International Foundation Programme

InWEnt’s Regional Centre Saarland runs the business end of the International Foundation Programme of the Saarland University of Applied Sciences (HTW). This was established by a mandate from the Saarland state government.

The International Foundation Programme (ASK) offers advise to university applicants from abroad and verifies their educational certificates in accordance with the guidelines set out by the Conference of German cultural ministers. If their general qualifications are not equal to the German Abitur, a leaving certificate granted by German secondary schools that qualifies pupils for admission to a university, applicants must attend a two-semester preparatory course.
These courses are organised and run by the ASK and culminate in an "appraisal test" which qualifies applicants for admission to a programme of study at a technical university.

University applicants from abroad whose school leaving certificate entitles them to enrol directly in a university must demonstrate sufficient German language skills. One way to do so is to pass the "German Language Test for University Admission" (DSH), for which the ASK also offers preparatory courses.

The ASK processes up to 1,000 applications annually. A maximum of 100 participants attend the preparatory courses offered each year.

The courses offered by the International Foundation Programme at the Saarland HTW always commence in the winter semester of any given year.

Application deadline for the following winter semester is 15th of July.

Admission to the courses offered by the International Foundation Programme depends on the results of an admission test in German (for all courses) and in mathematics and physics (only for courses in applied sciences). The admission test is normally scheduled to be held on September.

Preconditioned are good German skills (B1/B2, about 650 lessons).