Admission to a higher semester

• Application period for the 2026 summer semester: 1 December 2025 to 15 January 2026
• Application period for the 2026/27 winter semester: 1 June 2026 to 15 July 2026

If documents are not available by the application deadline, they may, in exceptional cases, be submitted after the application has been sent by email to the Registrar's Office, by post or in person. The following deadlines apply in this case:

• For applications for the summer semester: by 15 March.
• For applications for the winter semester: by 15 September.

It is not possible to submit documents after this deadline.

Please submit the following documents with your application for admission to a higher semester:

• Proof of previous academic achievements (transcript of records, module/content descriptions, certificates and diplomas, if applicable)
  Note: Please be sure to read the information on the recognition of previous academic achievements!
• If applicable, a specialist medical opinion/report with statements on the origin, severity, course and treatment options for the illness, as well as a prognosis for the further course of the illness (not older than three months)
  Note: You can submit a hardship application in accordance with Section 6 (1) No. 1 NHZG if special health, social or family reasons relating to your own person make it imperative that you commence your studies immediately, i.e. if, for personal reasons, a delay in commencing your studies of even one semester is unreasonable.
• If applicable, severely disabled person's pass or notification of assessment from the pension office
• If applicable, extended registration certificate if you live with your own family or parents in Hanover (including the surrounding region) or Lower Saxony (not older than three months)
• If applicable, proof of German language skills at C1 level for international applicants who are not native German speakers or who obtained their university entrance qualification outside the DACH region.
  Note: A list of accepted language certificates can be found here.
• Other certificates, if applicable

Applications are submitted via TiHo's own online portal, where you can upload the required certificates.

Free study places can be allocated at the earliest once the deadline for re-registration and a sufficient grace period for re-registration have expired for the students enrolled here. For applications for the summer semester, this would be possible from around mid-March, and for the winter semester from around mid-September. Only then will it be clear how many of the previously enrolled veterinary medicine students no longer wish to use their study place. Admission notices for applicants for a higher semester are therefore usually sent out by post shortly before or shortly after the start of lectures for the relevant semester.

The number of vacant study places is calculated from the difference between the number of students enrolled in the relevant semester and the specified admission number for the first semester in accordance with the Ordinance on Admission Numbers (ZZ-VO).

In the case of available study places, admission is granted in accordance with § 6 of the Lower Saxony Higher Education Admission Act (NHZG):

According to this, applicants who are or were enrolled in a veterinary medicine programme at another German university/college or in another EU member state must be considered first.
Next, applicants who are German citizens or have the same admission status as German citizens and are or were enrolled at a university/college abroad (outside the EU) are considered, followed by those who have changed their field of study.

Experience has shown that our university receives a large number of applications for a relatively small number of available places.