Placement tests for German courses for students of all disciplines
There are three different options for assessing your level of language proficiency:
Placement test at FAU Language Centre
General information
The placement tests are so-called C-tests and are carried out in the language laboratory of the Language Centre. The test takes 40 minutes. You will be given a record of your results shortly after taking the test.
Absolute beginners do not need to take a placement test, they should just register straight away for a general course for beginners – Deutsch A1.1: Allgemeinkurs.
Placement test in Erlangen
The placement tests in Erlangen are held in the last week of the semester break. No placement tests are held after that. Before the summer semester you can make an appointment online for a placement test in Erlangen from mid-March, before the winter semester from mid-September. Please go to: www.sz.fau.de/faudaf
Placement test in Nuremberg
The placement tests in Nuremberg are held by arrangement. You can find more information on the page of the department “FAN Nuremberg“.
Submitting a recognised language certificate
Proof is provided by presenting the relevant certificates or references (copies are sufficient). Please send a scan or photo by e-mail to sz-daf-info@fau.de before the registration deadline.
| The following table only gives a guide to which level students holding the relevant certificates will be placed in when taking a German course alongside their main degree programme. It has no relevance to the requirements which have to be met to be accepted for a place at the University! See the Admissions Office website | |||||||
| Level of course |
Certificates (no older than 3 years) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goethe-certificate telc-certificate |
UNIcert® | onDaf | DSH | TestDaF | DSD | ||
| A1.2 | |||||||
| A2.1 | Goethe-cert. A1 telc-cert. A1 |
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| A2.2 | |||||||
| B1 | B1.1 | Goethe-cert. A2 telc-cert. A2 |
UNIcert®-Basis | onDaf A2 | DSD 1 equivalent to A2 |
||
| B1.2 | |||||||
| B2 | B2.1 | Goethe-cert. B1 telc-cert. B1 |
UNIcert®-Level I | onDaf B1 | DSH 1 (57%) | 12-13 points | DSD 1 only if equivalent to B1 |
| B2.2 | DSH 1 (62%) | 14-15 points | |||||
| C1 | C1.1 | Goethe-cert. B2 telc-cert. B2 |
UNIcert®-Level II | onDaf B2 | DSH 2 (67%) | 16 points | DSD 2 equivalent to B2 |
| C1.2 | DSH 2 (74%) | 17 points | |||||
| C2 | Goethe-cert. C1 Goethe-cert. C2 telc-cert. C1 telc-cert. C1 Hochschule telc-cert. C2 |
UNIcert®-Level III UNIcert®-Level IV |
onDaf C1 | DSH 3 (82%) | 18 points | DSD 2 only if equivalent to C1 |
|
| DSH = Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang DSD = Deutsches Sprachdiplom der Kultusministerkonferenz |
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Unfortunately, we cannot accept certificates from private language schools or other universities. In case of doubt, please contact our colleagues: sz-daf-info@fau.de
Successfully completing German courses offered by the FAU Language Centre
Course levels A1 to A2
Absolute beginners are level A1 or A1.1.
| Level of course |
Semester (SEM) or holiday (FIT) course at level | Grade | Resulting placement | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | A1.1 | A1.1 | 1,0 – 4,0 | A1.2 |
| A1.2 | A1.2 | 1,0 – 4,0 | A2.1 | |
| A2 | A2.1 | A2.1 | 1,0 – 4,0 | A2.2 |
| A2.2 | A2.2 | 1,0 – 4,0 | B1 or B1.1 | |
| SEM course = semester course FIT course = intensive holiday course |
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Course levels B1 to C2
Thanks to our faudaf points system you can easily calculate which and how many courses you need to take to reach a higher course level. The following table gives an overview of how many faudaf points you can obtain for the various courses.
| Type of course |
Teaching hours |
Grade | faudaf points | SWS (semester hours) |
ECTS credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEM course |
2-hour course | 1,0 – 4,0 | 2 faudaf points |
2 SWS | 2,5 ECTS |
| SEM course | 4-hour course | 2,3 – 4,0 | 4 faudaf points |
4 SWS | 5 ECTS |
| SEM course | 4-hour course | 1,0 – 2,0 | 6 faudaf points |
4 SWS | 5 ECTS |
| FIT course |
72 hours per course | 2,3 – 4,0 | 4 faudaf points |
5 SWS | 5 ECTS |
| FIT course |
72 hours per course | 1,0 – 2,0 | 6 faudaf points |
5 SWS | 5 ECTS |
| SEM course = semester course FIT course = intensive holiday course SWS = semester hours; 1 SWS corresponds to 45 minutes teaching per semester week |
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For courses at level B1, B1.1 and B1.2 you receive B1 faudaf points, i.e. faudaf points at level B1
For courses at level B2, B2.1 and B2.2 you receive B2 faudaf points, i.e. faudaf points at level B2
For courses at level C1, C1.1 and C1.2 you receive C1 faudaf points, i.e. faudaf points at level C1
The following table shows how many faudaf points you need if you want to reach a higher course level.
| Current course level |
faudaf points obtained in courses | Resulting placement | |
|---|---|---|---|
| B1 | B1.1 | at least 6 B1 faudaf points | B1.2 |
| B1 | B1.1 | at least 12 B1 faudaf points | B2.1 bzw. B2 |
| B1.2 | at least 6 B1 faudaf points | B2.1 bzw. B2 | |
| B2 | B2.1 | at least 6 B2 faudaf points | B2.2 |
| B2 | B2.1 | at least 14 B2 faudaf points | C1.1 bzw. C1 |
| B2.2 | at least 8 B2 faudaf points | C1.1 bzw. C1 | |
| C1 | C1.1 | at least 8 C1 faudaf points | C1.2 |
| C1 | C1.1 | at least 18 C1 faudaf points | C2 |
| C1.2 | at least 10 C1 faudaf points | C2 | |
If you have any questions please write an e-mail to sz-daf-info@fau.de.
If you have different classification results, then the highest classification always applies. All too complicated? Then simply take our interactive proficiency check. It will tell you at the end exactly which course level you can register for.
Don’t forget! You can only register for the course level for which you have the appropriate placement.