Nationwide admission restriction

Selection in the Abitur best quota is based on the total number of points shown in your university entrance qualification. The study places available in this quota are allocated via 16 state ranking lists (i.e. based on an internal state performance comparison), which are then transferred to a large federal ranking list. For the distribution, the study places are divided among the 16 federal states based on the population and applicant shares of the respective states. The results of the state rankings then determine which applications are considered. If applicants from the same federal state have exactly the same score, a completed service (e.g. Federal Voluntary Service) and a randomly assigned lottery number are used as secondary criteria. The choice of possible study locations does not affect your position in the ranking list.

The additional aptitude quota takes into account criteria that are independent of the Abitur grade. The results of aptitude tests are the main focus here. Completed vocational training, completed service or voluntary work can also be included in the assessment, depending on the university. The weighting and selection of criteria vary depending on the university's requirements.

The majority of study places in degree programmes with nationwide admission restrictions are allocated via the university selection process.

The average grade of the university entrance qualification plays a central role in this process, but must be supplemented by at least one other (important), grade-independent criterion. For the Human Medicine degree programme, at least two additional ‘significant’, grade-independent selection criteria must be taken into account.

Frequently used selection criteria include:

• Result of a study aptitude test
• relevant vocational training or practical professional experience,
• as well as proof of completed service,
• academic activities outside of a degree programme (e.g. successful participation in academic competitions)
• Selection interviews or letters of motivation.

How these criteria are organised and weighted varies from university to university. You can find an overview of the universities' selection criteria in the download area for the application procedure for the next semester at www.hochschulstart.de.

In addition, study places are awarded to applicants for whom a delay in the start of their studies is unreasonable due to special health and/or family circumstances. The circumstances must be described in detail or comprehensively documented as part of a so-called special application. These hardship applications are reviewed separately and can account for up to 2% of study places. 

The first step in applying for a nationally restricted study place is online via hochschulstart.de. The DoSV application portal is your central point of contact. After registering, you will be redirected to the dialogue system ‘AntOn’ (Application Online) via the course offer search. This system guides you step by step through the application process.

For the application to be legally valid, you must submit your signature and the required documents (including a certified copy of your higher education entrance qualification, usually your Abitur certificate) by post.

The application results will then be stored in your personal user account in the DoSV application portal. Further details on the application process and important information such as application deadlines can be found at www.hochschulstart.de.

If you would like to increase your chances of admission, you should look into the subject of ‘study aptitude tests’. For example, you can take the fee-based test for medical degree programmes (TMS) up to two times. Although participation is not compulsory, the result plays a decisive role in the application process at most universities.

The TMS is carried out every year in May and November simultaneously at around 50 test locations in Germany. The registration deadline for first-time participants is the end of January or the end of July. Former high school graduates can add the TMS result for an application for the winter semester online until 15 July if they have applied to hochschulstart.de by 31 May.

Further information, including application deadlines, can be obtained from the participating universities, at hochschulstart.de and from the TMS Coordination Centre at www.tms-info.org.

In addition to the TMS, there are also local study aptitude tests at some universities. Since the 2020/21 winter semester, the PhaST has been used as a subject-specific aptitude test for pharmacy applications. You must register for these tests directly with the respective university. It is therefore worth checking the requirements of the universities carefully.

For the nationwide admission-restricted degree programme in Human Medicine, you can also apply for a study place via the quota for so-called rural doctors or the quota for the public health service (ÖGD) for future public health officers.

These special preliminary quotas run outside the usual main quotas (see above) and are regulated by law in the federal states.

Applications are submitted directly to the responsible authorities in the federal states, for example the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety, and are processed by them. Important: You must first register in the DoSV application portal of Hochschulstart; however, the further procedure is independent of the competition in the regular award procedure.

Based on the documents and evidence you submit, the relevant authorities will decide whether and at which university in the respective federal state you will be awarded a place. When applying, you can indicate which universities you prefer.

Applicants who choose this route undertake, upon successful admission, to study in the relevant federal state and to work as a public health officer in the public health service for the first few years of their career or to establish themselves as a rural doctor in underserved, mostly rural regions of the federal state. To this end, a contract is concluded between the federal state and the applicant, which regulates the exact conditions.

The following federal states offer the route into medical studies with the help of a rural doctor quota:

• Baden-Wuerttemberg
• Bavaria
• Hesse
• Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
• Lower Saxony
• North Rhine-Westphalia
• Rhineland-Palatinate
• Saarland
• Saxony
• Saxony-Anhalt
• Thuringia (in planning)
• Bavaria
• Hesse
• Rhineland-Palatinate
• Saxony-Anhalt

The following federal states offer the pathway to medical studies via a special preliminary quota for public health service:

• Bavaria
• Hesse
• Rhineland-Palatinate
• Saxony-Anhalt