Levels A1 to C2
Six levels, and only one of them is yours. This page shows what each level asks for, which certificate covers it and what it’s actually needed for in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Pick the level your certificate asks for.
Not the level you feel you’re at. Check what the office asking for it requires, whether that’s the immigration office, an employer, a professional chamber or a university, and make that your target.
Permanent residence and citizenship
The standard for permanent residence and citizenship across German-speaking countries. For most learners, the first serious exam goal.
Hours are a rough guide counted from zero and vary a lot from person to person.
Aiming one level too high costs you an exam date.
Exam fees run from about 150 to 300 euros depending on the board and level, and in many cities dates are booked out weeks ahead. A failed attempt costs you money and the next free date.
- Check the requirement, not the feelingThe office asking for the certificate names a specific level. Anything above it is wasted time, and anything below it is a failed attempt.
- Your first tasks show the gapYour first exercise in each skill shows how far you are from the target, per skill rather than as one overall grade.
- Modules can be retaken separatelyWith Goethe and ÖSD from B1, each module counts on its own. One weak module doesn’t mean sitting the whole exam again.
Which exam covers which level.
Goethe and ÖSD cover A1 to C2, telc goes up to C1, and DSH starts at university entrance level. If your target is C2, that leaves Goethe and ÖSD.
Your exam date is fixed. Your preparation shouldn’t be.
Tell Deutschtrainer which certificate you booked and the level you need. From then on, everything points at the day you sit in the exam room.