Application to study veterinary medicine

The study of veterinary medicine is a nationally restricted admission programme.

The prerequisite is a university entrance qualification according to § 18 of the Lower Saxony Higher Education Act (NHG):

• General university entrance qualification (Abitur)
• Subject-related university entrance (matriculation examination)
• Admission to higher education on the basis of prior vocational training:
  •  Master craftsman
  • State-certified technician
  • State-certified business economist
    • With proof of the qualifications mentioned up to this point, applications can be made directly at www.hochschulstart.de.
  • After completion of a three-year recognised training course in a profession related to the veterinary medicine course (e.g. farmer, animal keeper, animal farmer, TMF, VMTA, MTA, see list) and subsequent professional activity of at least three years in the learned profession.
  • With proof of training and subsequent professional activity, an informal application for determination of relevance and determination of the average grade must first be submitted to our university before applying to hochschulstart.de. The application must be accompanied by
    • Proof of completed education with average grade (certified copy)
    • Proof of at least three years of professional activity from the employer(s).

After a positive decision, the application for admission to studies must be submitted to the Foundation for University Admission by 31.05. or 15.07. of the year at the latest.

In the case of school-leaving qualifications obtained outside the Federal Republic of Germany, please check in advance the requirements for university admission to study veterinary medicine in Germany. These are posted in the database of the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB) at http://anabin.kmk.org.
In addition, proof of German language skills (e.g. German Language Test for University Admission (DSH-2), Test Deutsch als Fremdsprache (TestDaF level 4) or C 1 examination of the Goethe Institute is required at the latest at the time of a possible enrolment.

Knowledge of Latin is not a prerequisite for studying veterinary medicine.

The examinations to be taken for the degree course are conducted in accordance with the regulations of the Ordinance on the Approbation of Veterinary Surgeons (TappV) of 26 July 2006 (BGBl. 2006 Part I, No. 38).

German applicants, foreign applicants from member states of the EU or another contracting state of the Agreement on the European Economic Area, as well as foreign and stateless applicants with a German higher education entrance qualification (so-called Bildungsinländer), must apply to the Foundation for Higher Education Admission (Stiftung für Hochschulzulassung, SfH) using the online procedure at www.hochschulstart.de. Admission is only ever granted for the winter semester.

The following deadlines apply to applications:

• by 31 May of the year for applicants who have obtained their university entrance qualification (Abitur or equivalent qualification) by 16 January of the year of application
• by 15 July of the year of application for applicants who have gained access to higher education (Abitur or equivalent qualification) after 16 January until 15 July of the year of application.

Important!!!

Since the admission procedure for the winter semester 2020/2021, the selection procedure for the veterinary medicine degree programme has changed.

Among other things, the Test for Medical Studies (TMS) was introduced as a criterion. This test must be taken before applying to the study programme.

The next TMS round (spring TMS) will take place in May 2023, there will be two dates to choose from: Sat. 13 May 2023 and Sun. 14 May 2023 .

An innovation since 2022 is that you may repeat the TMS once in future. All those taking part in the TMS for the first time may, if they so wish, register for the TMS a second time within one year (a later re-registration for a test repetition is excluded). An exception applies to participants who have already taken part in the TMS in previous years (TMS before May 2022): these have the possibility to repeat the TMS once during a two-year transition phase (registration in phase 3). The transitional phase for "old TMS'ers" is valid up to and including the TMS autumn round 2023.

The registration period can be found in the following link. It will then no longer be possible to register at a later date!

Registration for the test takes place exclusively online and is subject to a fee. The fee for the test is 100,- € and must be paid into the account of Heidelberg University Hospital after registration. You can find more information here: https://www.tms-info.org

Click here to register for the test

Attention! Please print out your test result and keep it carefully, as it will only be available in your account for a limited time - all accounts are deleted on 1 October (spring TMS) and 1 April (autumn TMS) respectively.

Test participation is voluntary. The test is therefore not compulsory. If you have not taken it, you can still apply to study veterinary medicine. However, the chances of getting a place without the TMS are lower than with the test.

You can find more information in the FAQ of Heidelberg University Hospital.

The allocation of study places via hochschulstart.de takes place in several steps.

2% of all study places to be allocated are reserved for exceptional hardship cases. You can assess whether you have a special exceptional situation by using the examples on the hochschulstart.de homepage.
3% of all study places to be allocated are reserved for applicants with a second degree. Information on second degree programmes can be found here: https://hochschulstart.de

The remaining places are awarded in the general selection procedure.

The first main quota is the Abitur best quota.

30 per cent of the available study places are awarded via this quota. The score shown in the Abitur result is the selection criterion here. Secondary criteria are service and lottery. However, since there are differences in the Abitur scores depending on the federal state, 16 state quotas are formed first. One quota per federal state. If, for example, you took your Abitur in Hesse, you will be on the state list for Hesse along with all the other Hessian Abitur candidates. The ranking of the candidates on the individual lists is drawn up according to the criteria of points, service and lot.

After the 16 state lists have been drawn up, they are combined to form a federal list for the whole of Germany. This gives each candidate on the federal list a unique position number. Based on this, you will be placed in a specific rank at the universities you have chosen. Which university you have chosen in your application is irrelevant for the ranking. The study places are then allocated to the applicants on the basis of the ranking positions.

The following criteria for the selection procedure apply to the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover Foundation (PDF)

For the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover Foundation, the following criteria apply for the additional suitability quota (a maximum of 100 points must be achieved):

The distribution of points under the ZEQ will be regulated as follows from 2022 (PDF)

The places that are not filled after the coordinated backlog procedure will be allocated by our university in a lottery procedure around the middle/end of October of the year, irrespective of the procedures described above.

Participation in the lottery procedure must be applied for by sending in a postcard between 15 September and 15 October of the year. Applications sent before this date will not be considered. Please include the complete sender's details with e-mail address and telephone number on the card. No other documents are required.

Please send the postcard to the following address:

University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover Foundation
Student secretariat
Bünteweg 2
30559 Hanover

Result of the drawing of lots:
Only those who receive a study place via the lottery procedure will be notified. No rejections will be sent out!