Your HZB (Hochschulzugangsberechtigung, or University Entrance Qualification) is the document that proves you're allowed to start a degree program in Germany. It's one of the core requirements every international applicant needs, and how you get one depends entirely on where you completed your previous schooling. This guide explains what counts, how to check your own qualification, and what to do if it isn't automatically recognized.
Disclaimer: For informational purposes only. Recognition outcomes depend on your specific certificate, country, and (in some cases) individual state education board, and can change. Always confirm your own result directly in the anabin database or with your target university before applying.
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What Is the HZB?
For a German student, the HZB is simply the Abitur, their standard secondary-school leaving certificate. For international students, it's whatever your own school-leaving certificate is, sometimes combined with a year or more of completed university study, depending on your country's education system. The HZB isn't a single exam or form you fill out; it's the status your existing qualification is given once it's checked against German requirements.
How Do I Know If My Certificate Qualifies as an HZB?
The main tool is anabin, a free database maintained by Germany's Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB) on behalf of the Kultusministerkonferenz (the standing conference of state education ministers). It's the standard reference universities use to check foreign qualifications.
- Go to the anabin website and open the section for school-leaving certificates ("Schulabschlüsse mit Hochschulzugang").
- Select your country, then your specific certificate (e.g., a secondary school-leaving certificate after 12 years of schooling).
- Review the result, which tells you what level of access that certificate provides on its own.
The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) also runs its own admissions database as a second reference point. If the two disagree, or your situation looks borderline, check directly with your target university.
What Are the Possible Outcomes?
Checking your certificate generally lands you in one of three outcomes:
Note: A common example: a 12-year secondary school-leaving certificate from India is often combined with at least one year of a recognized Bachelor's program to reach subject-restricted admission.
What If My Certificate Isn't Recognized?
If anabin shows your certificate isn't sufficient on its own, you generally have two options:
- Studienkolleg: A one-year preparatory course that ends with the Feststellungsprüfung, an assessment exam. Passing it grants you the HZB.
- TestAS: A standardized aptitude test that some universities accept as an alternative route to the HZB for certain qualifications, instead of a full Studienkolleg year.
Not Sure Where Your Certificate Stands?
An ApplyBoard counsellor can help you check your HZB status and figure out your next step.
Frequently Asked Questions: HZB
For German students, yes, the Abitur is their HZB. For international students, the HZB is whatever status your own school-leaving certificate is given once checked against German requirements; it isn't the Abitur itself.
It's the main reference, but the DAAD admissions database is a useful second check. If results are unclear or borderline, confirm directly with your target university.
You can apply to the specific subject areas your certificate qualifies you for. This often depends on completing a set amount of recognized university study in your home country alongside your school certificate.
Yes, if you're from a country requiring both. They check different things: your APS Certificate verifies your documents are authentic, while your HZB status determines what level of admission your qualification grants.
Check Your Status Early
Your HZB status shapes almost everything else in your application, from which subjects you can apply to, to whether you need a Studienkolleg year first. Checking it early, well before your intended deadline, gives you time to plan around whatever anabin tells you rather than discovering a Studienkolleg requirement at the last minute.
Plan Your Path to a German University
Get support checking your HZB status and mapping out the rest of your admission requirements.
Sources: Study in Germany, "University entrance qualification"; uni-assist, "Check: university admission"; Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, "University entrance qualification (HZB)"