DaF – Placement, Application and Admission

There are two steps involved in enrolling in an A1 course:

1) You complete the online application form.

• The application form is available to you from October 1st (for the winter semester) or from April 1st (for the summer semester) for the duration of the enrolment period.
• At the same time, please check the available course times in the DaF course catalog, as you must select one or more A1 courses in the form.
• Fill in the form as thoroughly as possible including your UP enrolment certification (if applicable) and submit the form. You will then receive an automatic confirmation of receipt. Incomplete information on your side may lead to enquiries and slow down the process.

2) The DaF team will check the information and offer you a place in an A1 course.

• At the Zessko we collect the registrations and distribute the course places as much as possible according to your wishes and the available capacities. This can take a few days. So please be patient.
• Admission to the courses is based on a list of priorities. Current students and employees of the University of Potsdam will take priority.
• We will inform you as soon as we can offer you a course place.
• Enrolment via PULS is neither possible nor necessary.

If you have previously learned German and would like to attend a DaF course at the Zessko for the first time, ...

... we would like to offer you a DaF course that fits your current language skills. Therefore several steps are necessary for the registration:

1) Placement test:

• You take the placement test, which is temporary available on the Zessko-DaF website from the beginning of October (for the winter semester) or April (for the summer semester). Please see the top of the page for details about the current test.
• The test is available for free on Moodle -EFP. You should log-in with your account at the University of Potsdam. This will speed up the enrolement. You can also set up an new account for Open.UP if you do not have a UP account. Depending on your previous level in German, you should register there either for the A2 placement test or for the B1-C1 placement test.
• We usually need two days to evaluate your test. Then you will find your result and our recommendation for suitable DaF courses on Moodle.
• As an alternative to the placement test, we currently accept language certificates from the Goethe-Institut, telc certificates, UNIcert certificates, the DSH and the TestDaF if they are not older than 12 months.
• Full-time Bachelor students who would like to take DaF courses as a key competency (Studiumplus), please register directly in PULS for a suitable DaF course without a placement test.

2) Communicate your desired course via email:

• Check the Course Catalog which of our German courses match the course recommendation you have received after the placement test.
• Together with our recommendation, you send your desired course  during the enrolment period by e-mail to the Virtual DaF Office.  We need the following information to complete the registration:
  - Name, first Name
  - date and of birth (only in case you want to receive a certificate later)
  - Certification of enrolment at the University of Potsdam containing information about study program and matriculation number (if available)
  - Your email address, preferably UP mail address
  - Status: Student at the University of Potsdam (Bachelor, Master or exchange student + name of the course) // doctoral student or postdoc at University of Potsdam (+ faculty name) // student at another University (name) // doctoral student or postdoc at the XYZ reseach institute in Potsdam (GFZ, PIK, AIP, ATB, AWI, MPI, ...) // guest
  - Course recommendation
•  The enrolment period is usually in early October or early April. The exact dates can be found at the top of this website.

3) DaF Team assigns places:

• We assign the places in the courses to members of the University of Potsdam according to the order in which we received the applications.
• At the end of the registration period, we will inform you of the admission by email.