uni assist
Verification of your higher education entrance qualification
In order to study at HAW Hamburg you need to have an academic qualification that is comparable to the German Abitur or Fachhochschulreife. This is your higher education entrance qualification.
Unfortunately, HAW Hamburg cannot check your certificates and tell you if they will enable you to begin a degree course at HAW Hamburg. The organisation uni assist carries out this assessment for us and generates the so-called 'preliminary review documentation' or VPD. You submit this with your application.
What do you need to do?
1. Register with uni assist.
2. Upload copies of your school-leaving and university certificates to the uni assist portal. If these documents are not in German or English, you will need to upload certified translations.
3. uni assist will determine whether your qualification allows you to study at a German university and will convert your grades.
4. uni assist generates 'preliminary review documentation' (VPD) as proof of your higher education entrance qualification or for the Studienkolleg.
5. Please include a simple copy of the VPD in your HAW Hamburg application.
Please apply to uni assist well in advance of submitting your application. The processing time can be four to six weeks. You need the VPD in order to apply to HAW Hamburg. You can apply to uni assist at any time and do not need to wait for the specific semester in which you want to begin your studies.
Exceptions: You do not need a VPD from uni assist if:
you have completed the assessment exam (Feststellungsprüfung) at a Studienkolleg and the transcript lists an overall grade from both the exam and your school completion certificate
OR
your higher education entrance qualification has been recognised by a German agency or ministry, which has also converted your grade.
PLEASE NOTE: The preliminary review documentation (VPD) is valid for two years at HAW Hamburg.
If you are unsure whether you are qualified to study in Germany you can use anabin.de (in German only) to check which criteria you need to fulfil.
