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  1. Home
  2. German as a Foreign Language
  3. Overview of courses
  4. German courses for students of all disciplines
  5. Placement tests for German courses for students of all disciplines

Placement tests for German courses for students of all disciplines

In page navigation: German as a Foreign Language
  • Overview of courses
    • German courses for students of all disciplines
      • Placement tests for German courses for students of all disciplines
      • Registration process for German courses for students of all disciplines
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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
  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

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

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

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.

Friedrich-Alexander-Universität
Erlangen-Nürnberg

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91054 Erlangen
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