Admission Procedure

Admission to undergraduate studies (Bachelor, first law examination)

Basically, a distinction is made in the award procedure between open-admission subjects and restricted-admission subjects. Restricted-admission subjects are marked on our homepage about our study programs if you click on the respective degree program. If there are specific requirements for your study program, they must be fulfilled before you can enroll. This applies regardless of whether your degree program is open-admission or restricted, i.e. if you do not meet such requirements on time, you will not receive a place to study.

Open-admission subjects

For subjects that do not have restricted admission, so-called “open” subjects, there are enough places for all applicants. Anyone who submits an application with all the required documents by the deadline will be allocated a place to study.

Restricted admission subjects

For programs with limited enrollment (abbreviated as “Z-programs”), only a limited number of spots are available. For Z-programs, 80% of the spots—minus special quotas (hardship cases, applications from non-EU countries, etc.)—are allocated based on the average high school graduation exam score. The remaining 20% of spots are allocated based on waiting time. Waiting time is defined as the period after high school graduation during which the applicant did not study in Germany: For example, an applicant goes abroad as an au pair for one year after high school or completes a three-year vocational training program: This results in 2 or 6 waiting-time semesters, respectively.

All applicants are placed on two ranking lists and sorted once by grade and once by waiting period. Then, as many applicants are admitted as there are available study places. The grade or waiting period of the last admitted applicant is the “NC” for that particular admission process. The NC is therefore not a fixed value, but is determined anew each year based on the applicant pool and the number of study places that can be allocated.

Applicants with the highest grade point averages or the longest waiting periods are awarded a spot. Applicants who have been on the waiting list for more than 7 semesters are ranked in random order. Waiting periods accumulate regardless of whether one has actually applied for a spot. Waiting periods and grade point averages are not offset against each other.

What is a qualified grade point average?

For some degree programs, 60% of study places are allocated based on a newly calculated grade point average, known as the qualified grade point average. The quota for top high school graduates is reduced here from 80% to 20%. When calculating the qualified grade point average, grades from the Abitur in specific subjects, such as German or mathematics, are taken into account. Currently, this ranking applies only to the German for Gymnasium/Oberschule program.

The following formula for ranking applies here:

0.55 × Abitur average + 0.45 × average in German

Example of calculating a qualified average grade for the subject German/German Studies:

The following grades are listed on the Abitur transcript:

Abitur average grade: 3.3

Grades in German for the last four semesters and in the Abitur: 11 points, 9 points, 5 points, 13 points, 10 points

The weighted average grade is calculated as follows:

The points are first converted into grades. For the above point values, the following grades result: 11 points = 2.0; 9 points = 2.7; 5 points = 4.0; 9 points = 2.7; 10 points = 2.3

Average of the grades in German: 2.7

Qualified average grade based on the formula:

0.55 × average in the Abitur + 0.45 × average in German =

0.55 × 3.3 + 0.45 × 2.7 = 3.0

The qualified average grade in this example is therefore a 3.0.

Ranking lists in dialogue-oriented service procedures

As soon as the University has created and activated the rankings, you can see under your login at www.hochschulstart.de how many places are allocated, what your rank is, and how many persons have withdrawn their application. As soon as an applicant withdraws from the procedure, the dialogue-oriented service procedure automatically awards the vacant place to the next applicant in the ranking list.

What was the minimum grade requirement?

The minimum grade requirement values ​​from the last admission procedures provide an orientation for the chances of admission, because the minimum grade requirement is the grade or waiting time up to which there were allocations of study places in the previous year. However, the minimum grade requirement only says something about the limits of past allocation procedures; never about future! The limits always reflect the relationship between supply (places) and demand (applications). Depending on the relationship between supply and demand, thresholds vary considerably from semester to semester and from university to university.

The limit values ​​of the last admission procedures (in German):

• Minimum grade requirement values for winter semester 2025/2026
• Minimum grade requirement values for winter semester 2024/2025
• Minimum grade requirement values for winter semester 2023/2024

Please note that in the admission procedure for the first semester of the restricted-admission Bachelor's program in Psychology, the University of Bremen takes into account not only the average grade of the university entrance qualification (e.g., the Abitur), but also the results of the nationwide BaPsy-DGPs study aptitude test.

⇒ Details on how the university entrance qualification and test scores are calculated can be found on the website of Department 11 under the tab “Studieneignungstest” (study aptitude test) (website in German). 

⇒ Information on test content, preparation, costs, and registration can be found on the BaPsy-DGPs website (in German).

Admission to study with two or three subjects

If you apply for a Bachelor's degree course with two or three subjects, you will only be admitted if you are offered a place on all courses. No offer in one subject will result in the rejection of your entire desired course of study; enrolment in a partial course of study is not possible. In the course of your application, you can apply for various subject combinations with one subject.

A special case exists in the case of music education (teaching degree for grammar schools, elementary school and inclusive education in the primary sector). If you pass the music entrance examination, you are guaranteed admission to the subject combination you have specified with music, even if the other subjects are subject to admission restrictions. To do this, you must apply for preferential admission when you apply and upload proof that you have passed the entrance examination.

If you are already enrolled at the University of Bremen and wish to change to another subject, you will be transferred if you are admitted. Exmatriculation is not required for a change of subject within the University of Bremen! In the event of rejection, you will remain enrolled in your previous degree program.

Hardship cases, military and community service, second degree, and age

In some cases special rules have to be taken into account. In detail these are:

• Hardship cases if the applicant is bound to Bremen as a place of study due to serious health, family or economic reasons or because he or she belongs to the group of top athletes.
• Preferential admission following military or voluntary service and after the care and support of a relative
• Second degree after completing a university degree
• 55 years or older

Admission to a master’s program

A master's is a new / second degree. Graduates from bachelor’s studies are therefore new students in the master's program and not “advanced students”. For a master's degree, a successful bachelor's degree is prerequisite. Selection for a master's program takes into account the grade of the bachelor's degree, a letter of motivation or the applicant’s professional proximity to the content of the master's program. Waiting times do not count. Which criteria do play a role in the selection can be found in the respective admission regulations for the master's program in question.

A quick overview of application deadlines and the respective admission regulations can be found in the Master-Portal.