International Applicants: Preparatory Courses and Exams

Are you abroad and do you want to study at the University Potsdam and earn a degree? The following pages will provide you with important information regarding preparatory courses and exams that may be required for your application or for enrolling at the University of Potsdam.

• Preparatory College and Study Preparation Brandenburg (SVB)
• DSH-course+
• DSH exam without participation in the intensive DSH-course+
• Contact information

A preparatory college offers courses to help prepare for university studies, particularly for international applicants to bachelor’s degree programs whose academic credentials do not qualify them to enroll directly into a German university.

At this time, there is no preparatory college (Studienkolleg) in Potsdam or Brandenburg.

If you have decided that you want to study at a university in the state of Brandenburg, yet you do not have a direct higher education entrance qualification for studying at a German institution of higher education, the “Study Preparation Brandenburg” (SVB) offers you the opportunity to prepare and to acquire entrance requirement qualifications. You can find more information here

To find out whether your school-leaving certificate qualifies you to study at a German university, or whether you have to enroll in a preparatory program, go to theuni-assist application website.

Studying in a degree program taught in German requires very good knowledge of the language. If you have the direct higher education entry qualification (HZB) but are not yet in possession of a document certifying your required German language proficiency, you can register for a German language course at the Center for Languages and Key Competencies (Zessko).

As a participant in the Intensive DSH Courses, you are registered as a student at the University of Potsdam for the duration of one semester. After this semester-long course, the students then take the DSH examination.

Information on the language proficiency requirements and on the application procedures for participating in the Intensive DSH German Courses can be found here.

At the University of Potsdam you may take the German Language Examination for University Admissions (Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang: DSH) without prior participation in the preparatory Intensive DSH Course at the University of Potsdam.

The University of Potsdam offers the DSH exam twice per year.

The exam for studies beginning in the winter semester takes place in mid-July; if you want to begin your studies in the summer semester, you should take the DSH exam in mid-February.

More information and samples from the exam can be found on the pages of the Center for Languages and Key Competencies (Zessko) at the University of Potsdam.

There is no legal entitlement to participate in this external exam.
The exam is recognized at all German universities.