What admission restrictions are there for studying at Leipzig University? When and to whom do they apply and for which degree programmes? What exactly is a numerus clausus and how does the selection procedure work? Here we have compiled basic information on these topics for you.
‘Dialogue-Oriented Service Procedure’ (DoSV)
For a number of degree programmes, our university participates in the ‘dialogue-oriented service procedure’ (DoSV).
If you are considering applying for one of our programmes which take part in the DoSV, you will first need to register on the external DoSV application portal.
Upon registering you will be given:
- an applicant ID number
- an applicant authentication number.
You will require both of these numbers when you subsequently apply via our AlmaWeb portal; they will accompany you throughout every semester in which you apply and cannot be created more than once.
Please note that it is not permitted to register more than once on hochschulstart.de! However, if you do register more than once, only the application received with your last registration will be considered.
If you have any questions about registering, please refer to the comprehensive information provided on the hochschulstart.de website or contact its applicant support team.
The DoSV portal of the Stiftung für Hochschulzulassung is where all of your applications for DoSV degree programmes are compared. During the procedure, any offers of admission will be generated in your DoSV portal user account. You can actively accept one of these offers or wait and see whether you receive another offer for a course of studies that better suits your wishes.
If you receive an offer of admission from our university and accept it, we will upload the letter of admission, along with further information, to your AlmaWeb account and inform you of this by sending an email to the email address linked to your AlmaWeb account.
For some degree programmes, the faculties have their own selection statutes, in which they deviate from the usual requirements and apply further criteria of their own. These are dependent on the specific profiles of the respective degree programmes, some of which require prior knowledge.
Biology BSc and Biochemistry BSc
The 80 per cent of study places to be allocated in the university quota (AdH) are distributed as follows:
- Sixty per cent based on the average grade of applicants’ higher education entrance qualifications (usually the average Abitur grade).
- Forty per cent based on the average point score shown on the Abitur certificate for the last four semesters in the subjects mathematics, biology, chemistry and physics.
American Studies BA and Teaching Degree (English)
The 80 per cent of study places to be allocated in the university quota (AdH) are distributed equally:
- based on the average grade of applicants’ higher education entrance qualifications
- based on the total point score shown on the Abitur certificate for the last four semesters in the subjects English (counted twice), German, mathematics, history and the second foreign language
Teaching Degree (Special Needs Education) and Communication and Media Studies BA
Study places are distributed as follows:
- Eighty per cent are allocated based on the average grade of applicants’ higher education entrance qualifications (usually the average Abitur grade).
- Twenty per cent are allocated based on the waiting period (Wartezeit).
Sports Science BA, Sports Management BSc, Teaching Degree (Physical Education)
- Based on the average grade of applicants’ higher education entrance qualifications, ten per cent of available study places are allocated to applicants who have demonstrated that they are top athletes.
Top athlete status presupposes selection as a “cadre athlete” (A–C) of the respective German umbrella association. Please present proof of this to the Student Office.
Top athletes of sports games or non-Olympic sports are asked to submit a certificate of equivalence from the Leipzig Olympic Training Centre. - Further information is available from the Faculty of Sport Science.
Centralised Study Place Allocation Procedure
Places on some degree programmes are allocated in a central selection procedure.
Applications for the first semester of study on these degree courses must be submitted on time via the hochschulstart.de portal. It is not possible to apply directly to our university.
Step 1
If you are considering applying for a study programme which is subject to the centralised allocation procedure, you will first need to register on the external DoSV application portal.
Upon registering you will be given:
- an applicant ID number
- an applicant authentication number.
Both numbers will accompany you throughout every semester in which you apply and cannot be created more than once.
Please note that it is not permitted to register more than once! However, if you do register more than once, only the application received with your last registration will be considered.
Step 2
Once you have selected a study programme in the DoSV application portal, you must then register a second time and thus create an AntOn (Antragstellung Online) user account. You will be redirected via a link at the bottom of the page.
Information about reapplying:
Have you already been enrolled at a German university on a degree programme subject to the central allocation procedure? If so, you are not generally permitted to enrol again as a first-semester student. Please apply for a higher semester of study.
The selection and admission procedures for degree programmes that are subject to a centralised study place allocation procedure are carried out by the Stiftung für Hochschulzulassung.
Study places are distributed as follows:
- Thirty per cent of study places are allocated based on the average grade of applicants’ higher education entrance qualifications (quota for top Abitur performers, or Abiturbestenquote).
A mathematical offset system ensures that the average grades of the individual federal states are comparable. - Ten per cent of study places are allocated based on the additional eligibility quota (ZEQ).
- Sixty per cent of study places are allocated based on a joint selection procedure called the Auswahlverfahren der Hochschulen (AdH).
In the AdH, each university can define different selection criteria for its individual degree programmes.
Our university uses the following criteria for selection in the degree programmes which are subject to centralised allocation:- Result of the higher education entrance qualification
- Result of the Test for Medical Study Courses (TMS)
- Recognised vocational training qualification of rlevance to the study programme
The maximum score possible in this quota is 100 points.
It comprises the following:
- Up to 50 points for the result of the higher education entrance qualification
- Up to 30 points for the result of the TMS
- Twenty points for a recognised vocational training qualification from the field in question. Please refer to the overviews in the download area to find out which vocational training qualifications are eligible for consideration.
In the centralised allocation procedure, ten per cent of study places are allocated under the additional eligibility quota (ZEQ). The maximum score possible in this quota is 100 points.
The ZEQ for the Pharmacy Degree Programme
Places on the Pharmacy degree programme are allocated using the ZEQ system according to the following criteria:
- Up to 60 points for the result of the higher education entrance qualification
- Up to 30 points for the result of the TMS (Test for Medical Study Courses)
- Ten points for a recognised vocational training qualification from the field in question.
The ZEQ for the Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine Degree Programmes
Places on the Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine degree programmes are allocated using the ZEQ system according to the following criteria:
- Result of the TMS (Test for Medical Study Courses)
- A completed vocational training qualification which is recognised in the respective degree programme regulations, and
- In the transitional period (winter semester 2020/2021 and winter semester 2021/2022), the waiting time accrued by the prospective student up to that point in time.
The changes in the selection quotas now also reflect the long-standing need to take greater account of professional expertise. As a result, as of the summer semester 2020, vocational training qualifications that are of relevance to the specific course of study will be given much greater consideration, both in terms of the additional eligibility quota (ZEQ) and, in particular, in the selection procedure at universities.
You will find information on which vocational training qualifications are recognised for the individual degree programmes in the corresponding selection statutes or in our overviews in the download area.
At the same time as you receive the letter of admission from hochschulstart.de, we will send you an email to the email address linked to your hochschulstart.de account with the subject Ihre Bewerbung über hochschulstart.de (“Your application via hochschulstart.de”). This email will explain the further steps for accepting the place at our university.
Here you will find information about enrolment.
The selection and admission procedures for degree programmes that are subject to a centralised study place allocation procedure are carried out by the Stiftung für Hochschulzulassung (hochschulstart.de). Unfortunately, this means that we are unable to provide any information about the status of your application. Please contact the Stiftung für Hochschulzulassung directly. Letters of admission and rejection are also dispatched directly by hochschulstart.de. The same applies to notifications concerning the Auswahlverfahren der Hochschulen (AdH).
Local Restrictions on Admission
Changing Study Places at Our University
In degree programmes with admission restrictions, it is often difficult to get a free place at the university of your choice. Swapping study places can be one way of still being able to study at your preferred university.
- It is up to you to find a suitable partner to swap places with.
- You and the other student must be fully enrolled on the same degree course and in the same semester of study. You should have each completed a similar amount of your course.
- For medical students: the number of clinical semesters in the clinical section must be the same.
- You have properly re-enrolled.
- You and your partner fill in the form for swapping study places.
- Obtain the permission of the university involved in the exchange.
- The deadline for swapping study places for the winter semester is 30 September.
- The deadline for swapping study places for the summer semester is 31 March.
- The order in which you obtain this permission is irrelevant. Important: Once the form has been approved by the two universities involved, please return it to the Student Office by the deadline.
- Submit your echange partner’s documents.
In order to check your application, we require the following documents from your exchange partner (the student who wants to switch to Leipzig University):- A copy of their higher education entrance qualification
- Current proof of enrolment
- If already taken, a copy of the intermediate examination certificate
- List of academic achievements to date. Such a list is not required when Planning a swap for: the first clinical semester of Medicine, the fifth semester of study of Veterinary Medicine, the sixth semester of study of Dentistry.
Even if you submit your application in person, it is not possible to immediately grant approval for swapping study places. Please enclose a stamped addressed envelope with your application to swap places. This will allow us to inform you of our decision after processing the application.
Once both of the universities involved have granted permission for the exchange, please send us the swap form again.
- To swap for the winter semester, the form needs to be with the Student Office by 30 September.
- To swap for the summer semester, the form needs to be with the Student Office by 31 March.
Students who wish to enrol at our university will then receive an email with the access data required to enrol online.
This enrolment takes place at the earliest two weeks before the beginning of the semester and is only possible if the exchange partner has been exmatriculated from our university beforehand.
The application for exmatriculation should be submitted two weeks before the beginning of the semester. More information about exmatriculation is available here.
Allocation by Lot
In exceptional cases where not all of the places available on a restricted degree course are allocated during the clearing procedure, the remaining places are allocated by lot.
Even in the coveted degree programmes with restrictions on admission, it is not always possible to fill all of the available places.
We draw lots in order to allocate these free study places. In this procedure, we make a random selection from all of the people who have applied to be included in the draw. The randomly selected applicants are subsequently admitted to the degree course.
Lots are only drawn for the first semester of study on restricted degree programmes if it was not possible to allocate all available study places in the main selection procedure and during clearing.
There are currently no draws being held. If this changes, information will be provided on this page.
It is only possible to apply for current draws.
All applications for current draws are made online via the AlmaWeb portal. Individual application deadlines for the drawing of lots depend on the degree programme in question and are binding.
- Participation in the draw is also possible if you previously failed to apply for the desired degree programme by the regular application deadline.
- You can apply online once for each degree programme being offered by lot.
- The selection is made at random. If you are consequently admitted to your desired course of study, you will receive an email with further information on online registration and enrolment. This email will be sent to the email address given when applying online to take part in the draw.