Admissions Office |
Proof of German Language Knowledge
New Regulation as of Autumn 2010
Persons wishing to register at the University of Bern at Bachelor level who do not have German as their mother tongue must provide evidence that they possess sufficient knowledge of German before they can matriculate.
The term mother tongue applies to either the actual mother tongue, or the language of instruction of their secondary school-leaving certificate or academic qualifications.
General Exemption from the Requirement of furnishing Proof of adequate Knowledge of German:
- prospective students of French or Italian mother tongue with Swiss qualifications leading to admission to Swiss universities
- federal and exchange scholarship holders
- prospective students who have passed the Entrance Examination of the Rectors‘ Conference of the Swiss Universities CRUS in Zurich, provided the examination was held in German
- prospective students who passed a German Entrance or Complementary Examination administered by the Cantonal Maturity Committee
- Prospective students who are holding one of the following certificates:
- Goethe C1 certificate,
- Zentrale Oberstufenprüfung (ZOP),
- Kleines Deutsches Sprachdiplom (KDS) of the Goethe
Institute in Germany or at another authorised
examination centre of the Goethe Institute abroad,
- telc Deutsch C1 certificate,
- TestDaF of the German TestDaF syndicate with a
minimum score of "4" in all four subtests,
- Deutsches Sprachdiplom der Kultusministerkonferenz -
Zweite Stufe (DSD II),
- Österreichisches Sprachdiplom (ÖSD) Prüfung C1
Oberstufe Deutsch,
- Österreichisches Sprachdiplom (ÖSD) Wirtschafts-
sprache Deutsch - level C2 - prospective students who have passed the German language proficiency test for admission to higher education (Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang ausländischer Studienbewerber - DSH) result classe 2 or 3
- prospective students who can provide a written confirmation from an other Swiss university that they have passed the German language test for foreigners.
All other German examinations or certificates cannot be accepted!
The dean's offices of the relevant faculties can specify for their Bachelor programmes whether the German exam is generally required or whether individual exemptions may be granted. Applications have to be addressed to the dean's office of the relevant faculty. See the chart below.
| Faculty | German exam |
| Faculty of Theology | indiv. exemption on request |
| Faculty of Law | mandatory |
| Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences | mandatory |
| Faculty of Medicine | mandatory |
| Vetsuisse Faculty | general exemption |
| Faculty of Humanities | indiv. exemption on request |
| Faculty of Human Sciences | mandatory |
| Faculty of Sciences | indiv. exemption on request |
Registration for the Examination
Only for entry in autumn a German language examination is held at the University of Bern.
After timely application for admission, prospective students will be requested in writing to register for the German Examination with the Admissions Office of the University of Bern on the strength of the issued admission decision. In due time, applicants will receive detailed information and a registration form, enabling them to register for the examination by
31 July for entry in the autumn semester.
Your registration is binding. If you cannot take the German examination, you must notify in writing the Admissions Office at the latest by the 1st day of the examination. Cogent reasons for the absence and - if possible - appropriate proofs of evidence must be submitted. The absence from the examination without notification will be counted as a failure.
A recognised proof of German language knowledge must be submitted for entry in the spring semester.
Dates
| Entry Semester |
Registra-tion date | Examination dates written and oral |
Infor-mation |
| Spring 2011 | no test | ||
| Autumn 2011 | 31 July | Monday and Tuesday, 29 and 30 August 2011 |
 |
Applicants with foreign qualifications are advised to submit their application for admission as soon as possible, enabling us to have enough time to check the application for admission and the applicant to register - if necessary - for the German examination.
In order to pass the test candidates should have a very good knowledge of German at level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (see self-assessment grid) and, to some extent, a wide academic vocabulary.
We recommend the website of the Goethe Institute http://bfu.goethe.de/c1_01/lesen.php about the C1 certificate to prepare for the test.
The exam at the University of Bern will be a shortened versionh of such C1 tests.
German Examination for entry in Autumn
The German examination usually takes place two to three weeks before lectures of the autumn semester start. The examination requires students to furnish poof of adequate knowledge of German, both spoken and written, active and passive. An examination fee of 50 Francs is charged.
Absence from the Examination/Failure
Applications for admission from prospective students remain pending until the results of the German Examination are available. Once the German Examination has been passed, the applicant can be registered. If the prospective student does not take or fails the German Examination, he or she will not be admitted; the application for admission will be withdrawn. Absence from the examination without prior notification or not completing the examination will be counted as a failure. Consequently, lectures may only be attended with an Auditor's Pass. Auditors may not take any language courses. The German examination may be repeated once.
After two failures the test may only be taken again in the context of a new registration at the University of Bern, after 5 years at the earliest.
