Recognition of previously achieved academic performance
Placement in a Higher Subject-Specific Semester for German and International Applicants (Excluding Medicine and Dentistry)
The respective examination office is responsible for the placement into a higher subject-specific semester (placement certificate) and the recognition of previously completed academic achievements (recognition notice).
Please familiarise yourself in advance with the process for recognition and placement when entering a higher semester, and contact the relevant examination office for your desired degree programme in good time.
Only certificates that have been signed by the examination office will be accepted.
If applicants have already been enrolled in the same degree programme at a German higher education institution and are now applying for a higher semester in the same subject at the University of Rostock, and if this degree programme is subject to admission restrictions at the University of Rostock, they must apply for the semester to which their academic placement corresponds. After successful admission, they will be enrolled in the semester that follows the most recent semester completed at their previous university, regardless of the academic placement result.
Please note that this may result in enrolment in a higher semester than what your academic evaluation suggests, potentially leading to a significant need to catch up on coursework. In such cases, please observe the deadlines set out in the examination regulations.
Provisional certificates or unassessed academic achievements cannot be considered during the admission process. That means academic work undertaken in the current semester can only be recognised after the examination period has ended. You may submit proof of recognition for such work by 10 March (for applications to the summer semester) or 10 September (for applications to the winter semester).
Note for Medicine and Dentistry Programmes
According to the Medical Licensing Regulations (ÄAppO) or Dental Licensing Regulations (ZAppO), academic achievements or study periods from related degree programmes or completed abroad can be recognised under certain conditions.
The recognition of academic achievements does not entitle applicants to a place in the programme. As Medicine and Dentistry are subject to admission restrictions, a formal application is always required.
For the first clinical semester in Human Medicine (5th subject-specific semester), applicants who are transferring universities are ranked based on the final grade of the First Section of the Medical Examination (Physikum). If this grade cannot be submitted by 30 September of the year in question, the provisional result from the written part of the examination will be used in the selection process.
Please ensure you submit proof of your written results by 30 September. Once you receive the official certificate for the First Section of the Medical Examination, submit a copy immediately.
If the examination office recognises academic achievements without calculating a final grade, these applicants will be ranked after those for whom a final grade is available.
Contacts for the Recognition of Academic Achievements (Medicine & Dentistry)
Recognition of academic achievements acquired abroad is handled centrally by the competent State Examination Office (Landesprüfungsamt) in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Recognition is handled by the State Examination Office in the federal state of the applicant’s place of birth. If the applicant was born abroad, recognition is handled by the State Examination Office in North Rhine-Westphalia.
If you have studied a related degree programme either in Germany or abroad, your achievements may be recognised if the nature and scope of the studies are equivalent to those required by the Medical or Dental Licensing Regulations. Recognition in this case is also handled centrally by the State Examination Office in North Rhine-Westphalia.
If you have studied a related degree programme either in Germany or abroad, your academic achievements may be recognised if the nature and scope of the studies are equivalent to those prescribed by the Medical or Dental Licensing Regulations.
Recognition is handled by the State Examination Office in the federal state of your place of birth. If your place of birth is abroad, recognition is handled by the competent office in North Rhine-Westphalia.
If you are already studying Medicine or Dentistry at a German university, your academic achievements must be confirmed by the examination office at your current university, or you may submit copies of your completed course certificates (Scheine) with your application to the University of Rostock.
Notes for Teaching Degree Programmes
- Applicants for teaching degrees (primary schools, regional schools, or grammar schools) must submit recognition/placement certificates only for the teaching subjects they have chosen. A separate certificate for Educational Sciences is only to be submitted to the Central Examination Office for Teaching Degrees (ZPA).
- Applicants for Special Needs Education programmes will receive a general recognition/placement certificate. Here too, a certificate for Educational Sciences is to be submitted only to the ZPA.
- A change of degree programme or teaching subject within a teaching degree is not permitted if it is a second or subsequent change without valid reason, as stated in §3, paragraph 6 of the Framework Examination Regulations for Teaching Degree Programmes (RPO-LA) at the University of Rostock.
Please also refer to the information on applying to the first subject-specific semester or pursuing a teaching degree with different subject-specific semesters.