DaF – Placement & registration

There are two steps involved in enrolling in an A1.1 course:

1) You complete the online application form.

• The form is available to you from October 1st (for the winter semester) or from April 1st (for the summer semester) for the duration of the enrolment period.
• At the same time, please check the available course times in the DaF course catalog, as you must select one or more A1 courses in the form.
• Submit the form. You will then receive an automatic confirmation of receipt.

2) The DaF team will check the information and offer you a place in an A1.1 course.

• At the Zessko we collect the registrations and distribute the course places as much as possible according to your wishes and the available capacities. This can take a few days. So please be patient.
• Admission to the courses is based on a list of priorities. Current students and employees of the University of Potsdam will take priority.
• We will inform you of the results and enrol you in the courses if possible.
• Enrolment via PULS is neither possible nor necessary.

If you have previously learned German and would like to attend a DaF course at the Zessko for the first time, ...

... we would like to offer you a DaF course that fits your current language skills. Therefore several steps are necessary for the registration:

1) Placement test:

• You take the placement test, which is usually activated on the Zessko-DaF website from October 1st (for the winter semester) or April 1st (for the summer semester).
• The test is available for free on Moodle "Open.UP". You can take the test with your account at the University of Potsdam or you can set up an account for Open.UP if you do not have a UP account. Depending on your previous knowledge, you can register there for the A2 placement test or for the B1-C1 placement test.
• We usually need two days to evaluate your test. Then you will find your result and our recommendation for suitable DaF courses on Moodle.
• As an alternative to the placement test, we currently accept language certificates from the Goethe-Institut, telc certificates, UNIcert certificates, the DSH and the TestDaF if they are not older than 12 months.
• Full-time Bachelor students who would like to take DaF courses as a key competency (Studiumplus), please register directly in PULS for a suitable DaF course without a placement test.

2) Communicate your desired course via email:

• Together with our recommendation, you send your desired course  during the enrolment period by e-mail to the Virtual DaF Office. This message must contain the following information:
  - Name, first Name
  - date of birth (in case you want to receive a certificate later)
  - Matriculation number (if already available)
  - Gender
  - Your email address
  - Status: Student at the University of Potsdam (Bachelor, Master or exchange student + name of the course) // doctoral student or postdoc at University of Potsdam (+ faculty name) // student at another University (name) // doctoral student or postdoc at the XYZ reseach institute in Potsdam (GFZ, PIK, AIP, ATB, AWI, MPI, ...) // guest
  - Test result (course recommendation)
•  The enrolment period is usually in early October or early April. The exact dates can be found at the top of this website.

3) DaF team assigns places:

• We assign the places in the courses according to the order in which we received your registrations.
• At the end of the registration period, we will inform you of the admission by email.