IELTS, TestDaF and German Language Tests for Germany

Germany does not set one national IELTS band. The score you need, and even whether you sit an English test at all, is decided by the specific programme you apply to, and for a German-taught degree you take a German test instead of an English one. So the honest answer to the germany ielts band requirement question is a range, from about IELTS 5.5 to 7.0 for English-taught programmes, with a separate track (TestDaF or DSH at C1 level) for programmes taught in German. This page gives the real minimum scores by named university and programme, the German levels and certificates that count, and the one assumption that quietly costs Indian students an intake, that a degree taught in English lets them skip the test.

Which language test do you need for Germany, IELTS or TestDaF?

The test you take is decided by the language your programme is taught in, not by which test you would prefer. An English-taught programme needs proof of English, usually IELTS Academic or TOEFL iBT. A German-taught programme needs proof of German at an advanced level, usually TestDaF or DSH. IELTS and TOEFL are the two main international English exams. TestDaF (Test Deutsch als Fremdsprache) and DSH (Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang) are the two German exams built for university entry. All four are scored against the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, or CEFR, a scale that runs A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2, where B2 is upper intermediate and C1 is advanced enough to study a full degree in that language.

Most Indian students applying for a master’s pick an English-taught programme, because Germany offers a large number of them in engineering, computer science, business and the sciences, and because they already have years of English-medium study behind them. You can take IELTS, TOEFL and TestDaF in India. DSH is the exception, because it is taken in Germany at the university itself, which is covered further down.

Once you know which side you are on, the real question is the exact score your programme wants.

What IELTS band does Germany actually require?

There is no single IELTS band for Germany. Each English-taught programme sets its own minimum, and across major universities the requirement runs from about IELTS 5.5 to 7.0, or TOEFL iBT 72 to 100. The gap is not between weak and strong universities, it is between programmes, and it can move sharply inside one university. TU Darmstadt asks IELTS 7.0 or TOEFL 95 for most of its English master’s, but only IELTS 5.5 or TOEFL 72 for its Mechanics and Mathematics master’s, so the same admissions office wants two very different scores depending on the course.

The scores line up with CEFR levels, and the two English tests map to those levels in fixed bands. IELTS publishes its own alignment, with a band of 5.5 to 6.5 sitting at B2 and 7.0 to 8.0 at C1. TOEFL iBT places roughly 72 to 94 at B2 and 95 and above at C1 on its familiar 0 to 120 scale. A programme that says it needs B2 English will typically accept IELTS 5.5 or 6.0, while one that insists on C1 will usually want IELTS 7.0.

The table below is a real spread of published minimums, so you can see how far the same requirement travels. These are the whole picture for admission, not a suggestion, and each is taken from the university’s own page.

PTE Academic is accepted more widely than most guides suggest, mapped by German universities at about 59 to 75 for B2 and 76 and above for C1. So work from your exact programme page, note the level and the number it lists, and aim a little above it rather than exactly at it, because a few of these carry conditions that a bare total score does not satisfy.

Does an English-medium degree let you skip IELTS in Germany?

Sometimes for the university, and almost never for the visa, so plan to sit a test unless you have confirmed both. This is the assumption that most often costs Indian applicants, because you were told an English-medium background means no IELTS. The truth is exact, and it depends on what kind of English-medium proof you have and which authority is checking it.

A Class XII certificate that says English medium is not accepted as English proof by any German university. What some universities do accept is a formal written confirmation that your bachelor’s degree was taught in English, but the conditions are strict and they differ by university. KIT accepts a degree where English was the sole language of instruction and examination, stated on your transcript or degree, with no restriction on the country. TUM accepts it where English made up at least half the programme. RWTH Aachen, by contrast, waives the test only for a degree earned in a native-English country such as the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada or the United States, so an Indian degree taught in English does not qualify there. TUM’s School of Medicine and Health goes further and states that proof of English through the admission certificate is no longer valid at all.

The German mission that issues your visa is stricter than any university. The German missions in India state that a recognised English certificate is obligatory and instruct applicants not to submit exemption letters or language-of-instruction certificates. So you can be admitted on your English-medium letter and still be refused at the visa stage without an IELTS or TOEFL score.

If you are certain your target university accepts a language-of-instruction letter and your admission letter itself confirms your English, you may avoid the test. Everyone else should plan to sit one. The wider admission picture, from recognition to grades, is in our guide to the requirements to study in Germany.

Which test rules can reject a score that looks high enough?

Several rules can sink a total that meets the number, and they are easy to miss because they sit in the fine print rather than in the headline band. Four matter most for Indian applicants, and each has cost real candidates a place.

1. Superscoring is often rejected. TOEFL’s MyBestScore combines your best section scores across different test dates into one higher total. TUM, RWTH Aachen and Mannheim all state that they count only a single test sitting, so a strong MyBestScore that no single exam produced will not be accepted.
2. Per-section minimums apply. A good overall score can still fail on one weak part. KIT asks for IELTS 6.5 with no section below 5.5, so a 6.5 total carried by a weak listening score is rejected.
3. Certificates expire, and each university sets its own window. A test is not valid forever. Freiburg treats TOEFL as valid for two years and TU Berlin will not accept a certificate over three years old, while TH Köln accepts scores up to five years old and KIT sets no expiry, so the same score can be current at one university and stale at another.
4. The TOEFL score scale changed in 2026, so the number on your report may not match the number on the university page. From 21 January 2026, ETS reports TOEFL iBT on a new 1 to 6 scale instead of 0 to 120, where a 5 aligns with C1 and equals about 95 and above on the old scale, and a 4 aligns with B2. German university pages still list the old numbers such as 88 or 95, so during the two-year transition your report shows the CEFR level, the new 1 to 6 score and a comparable old-scale score together, and you match the old number the programme quotes.

One more format note. TOEFL ITP, the paper institutional version, is a different test from TOEFL iBT and is rejected by universities such as Stuttgart, so check that any test you book is the version the programme names.

What German test and level do you need for a German-taught degree?

You need German at C1 for a full German-taught degree, shown either by TestDaF with level 4 in all four parts or by DSH-2. C1 is the advanced level at which you can follow lectures, read academic texts and write papers in German. DAAD, the German academic exchange service, states that most institutions require at least B2 for German-taught programmes, and in practice direct entry to a full degree means C1. The two main routes to prove it work very differently.

TestDaF is a single standardised exam, now taken digitally, with four separately scored parts, reading, listening, writing and speaking. Each part is graded TDN 3, TDN 4 or TDN 5, levels that span upper B2 to C1, and there is no combined overall grade. The German Rectors’ Conference treats TDN 4 in all four parts, often written 4×4, as the standard for most German-taught programmes, and you need that 4 in every part. LMU Munich puts it plainly, stating that if you fail to reach level 4 in any of the sections it cannot accept you. So a candidate scoring 5, 5, 3, 5 across the four parts, strong in three, misses level 4 on writing alone and resits the whole exam.

DSH is not one exam but a family of university-run exams, and this is the part most guides flatten. DSH is set and marked by individual German universities, scored in percentages, with DSH-1 at 57 percent, DSH-2 at 67 percent and DSH-3 at 82 percent. DSH-2 is the standard requirement for a full degree and maps to C1. DSH is taken in Germany, usually after you have a conditional admission, at the university you plan to attend, so it is a post-arrival step rather than something you finish in India. For applying from home, TestDaF, telc Deutsch C1 Hochschule and the Goethe-Zertifikat are the exams you can actually complete before you leave.

Universities publish these as equivalents, so any one of the C1 certificates usually satisfies the requirement. A few language-heavy programmes ask for more. Heidelberg requires above DSH-2 for German Language and Literature, Conference Interpreting and Law, and universities running teacher training and medicine often want the highest levels, so a German-taught degree in those fields is a heavier language commitment than a C1 pass suggests.

What German level do you need for a Studienkolleg, and why is it lower?

A Studienkolleg asks for German at only B1 to B2 to enter, which is lower than the C1 needed for a full degree, because the Studienkolleg is a preparatory year that raises your German while you study. A Studienkolleg is the one-year foundation course most Indian school-leavers take before a German bachelor’s, since an Indian Class XII does not qualify for direct entry on its own. You apply with intermediate German and sit an entrance test, the Aufnahmetest, which checks your German and, for technical streams, your mathematics.

DAAD sets the entry level at B1 to B2, and competitive Studienkollegs such as those in Munich effectively want B2 to pass the entrance test. The course then teaches German up to about C1, and it ends in an exam called the Feststellungsprüfung, taken in German. That final exam counts as proof of German at DSH-2 level at many universities, so passing it can remove the need to sit DSH or TestDaF separately. Our guide to the Studienkolleg route in Germany walks through the foundation year, the streams and the costs.

Do you still need German if your programme is taught in English?

Not for admission and not for the visa, but German still shapes your daily life, your part-time work and your later years in Germany. For an English-taught programme, the university asks only for English, and the German mission asks for language proof in the language of instruction, which is English, so no German certificate is required to get in or to get the visa. Two of the steps Indian students worry about here do not test your language at all.

The APS certificate, the document check every Indian applicant clears first, verifies that your marksheets and degrees are genuine. It does not set a language level. Its checklist asks you to attach a copy of your language certificate if you have one, and it records it, but APS itself does not pass or fail you on language. uni-assist, which many universities use to evaluate your credentials, is similar. Its preliminary review, the VPD, converts your grade and confirms your degree, and language proof is a separate document you upload, not part of the VPD. uni-assist will accept a written confirmation that English was your language of instruction as part of the application, but as we saw, the German mission that issues the visa will not.

Where German returns is life outside the lecture hall. Housing offices, part-time jobs, internships and later a graduate job or a residence-permit renewal often run in German, and students who arrive at A1 and stay there tend to find these harder than the admission brochures suggest. German at A2 or B1 is not an admission rule, but starting it before you arrive is one of the more useful things you can do, and it is far easier to build alongside your studies than to leave for later. Some German-taught paths also allow conditional admission, where you are admitted on the condition that you pass DSH before you begin, as at the University of Erfurt, which shows how the language requirement can sit just after the admission decision rather than before it.

When should you take the test, and what does it cost from India?

Take the test early enough that a valid certificate is in hand before your application deadline and your visa appointment, because the slow step is not the exam, it is the result and the calendar around it. German application deadlines are typically 15 July for the winter intake and 15 January for the summer intake. IELTS and TOEFL fit this comfortably, since a computer-delivered IELTS result arrives in a few days. TestDaF is the exception. The digital TestDaF runs on only a few fixed dates a year and its results take about four weeks, so a candidate who books a late date can pass the exam and still receive the certificate after the application closes, losing the intake despite a good score. Book TestDaF months ahead, not against the deadline.

Validity is the second date to watch. TestDaF never expires according to its maker, yet Humboldt will not accept a TestDaF certificate older than three years to exempt you from its own DSH, so valid indefinitely does not mean every university will take an old one. The German mission is stricter still and wants a language certificate under one year old, the tightest window of any step, so a certificate that satisfies a university can still be too old for the consulate.

IELTS in India is now delivered only by IDP, which sets the fee at INR 19,000 from April 2026, so older advice about booking through the British Council no longer applies. TOEFL iBT is INR 15,254 through ETS. On the German side, the digital TestDaF costs about EUR 210 and is offered in India through Goethe-Institut and Max Mueller Bhavan centres in cities including Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune. If your programme is German-taught, the cheapest way to reach C1 is not a stack of exam fees but the free and low-cost learning that Goethe-Institut, DAAD and university language centres offer, with a single certificate at the end. Whichever track you choose, the language step runs alongside the rest of your file, so plan it with the same care as your grades in our guide to a master’s in Germany.

Sources

• DAAD, requirements overview and German language levels, daad.de
• IELTS, band-to-CEFR alignment, ielts.org
• ETS, TOEFL iBT score-scale update (1 to 6 from January 2026), ets.org, and India fees, in.ets.org
• IDP IELTS India, test fee, ieltsidpindia.com
• KIT, English and German language requirements for master’s, intl.kit.edu
• TU Munich, language certificates for admission, tum.de
• TU Darmstadt, international application and language, tu-darmstadt.de
• RWTH Aachen, language skills and exemptions, rwth-aachen.de
• University of Freiburg, language certificates and CEFR bands, uni-freiburg.de
• TestDaF Institute / g.a.s.t., exam structure and TDN levels, testdaf.de
• Heidelberg University, DSH levels and language requirements, uni-heidelberg.de
• uni-assist, language certificates and the VPD, uni-assist.de
• APS India, document verification and visa language guidance, aps-india.de
• German Missions in India, student visa checklist and FAQ, india.diplo.de

Related reading. This page sits under our guide to studying in Germany for Indian students, which links every step in turn, from checking your degree’s recognition and getting your documents verified to converting your grades and preparing your language proof.