How to apply to study in Germany

Arrangement between NZ and Germany

NZQA has an arrangement with the Kultusministerkonferenz (KMK) to convert NCEA Level 3 results for German university entrance (Abitur).

KMK recommends that German universities and regional recognition authorities accept NCEA results for applying to German universities if minimum requirements are met.

Minimum requirements

KMK determines the minimum requirements for applying to German universities, which are published on the:

Anabin database (external link)

Students must achieve NCEA Level 3 with University Entrance (UE), and meet KMK’s further conditions as below:

KMK’s Literacy requirement

10 credits at Level 2 or above in English (or Te Reo Rangatira), made up of 5 credits for reading and 5 credits for writing.

Refer to the UE literacy requirements list to see which English and Te Reo Rangatira standards count towards reading and/or writing.

University Entrance literacy requirements

KMK’s Numeracy requirement

14 credits in Calculus (or Mathematics ), made up of 7 credits at Level 3 and 7 credits at Level 2 or above.

Mathematics credits must be predominantly Calculus, not Statistics.

Numeracy requirements for entry into German universities are higher than New Zealand’s UE requirements.

Five subjects

At least five distinct subjects, including three subjects with at least 14 credits each at Level 3.

The other two (or more) subjects can be at Level 2 or Level 3.

In total, these subjects must amount to at least 60 credits at Level 3 and 20 credits at Level 2 or higher.

If you follow the recommendation below of achieving 90 or more credits at Level 3, you will automatically meet this requirement.

Recommendations

Entry to the German university system is competitive.

To increase your chances of being accepted into your preferred German university, NZQA and KMK strongly advises that you follow ALL of the below recommendations:

Check with your intended German university and regional recognition authority (where applicable) about their specific admission requirements, such as prerequisite subjects, grades and years of study.
Achieve 90 or more credits from Level 3 subjects.
- Abitur values are calculated using your best 90 Level 3 assessed credits. If you achieve less than 90 credits, you will get a lower Abitur score.
Choose your five subjects from the recommended list of NCEA Level 3 subjects. This subject list has been reviewed and endorsed by KMK and NZQA:

NCEA Level 3 subjects recommended for university entrance in Germany [PDF, 121 KB]
Some German Länder may expect you to have studied across a range of subject areas. The subject combination that most closely follows the German system would include:
- English or Te Reo Rangatira
- Calculus or Mathematics
- A natural science subject (preferably Biology, Chemistry or Physics)
- A language, literature and arts subject (preferably a second language)
- A social science subject
Study Calculus (or Mathematics) at Level 3.
- Wherever possible, we recommend you take Calculus over Mathematics.
- If you take Mathematics, you must achieve predominantly Calculus credits, not Statistics credits.
Study English (or Te Reo Rangatira) at Level 3.
- German is compulsory in Germany, however students studying in New Zealand should take English or Te Reo Rangatira as their primary language instead.
- NCEA Level 3 German can be counted as one of your five subjects, but not as a primary language.

Abitur score

The Abitur score, Abiturdurchschnittsnote, is used in Germany to rank students for the competitive allocation of university places.

NZQA calculates Abitur values based on NCEA results and records them on the German Overseas Results Notice (ORN). The Abitur values enable German recognition authorities and universities to calculate an equivalent Abiturdurchschnittsnote.

Your best 90 NCEA Level 3 credits are used to calculate your Abitur value. See FAQs for details.

How can I get a high Abitur score?

To maximise your chances of getting a high Abitur score, we recommend you:

Choose UE-approved subjects over non UE-approved subjects.
Choose external standards over internal standards.
Choose achievement standards over unit standards.
Aim for as many Excellence and Merit grades as possible.
Achieve 90 or more credits from Level 3 subjects.

Example

The below NCEA Level 3 results would meet all the minimum requirements and also follows the recommended advice.

This is a fictitious example to illustrate how the best results might be distributed.

Subjects (NCEA Level 3)	Credits achieved	Best 90 credits used for Abitur
English	21	21
Calculus	18	18
Chemistry	18	18
Economics	18	17
Spanish	20	16
Credits at Level 3: (the best 90 credits will be used to calculate the Abitur score)	95	90
+ NCEA co-requisite (Literacy)	10
+ NCEA co-requisite (Numeracy)	10
Total credits	115

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Comparative table

Here is a comparison of New Zealand and Germany’s university entrance requirements:

Comparative table of New Zealand and German UE requirements [PDF, 49 KB]

What documents to provide to German universities

We recommend you provide these 3 NZQA documents to German universities:

German Overseas Results Notice (ORN)
- Includes your Abitur values
School Results Summary
- Shows yours NCEA results and is required by KMK, in accordance with the Anabin listing
New Zealand Record of Achievement
- Can be verified by third parties using our online tool:
  
  Verify NZQA documents

You can access these documents through the MyNZQA learner portal.

For more information, check out:

Getting NZ qualifications documents