian 3-year Bachelors is generally accepted for Masters entry
Recognition is checked against the anabin database; some programs still expect a 4-year degree or specific credits. Confirm on the program page.
Grade conversion
Modified Bavarian formula (1.0 best, 4.0 pass)
Competitive Masters typically want an Indian aggregate of ~70%+ (≈ German 2.5 or better). Program-dependent, not a national rule.
Where to apply
uni-assist for many unis; direct portals for others
Each university states whether it uses uni-assist or its own portal.
dMAT (new, Masters)
ConditionalRequired for many Masters fields from Summer 2027 intake
A Digital Master Test that becomes part of the APS procedure for affected Masters applicants. See the callout below.
Shortlist programs by subject fit, not just ranking
RecommendedUse the DAAD International Programmes database to filter by degree level, subject, teaching language (English vs German) and intake. For each shortlisted program, open its official page and note: entry degree required, minimum grade, required tests, application route (uni-assist or direct), and deadline. German admissions are program-specific, a student eligible for one Masters may be ineligible for a near-identical one elsewhere.
Prefer English-taught Masters for students without German, but check that the university still asks for basic German (A1/A2) for daily life.Confirm the student's degree is recognised (anabin)
MandatoryCheck the student's institution and degree in the anabin database. Note anabin rates two things separately: the INSTITUTION (H+ = recognised) and the DEGREE-LEVEL equivalence (marked 'entspricht'/'gleichwertig'). Both need to check out, an H+ university badge alone does not confirm the specific degree qualifies. This is what German universities and the visa office rely on; if recognition isn't clear, admission and the visa get much harder, so steer students to clearly-recognised institutions.
Do not assume a well-known Indian university is automatically 'H+', and don't stop at the institution badge, verify the exact institution AND degree-level combination.Start APS early, it blocks everything downstream
MandatoryThe APS certificate (see the callout) must exist before most universities finalise admission and before the visa appointment. Because it can take 3 to 4 weeks (up to ~3 months in peak season), begin it the moment the student decides on Germany, in parallel with test prep. For affected Masters applicants, the APS certificate now also depends on the dMAT result (see the dMAT callout), so plan that test date into the timeline too.
Indian applicants generally need an APS (Akademische Prüfstelle) certificate verifying their academic documents before they can be admitted and before the student visa can be processed (this became a general requirement for India in 2022, the exact effective date isn't stated on the current APS/embassy pages, so re-confirm before quoting a hard date). Exemptions include PhD/PostDoc applicants, holders of EU/German public scholarships, and International Baccalaureate holders. Fee is ₹18,000. APS India does not guarantee a fixed processing time, commonly 3 to 4 weeks, but longer (up to ~2 to 3 months) in peak season, so start early and never promise the student a firm date.
From the Summer Semester 2027 intake onward, affected Masters applicants must take the dMAT as part of the APS procedure, APS India cannot complete the certificate without the dMAT result. It is administered by g.a.s.t., costs €150, and has a core (cognitive/analytical) module plus a subject module. First certificates issue from 12 October 2026 (registration opened 29 June 2026; exam 26 Sept 2026). AFFECTED FIELDS (per the official list): Engineering; Commerce / Accounting / Finance / Economics; Business / Management. The list does NOT separately name computer science or IT, and interdisciplinary degrees (e.g. Data Science, Business Analytics, Engineering Management, FinTech) are assessed case-by-case, confirm borderline Bachelors directly with APS India rather than assuming. EXEMPT: Bachelors and PhD applicants; Masters applicants for the Winter 2026/27 intake; students who haven't completed 5 semesters (3-year degree) / 7 semesters (4-year degree); official exchange / double-degree / university-partnership participants; and anyone who completed APS online registration or shipped their APS documents before 29 June 2026. Build the test date into the timeline so it doesn't delay APS and, in turn, admission and the visa.
A state-recognised (staatlich anerkannt) private university, one listed as H+ on anabin, awards a degree that is legally and academically identical to a public university's, with the exact same post-study rights (the 18-month job-seeker permit). Unrecognised institutions cannot legally award German degrees at all. So the question is never 'public or private', it is 'is this specific institution recognised (H+)?'. Steer students by recognition, not by the funding model.
Sources
- Study in Germany, official portal, DAAD / Federal Ministry of Education and Research
- uni-assist, application processing for international applicants, uni-assist e.V.
- APS India, Academic Evaluation Centre, APS India (Science Section, German Embassy New Delhi + DAAD)
- dMAT (Digital Master Test), part of the APS procedure, APS India
Where this fits
This is one step of the full Germany journey: admission, tests, application, visa, money, arrival and stay-back, every figure cited to an official source.
More on Germany
Bramica is independent and takes no commission from any university, recruiter or agency. This page is information, not immigration advice. Rules, fees and thresholds change; confirm the current requirement on the official source before acting on it.