HU Berlin admission for international students: winter semester 2027

Applications for a Bachelor place at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU) for the winter semester starting in autumn 2027 follow the usual German window, which, according to the page as of October 2026, opens in early May and closes on 15 July; international applicants apply through uni-assist, directly at the university or through the Stiftung für Hochschulzulassung. For German-taught programmes, the middle level in every part of TestDaF or DSH meets the requirements of nearly all programmes, and that is the first gate for most readers.

HU sits in the centre of Berlin and has about 37,222 students. It is a research university with strong humanities, social sciences, law, mathematics and natural sciences, and it is not a technical university.

What to do first

• Check in the DAAD admission database, which covers about 140 countries whether your school certificate gives direct access.
• Plan your German proof now: the certificate is usually due at the latest when you apply.
• Pick the route: Hochschulstart, the university itself or uni-assist, depending on your country, certificate and subject.

The old library building, seat of the Faculty of Law, Bebelplatz, Berlin

Admission is decided by HU alone. Read the HU pages for your programme and year before you pay any fee.

How to read this report

The report is written for readers who apply from abroad for the winter semester that starts in autumn 2027. Rules that depend on the year, such as the exact application window, are given as they stood in recent rounds, and the HU pages and your uni-assist account hold the final dates.

Rules that the German authorities set for the whole country, such as which school certificates give access, come from the DAAD and the uni-assist pages and apply to HU in the same way as to every other German university.

A short checklist

• Certificate: look it up in the DAAD admission database.
• German: book a test slot well before the application window opens.
• Route: uni-assist, the university itself or Hochschulstart, depending on your country, certificate and subject.
• Money: the application fee and the German exam fee.

HU was founded on 15 October 1810 and is placed 87th worldwide and 4th in Germany in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2024, and 120th worldwide and 7th in Germany in the QS ranking of the same year.

Rankings measure research output and reputation. For a Bachelor applicant the programme, the language of teaching and the selection rule matter more than the number.

A university in the middle of Berlin

The main building stands on Unter den Linden in Berlin-Mitte; science departments are on the Adlershof campus in the south-east of the city.

Statue of Alexander von Humboldt at the main building, Berlin

Part of a larger Berlin network

HU, Freie Universität, Technische Universität and Charité cooperate in the Berlin University Alliance, and the city adds a dense mix of research institutes, libraries, museums and archives. For a humanities or social-science student that network is part of the offer.

The founding idea of 1810 was to combine teaching and research in one place; since then the university still carries the name of Wilhelm von Humboldt.

HU does not run on one acceptance rate: some programmes have a local admission restriction, so competition sits in the restricted programmes.

An NC (numerus clausus) programme has fewer places than applicants. The NC is not a fixed minimum grade you must reach in advance: it is the grade of the last applicant admitted in that round, and it changes every year.

How the NC works at HU

Besides the grade, universities may set further criteria: motivation letter, tests, interviews. Check the cut-off of your programme for the last rounds on the HU programme page before you decide how many programmes to apply for.

Nationwide restrictions

Medicine, pharmacy, veterinary medicine and dentistry are restricted nationwide. Medicine is taught at Charité and follows the nationwide rules.

Ask the HU international office which cut-offs applied to your certificate type in the last rounds, since the grade conversion differs by country.

How to plan around the NC

Apply to more than one programme: the uni-assist fee for each further choice is 30 euros, much less than the 75 euros for the first.

Keep one open programme or one backup at another university, and keep the Studienkolleg in mind if your certificate does not give direct access. Applying in the summer semester, where a programme offers it, can also reduce competition.

Read the row for your programme before anything else: it tells you whether your certificate and German level are enough, or whether a ranking is waiting behind them.

In restricted programmes HU ranks applicants by the average grade of the school certificate; besides the grade, universities may set further criteria such as motivation letters, tests or interviews, and the average of a foreign certificate is converted to the German scale first.

The German scale runs from 1.0 (best) to 4.0 (pass). A foreign grade is converted with the modified Bavarian formula, which uses the best and the lowest passing grade of your system.

The result of the formula is a number with one decimal; further decimals are cut off, not rounded.

Other criteria

Besides the average grade, motivation letters, tests and interviews can count. Which of these HU uses depends on the programme.

Open programmes

In programmes without a restriction, meeting the entrance requirements is enough: your certificate gives access, your German is at the required level, and you enrol after you receive the admission letter.

Medicine and dentistry

Medicine, pharmacy, veterinary medicine and dentistry are restricted nationwide.

Read the Charité admission page for your certificate type and nationality; it states the rules and dates for medicine in Berlin.

Beyond the school certificate and the German proof, universities may set further criteria: motivation letter, tests, interviews; the programme page says which apply.

Some programmes ask for a motivation letter or an additional proof, and universities may use tests or interviews as selection criteria.

The language test is the one test you cannot skip

For German-taught programmes the German proof is your entrance test: the middle level in every part of TestDaF or DSH meets the requirements of nearly all programmes.

Feststellungsprüfung

If your certificate does not give direct access you sit the Feststellungsprüfung at the end of the Studienkolleg, or externally (without attending the course).

Motivation letters and extra proof

If a programme page asks for a motivation letter, write it in the language of the programme, keep it short and concrete, and tie it to modules you have read about. If it asks for work samples or a language proof, plan the dates early, because certificates can take weeks to arrive.

International applicants apply through uni-assist, directly at the university or through the Stiftung für Hochschulzulassung; uni-assist evaluates applications for 180 German universities; the evaluation of the first choice costs 75 euros.

Register in the uni-assist portal, create one application per programme, upload the documents and pay the fee. The processing time starts when the paid application form has arrived.

Do not pay a third party

uni-assist works with no commercial agencies; payment requests come only through the uni-assist online portal. Answers to questions about HU stay with the HU international office.

IB students: results and certificates

If no IB Diploma has been issued yet, the official Transcript of Grades of the IB organisation can be submitted instead. Certificates issued by the school itself are not accepted. All term reports are required to show the level of each subject.

Certified copies and translations

Only officially certified copies and translations are accepted. Order the certified copies and translations early, since embassies, notaries and sworn translators work at their own pace.

The uni-assist steps

Register in My assist, create one application form for each chosen course, upload the documents and pay the handling fees.

Keep the application number and the payment receipt; uni-assist will ask for them if documents are missing, and HU decides only after uni-assist has passed the evaluated file on.

The winter-semester cycle follows the German calendar: according to the page as of October 2026, the window opens in early May and closes on 15 July, and offers go out in August or September.

Summer semester

Some programmes also admit in the summer semester; according to the page as of October 2026, the window runs from early December to 15 January.

Enrolment

You enrol with the admission letter, your passport with visa or residence evidence, and proof of health insurance. Enrolment turns an applicant into a student and gives access to lectures, library and the semester ticket.

General rule

The usual German window is the same everywhere: applications open in early May and close on 15 July for the winter semester, and run from early December to 15 January for the summer semester.

Planning backwards from the deadline

Start about a year before the semester: check your certificate in the DAAD database, choose a German test and register, and collect certified copies and translations. In the spring, register in uni-assist and create the application; in June and early July send the complete set; in late summer expect the admission letter and apply for the visa, which can take months.

For a study-applicant visa, the visa is valid for up to nine months.

For German-taught programmes the middle level in every part of TestDaF or DSH meets the requirements of nearly all programmes; most German universities ask for at least B2.

German proof is usually due at the time of application Plan the test dates early: TestDaF is offered in about 100 countries.

Test fees

The German exams cost a fee, and the price differs by country and by university.

Who needs no German test

An Abitur from a German-language school abroad needs no German test. Applicants to international programmes, which usually need no German proof, need an English proof instead.

Preparing for DSH or TestDaF

Both tests check reading, listening, writing and speaking at university level, not everyday conversation. Preparation courses at the Goethe-Institut, at universities and at private schools exist in most countries; practise with past papers under time limits, because the writing part decides many results.

Goethe-Zertifikat C2, telc Deutsch C1 Hochschule, ÖSD C2 and the Deutsches Sprachdiplom II are usually accepted. Check on the HU page which certificates the faculty accepts before you book.

Matching the test to your plan

If you apply in July with a certificate that is not yet issued, ask whether the faculty accepts a provisional proof and a later full result; if you plan to take the DSH in Germany, check the exam dates of the university offering it, because they are tied to the semester calendar.

International programmes usually need no German proof, while German-taught programmes do.

Check the programme page for the language of instruction before you plan.

If you want an English-taught Bachelor

Germany lists English-taught degrees in the DAAD programme database, and uni-assist handles the applications of many of them. Many HU Master programmes are taught in English.

A German-taught route is realistic

A German level of B2 to C1 takes about a year of intensive study from scratch. Starting early is the cheapest way to widen the programmes open to you.

Master programmes in English

Many HU Master programmes and some doctoral programmes use English. If your plan is a Bachelor elsewhere followed by a Master at HU, the language gate moves to the Master application, where HU sets its own English requirement.

Whether HU admits you directly depends on your certificate: most non-EU certificates need two to three semesters at home or a Studienkolleg, and the IB Diploma and a German-school Abitur are exceptions.

The DAAD database is a guide only; the final decision lies with the university.

A-levels: subjects by programme type

Send the certificates of the awarding bodies, not school reports. AS-levels do not count. GCSEs and O-levels do not count.

IB Diploma

• At least 24 points in total, each subject at least grade 4.
• Three or four subjects at Higher Level.
• Mathematics at HL gives access to every subject, at SL subject-bound access.
• One grade 3 can be compensated by a grade 5 at the same level.

US diploma

A US high school diploma is a school certificate from another country: it usually does not give direct access, and you need two to three semesters of study at home or a Studienkolleg.

Matura and other EU certificates

If a certificate opens university study at home, it usually does in Germany.

Certificates that need the Studienkolleg first

For Indonesia, Brazil, Algeria, Egypt, Japan, Vietnam and Saudi Arabia the usual route is a Studienkolleg or one to two years of university study at home. Confirm your own case in the database.

Check your own certificate

The DAAD database lists certificates for about 140 countries and gives a first answer; the underlying evaluation proposals are published by the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB) in the anabin database, at anabin.kmk.org. The result is a guide only; the final decision lies with the university.

Grades and conversion

Your grades are converted to the German scale only for NC programmes; for open programmes the certificate only has to give access.

Most non-EU certificates need two to three semesters of study at home or a Studienkolleg. Individual results can differ with grades, track and subjects, so confirm your own case in the database before you plan.

If your certificate does not give access, a Studienkolleg prepares you in two semesters and ends with the Feststellungsprüfung; state Studienkollegs are free apart from the semester contribution.

Studienkollegs bring German up to level C1.

Courses by subject

W-course for economics and social sciences, G-course for humanities, T-course for mathematics, natural sciences and technology.

External exam

The Feststellungsprüfung can also be taken externally, without attending a Studienkolleg. Places are often limited.

Where to apply

Studienkollegs exist in almost every federal state. Many state Studienkollegs accept applications only through a university or uni-assist.

Which course fits which subject

Choose the course by your later subject: the W-course for economics, social sciences and law, the G-course for the humanities, the T-course for mathematics, natural sciences and technology, and the M-course for medicine and biology. After the exam you may apply only to subjects that match the course.

Private preparation

State Studienkollegs are free apart from the semester contribution; private ones often charge.

HU offers Bachelor programmes in the humanities, social sciences, law, economics, mathematics, natural sciences and computer science.

Programme lists, combinations and local restrictions are on the HU pages; they change from year to year.

Teaching degrees

Teacher training combines two subjects and educational science; check the HU page for the combinations offered and for the state exam rules.

Medicine

Medicine, pharmacy, veterinary medicine and dentistry are restricted nationwide.

Berlin-Mitte seen from above

How Bachelor programmes are built

Many humanities and social-science Bachelors combine a core subject with a second subject; natural-science programmes are single-subject. The programme page states the combinations and the language of instruction, and the admission rule of each part.

Check three things on the programme page

• The language of instruction: German for nearly all Bachelors.
• The admission rule: open, local NC or nationwide restriction.
• Whether the programme starts in the winter semester only or also in the summer semester.

HU is a research university, so many graduates continue to a Master and a doctorate; Berlin gives easy access to ministries, embassies, research institutes and a large start-up scene.

The links between HU, the Max Planck institutes, Leibniz institutes and Charité make research careers a natural next step for natural-science and humanities graduates.

Law and economics

Law graduates take the state examination and a clerkship phase. Economics graduates move into consulting, banking and the public sector in Berlin and Frankfurt.

Careers after an international degree

A German degree with German proficiency opens the German labour market; after graduation, graduates from outside the EU may stay to look for work. The embassy or the Foreigners' Office states the current conditions.

Research and public institutions

Berlin hosts federal ministries, parliaments, embassies, foundations and research institutes, and HU graduates in political science, law, economics and the social sciences work in all of them. Internships during the Master are the usual route in.

German language as a career asset

Employers in Berlin work in German and English; a German certificate at the level HU asks for is often the same level employers expect for professional work, so the language investment pays twice.

The first cost is the uni-assist fee of 75 euros for the first choice; state Studienkollegs are free apart from the semester contribution, and the Deutschlandsemesterticket fee is included in the re-registration fees.

The student council notes that the fee for the Deutschlandsemesterticket is included in the re-registration fees.

Language tests and Studienkolleg

The German exams cost a fee. State Studienkollegs are free apart from the semester contribution; private ones often charge.

Living costs

Rent is the largest item in Berlin and has risen fast. Plan the budget with the visa proof of funds in mind (see the visa chapter) and add the semester contribution each term.

A budget checklist for the first year

• Application: 75 euros for the first uni-assist choice and 30 euros for each further choice.
• German test fee: the exams cost a fee.
• Certified copies and sworn translations of your certificates.
• Visa application, health insurance and, for most visas, proof of funds.
• Re-registration: the Deutschlandsemesterticket fee is included in the re-registration fees.

The DAAD, the Deutschlandstipendium and foundations are the main funding sources, and the student council runs a BAföG and financing counselling.

Check the DAAD scholarship database for programmes open to your country, and apply early: deadlines for many programmes fall in autumn for the following year.

Counselling at HU

The student council (RefRat) offers free counselling, including social counselling, BAföG and financing counselling and a counselling service for international students.

Working while studying

Students from outside the EU may work a limited number of days per year; the Foreigners' Office and the DAAD pages state the current limit.

Where to look first

The DAAD scholarship database lists programmes by country and level; foundations, church organisations and political foundations fund international students in Germany, and some offer support in the first year only. Each has its own deadline and its own language of application.

What funding has to cover

A scholarship or family budget goes to rent, food, health insurance and the semester contribution; build the budget per month and keep a reserve for the first weeks.

Housing is the hardest part of studying in Berlin: the city has a shortage of rooms, so apply for a dorm place and start the search for a shared flat before you arrive.

The Studierendenwerk Berlin runs the student halls and the canteens; the waiting time for a room can be long, so register as soon as you have an offer, and keep a short-term option (hostel or sublet) for the first weeks.

Shared flats and scams

Never pay a deposit before you have seen the room or signed a contract. Shared flats (WG) are the most common form for students.

Registering your address

Within two weeks of moving into a flat you register at the Bürgeramt; the registration confirmation is needed for the bank account, the residence permit and the health insurance.

Where students live

Students live across Berlin, from Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg to Neukölln, Friedrichshain and Wedding; the Berlin public transport network connects them to the main building and the Adlershof campus, and the semester ticket covers it.

Berlin is a large, international city; HU students can use public transport on the semester ticket, which is part of the semester fees.

The student council states that the Deutschlandsemesterticket is included in the re-registration fees.

Student groups and the student council

The student council (RefRat) is the central students' representation and offers legal, social and BAföG counselling; faculty student councils (Fachschaften) help in your first weeks.

Studying in Germany

The final decision on access lies with the university; ask the HU international office early.

The first weeks

Faculty orientation weeks, buddy programmes and the international office run welcome events at the start of each semester; use them, because the first weeks decide where you find a study group.

Counselling for students

The student council lists free counselling services, among them BAföG and study-financing counselling and counselling for international students. Use them early, before a problem with money, a contract or a residence permit grows.

with an admission letter you apply for a student visa, while EU/EEA and Swiss citizens need only a valid ID card to enter.

Apply early: processing at embassies can take months. Documents usually include a valid passport, passport photos, proof of health insurance, proof of financing, proof of earlier studies and language skills, and the admission letter.

Proof of funds

Germany requires proof that you can fund your living costs, usually through a blocked account or a declaration of commitment; the German embassy in your country states the current monthly amount.

Health insurance

Enrolment needs proof of health insurance (listed among the usual enrolment documents). Students from outside the EU usually take German public insurance for students; check with the insurer before you arrive.

When to apply

Apply for the visa as soon as you hold the admission letter, or earlier with the study-applicant visa, since embassies in some countries give appointments weeks ahead. Citizens of the UK, USA, Japan, Canada and several other countries may enter without a visa and apply for a residence permit in Berlin (visa-free entry, residence permit for longer stays).

HU suits you if you can reach the middle level in every part of TestDaF or DSH, and if you want a research university in the centre of Berlin.

HU was founded in 1810 and is placed 87th worldwide by Times Higher Education.

Who HU suits, and who it does not

• It suits applicants with A-levels, an IB Diploma, a Matura or an Abitur, who can prove German at the required level (the middle level in every part of TestDaF or DSH).

Next steps for entry in autumn 2027

Check the HU pages and your uni-assist account for the final dates of your year before you submit.

What can go wrong

• A school certificate that gives only subject-bound access.
• German proof that arrives after the deadline.
• An NC cut-off higher than your converted grade.
• A late visa appointment.

Official and neutral pages: DAAD, uni-assist and the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin pages named in the report, checked 17 Oct 2026.

Humboldt University of Berlin - Wikipedia · https://www.hu-berlin.de/en/studies/application-and-admission · https://www.hu-berlin.de/en/studies · Bewerbung um einen Studienplatz - DAAD · Anerkennung des IB-Diploma in Deutschland - DAAD · Die deutsche Sprache - DAAD · Zulassungsdatenbank - DAAD · Studienvoraussetzungen im Überblick - DAAD · Studienkollegs: Gut vorbereitet ins Studium - DAAD · Start | uni-assist · Die Einschreibung - DAAD · Das Visum - DAAD · TestDaF - Wikipedia · Anerkennung des General Certificate of Education (GCE) in Deutschland - DAAD · Wichtige Informationen und Neuerungen zum Deutschlandsemesterticket - Referent_innenRat der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin · Beratungen - Referent_innenRat der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Photos: Main building of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin on Unter den Linden: photo A.Savin, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons · The old library building, seat of the Faculty of Law, Bebelplatz, Berlin: photo Fred Romero from Paris, France, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons · Statue of Alexander von Humboldt at the main building, Berlin: photo LBM1948, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons · Berlin-Mitte seen from above: photo ArildV, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons