Infographic: Types of higher education entrance qualification (HZB)

You have two options:

• before you take the assessment exam, you can go through one year of preparation at the Studienkolleg or
• you can prepare and study for the exam independently and take the external assesment examination.

Please note that you have to apply through uni-assist for either option. The university's website has more information about the application process for the first subject-specific semester within the university-internal procedure/Studienkolleg.

Whether you have a higher education entrance qualification that is accepted as equal to the German HZB depends on your educational background.

Conditions usually include the following:

• a high school diploma or school-leaving qualification from your native country that grants you access to higher education in your native country or, as the case may be,
• a combination of school-leaving qualification, university entrance exam and/or years already enrolled as a student at a university.

The DAAD's (German Academic Exchange Service) website and database anabin can give you information about what kind of HZB you have.

The following page can tell you more about which options are available to you to acquire a HZB in Berlin through so called "second-chance education": https://www.berlin.de/sen/bildung/lebenslanges-lernen/zweiter-bildungsweg/