Applying without a German school leaving certificate

You’re on the right track for your training at the Federal Administration? But you don't have a German school-leaving certificate? Here you can find out why this is not an obstacle to starting your career in the public service!

Whether Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein or Bavaria: Education in Germany is the responsibility of the Länder. Therefore, they also deal with the recognition of foreign school-leaving qualifications if you want to start an apprenticeship. Different authorities are responsible for this in the 16 Länder. On the page Equivalence with German School-Leaving Certificates of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany (Kultusministerkonferenz), you can find out which criteria your certificate has to fulfil in order to be recognised as a certificate of completion of compulsory basic secondary schooling (Hauptschulabschluss), intermediate school leaving certificate (Mittlerer Bildungsabschluss) or university entrance qualification (Hochschulreife).
Good to know: If you want to go to university and need a university entrance qualification, it is the universities that decide whether your school-leaving certificate is recognised - and not the Länder. The page Academic Recognition of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cul-tural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany provides answers.

Recognition explained: How do I go about it?

Apply to the authority responsible for you to have your foreign school-leaving certificate assessed. In this way, you can find out whether your foreign school-leaving certificate can be regarded as equivalent to a German school-leaving certificate. If this is the case, you will be issued with a certifi-cate of equivalence. With this certificate and your school-leaving certificate, you are ready for the next big step: your application to the Federal Administration!