FAQs on application and enrolment procedures

Information on the application deadlines for a specific degree programme can be found either on the programme web pages, which you can access via this page, or on the university's admission applications and enrolment pages.

For applicants who gained their higher education entrance qualification in the previous year, special deadlines apply only in the case of the three degree programmes 'Medicine', 'Dentistry' and 'Pharmaceutical Science', for which admissions are coordinated nationally. The current admission application deadline is published on the hochschulstart.de website.

Please use the following link for a list of the key application and enrolment dates for our undergraduate degree programmes. Other important semester dates such as the main teaching period, re-registration deadlines, etc. are listed here.

First-cycle degree programmes (Bachelor's, teacher training or state-examined degree programmes)
If you want to apply for a place on an undergraduate degree programme, the number of documents you will need to submit is usually quite small. You will definitely need to submit proof of your higher education entrance qualification (e.g. your Abitur certificate) and a valid identity document (identity card or passport). Additional documentation will need to be submitted if (i) you have completed a period of voluntary service (e.g. you have worked on a recognized community or social project (FSJ) or environmental project (FÖJ), served under the Federal Volunteering Scheme (BFD) or have completed a period of voluntary military service), (ii) you have taken an aptitude test as part of the nationally administered admission procedure for 'Medicine', 'Dentistry' or 'Pharmaceutical Science', or (iii) you plan to submit a special application (e.g. for a hardship grant). Applicants who do not have a German school leaving certificate or who wish to apply to study for a second (undergraduate) degree will also need to submit further documentation.

Master's degree programmes
If you are planning to apply for a place on a Master's programme, you will normally need to submit more documents than for a first-cycle degree. In addition to providing proof of your undergraduate degree qualification, you will often need to submit documents that will be used to assess your aptitude for the intended programme of study and to determine whether you meet the formal admission criteria (e.g. transcript of records, language proficiency, translations of foreign education credentials, etc.).

As the application procedure is conducted entirely online, all documents must be submitted in electronic form (typically as PDF or JPG files). It is not therefore necessary to make certified copies of the documents you submit, e.g. your higher education entrance qualification. Please note, however, that different regulations apply to those degree programmes (Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmaceutical Science) for which the admission process is coordinated nationally by hochschulstart.

The answer to this question depends on your student status. First-time applicants may apply for a maximum of two degree programmes in Saarland University's SIM application portal. If you have already obtained a degree from a German university, you can only apply for one programme, as you will then be applying to study for a second undergraduate degree. However, in both of the above cases, you can still apply for programmes that are administered centrally via the DoSV admissions procedure (DoSV: dialogue-oriented service procedure) that can be accessed via the internet platform hochschulstart.de.

If you are already studying and have acquired the relevant transferable academic credits, you can – in addition to applying for admission to the first semester of a study programme – also apply for higher semester admission in up to two other undergraduate degree programmes.

The grade threshold ('NC') is not fixed from the outset, but is calculated after the application deadline has closed. It represents the minimum average Abitur grade or the minimum number of previous application semesters required in order to secure admission to the programme. Please refer to the following page to get an idea of the grade thresholds used in previous years. The following link provides further information on how places on first degree programmes are allocated.

For undergraduate degree programmes in Saarland, the concept of the 'waiting list semester' (Wartesemester) was replaced, as of summer semester 2020, by that of the 'previous application semester' (Bewerbungssemester). Waiting list semesters are not relevant when applying for a place on a Master's programme or on one of the three degree programmes 'Medicine', 'Dentistry' and 'Pharmaceutical Science', where places are administered nationally (Zentrales Vergabeverfahren).

Documents submitted with a previous application will not be considered in subsequent applications. Please submit all of the required documents with your new application.

In accordance with the provisions of the Saarland Higher Education Institutions Act (SHSG), anyone who has obtained an appropriate higher education entrance qualification can apply for admission to or enrol at Saarland University, undertake academic examinations and assessments, and has the same rights as all other students.

If you are currently doing voluntary community, social, environmental or military service or you will be doing so in future, we still advise you to apply anyway. If you receive a letter of admission (please keep the letter for later reference), you will still need to apply again at the appropriate time, but according to current admission regulations, your application will be given preference over all other applications.

You will need to use the dialogue-oriented service procedure (DoSV) if you want to apply for a place to study on one of the three degree programmes 'Medicine', 'Dentistry' or 'Pharmaceutical Science' for which admissions are coordinated nationally. Applications for these degree programmes are made directly via www.hochschulstart.de.

Saarland University also makes use of the DoSV system to manage admissions to its Bachelor's degree programmes in 'Biology' and 'Psychology'. Here, too, the first step is to register with www.hochschulstart.de. Once you have received your applicant ID number (BID) and your applicant authentication number (BAN) from hochschulstart.de, you should continue the application process via Saarland University's SIM application portal or the SIM student web portal. Once you have submitted the application questionnaire, your admission application will be stored in your hochschulstart user account for you to access and process further, if required. (Note: there may be a delay between submitting your application and when it appears in your hochschulstart account.)

Admissions to the three degree programmes 'Medicine', 'Dentistry' and 'Pharmaceutical Science' are coordinated nationally and applications can only be submitted directly via www.hochschulstart.de. You do not need to submit an additional application to Saarland University.

However, the procedure is slightly different for the two Bachelor's degree programmes 'Biology' and 'Psychology'. Here, too, the first step is to register with www.hochschulstart.de. Once you have received your applicant ID number (BID) and your applicant authentication number (BAN) from hochschulstart.de, you should continue the application process via Saarland University's SIM application portal or its SIM student web portal. Once you have submitted the application questionnaire, your admission application will be stored in your hochschulstart user account for you to access and process further, if required. (Note: there may be a delay between submitting your application and when it appears in your hochschulstart account.)

No. Saarland University only accepts online applications.

Important note: If you are seeking admission to the degree programmes in 'Medicine', 'Dentistry' and 'Pharmaceutical Science' – for which admissions are coordinated nationally – you must first apply via the integrated online application interface AntOn, after which you must submit all of your application documents by post to Hochschulstart within the designated application period.

The deadline for enrolment is stated in your letter of admission. You can view the relevant notification document (letter of admission or rejection letter) by clicking on the relevant tile in the ‘Documents’ tab in the SIM application portal. As soon as a decision on your application has been made, you will receive notification by email.

Yes, in most cases you can. As the enrolment deadline for non-restricted entry programmes is the end of September (for the winter semester) or the end of March (for the summer semester), you can still enrol for a degree programme that is not subject to entry restrictions after receiving a rejection letter.

The local clearing scheme is a process used by the university to allocate any places on restricted-entry degree programmes that are still available after the normal allocation process has concluded. Any person with an appropriate higher education entrance qualification can apply to be included in the local clearing scheme. Anyone who wants to be included must submit an online clearing request by 15 September. For the degree programmes 'Medicine', Dentistry' and 'Pharmaceutical Science', where admission is coordinated nationally, the corresponding deadline is 15 October.

To access the applications that you have already submitted, please log in to the SIM application portal and select the menu item 'My applications'. You can now withdraw an application and then submit a new application (before the relevant deadline).

In most cases, yes. Many of the examination regulations include provisions that allow applications from students who will be graduating in the near future. However, the detailed requirements vary from degree programme to degree programme. In such cases, you will need to submit your certificate of graduation within a specified period of time after the start of the Master's degree programme. Relevant programme-specific admission information can be found on the dedicated web page for Master’s degree programmes. Click on the degree programme of interest and then go to the section 'Requirements'. You can also discuss the admission procedure with the programme advisor for your Master's programme.

An applicant for a second degree is someone who has already graduated from a German university, a university of applied sciences, a higher education institution specializing in music, art or teacher training and now wants to study for a second undergraduate (i.e. 'first-cycle', not Master's) degree.

The key allocation criteria are 'Grade awarded to applicant for their first undergraduate degree' and 'Reasons for studying for a second undergraduate degree', whereby the statement explaining the applicant's reasons must be submitted (together with any necessary supporting documents) by the relevant application deadline. Click the following link for more information about studying for a second undergraduate degree.

For useful information, step-by-step guides and video tutorials on how to use our SIM portals, please visit our help pages.