Recognition of the General Certificate of Education (GCE) in Germany
1. The GCE as a subject-restricted university entrance qualification
The GCE is accepted in Germany under certain conditions as a direct . These conditions are defined in the “Evaluation Proposal of the United Kingdom” (in German) and can be found in the anabin database, which is the database of the Central Office for Foreign Education in Germany.
Under certain conditions, the “General Certificate of Education” (GCE) can lead to a direct but strictly subject-specific university entrance qualification in Germany. Binding decisions regarding access to higher education institutions are always taken by the responsible certification authorities.
In Great Britain and at British “international schools”, the GCE examinations are typically administered during the last two years of secondary school: the GCE Advanced Subsidiary (GCE AS) examination after one year, and the GCE Advanced Level (GCE AL) after two years. The subject combination and the number of examinations can be freely selected on an individual basis. Three to four GCE examination subjects are typical. British universities individually decide on the admission of each applicant.
Examinations that count towards the acquisition of a “General Certificate of Education” can also be part of secondary school leaving certificates from countries in which the school system is based on the British school system due to historical reasons. For these countries, other conditions may apply for university admission in Germany. Thus, the assessment proposals for the respective country must always be checked. More information can be found in the anabin database (in German) of the Central Office for Foreign Education.
Certificates from recognised institutions that administer examinations in Great Britain (“awarding bodies”) must always be submitted to the accreditation authorities for review. The certificates from the respective schools are not sufficient. The awarding bodies currently include the following: AQA, Cambridge Assessment International Education (formerly known as Cambridge International Examinations), CCEA, LRN (Learning Resource Network), OCR, Oxford AQA, Pearson (formerly known as Edexcel), WJEC and accordingly WJEC Eduqas.
2. Recognition of the GCE in Germany
For the recognition of the GCE, the following requirements have been defined:
a) Basic conditions
Independent of the course of study that will be chosen, the following basic requirements exist:
- For the GCE to be recognised, you must provide evidence of 3 general, independent subjects at A Level with a minimum grade of C.
- Of these, 2 subjects must be chosen as follows: a language, history, geography, social studies / politics, economics, mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, computer science according to "List A: General-education A level subjects that meet the basic requirements" (subject 1 and subject 2, possibly subject 3)
- The third subject is a further , independent of the two subjects chosen above. This can come from “List A” or “List B: General education A level subjects that meet the basic requirements”.
b) Subject-specific conditions
The following additional requirements must be met in relation to the subject to be chosen:
| Art oriented studies | No subject-specific requirements |
| Humanities and law studies | 1 A Level from: language, history, geography, social studies / politics, economics |
| Social science and economics studies | 1 A Level from: history, geography, social studies / politics, economics; 1 A Level from: mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, computer science |
| Natural science studies | 2 A Level from: mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, computer science |
| Mathematics and technical studies | 1 A Level in mathematics; 1 A Level from: biology, chemistry, physics, computer science |
| Medical studies including pharmacy | 3 A Level from: mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, computer science |
| Studies that cannot be assigned to these subject areas | The admitting university decides on subject-specific requirements. |
c) Additional requirements
- Preliminary result notifications (“Candidate Statement of Provisional Results” and comparable names) from recognised examination bodies can be taken into account. The certificates from the examination bodies must be submitted to the responsible office at the beginning of the 2nd semester or at the latest 1 year after the examination date.
- Individual A Level subjects with vocational content can be considered as a 3rd subject according to "List C: Permitted Vocational A Level Subjects" (Subject 3). In this case, the selection of courses is limited to the subject of the A Level .
- As a rule, at least 12 years of ascending school attendance are required for the assessment.
d) For other British secondary school certificates the following applies:
International Advanced Level
International Advanced Levels which some British “international schools” offer, are taken into account for university admission in the same way as GCE AL or GCE AS.
Advanced Subsidiary Level (AS Level)
GCE AS and International AS Level will no longer be considered for university admission according to the changed evaluation proposals.
Cambridge Pre-U
The "Cambridge Pre-U" is a UK school-leaving certificate that is accepted in Great Britain as allowing access to higher education institutions. For applicants with “Cambridge Pre-U” qualifications to study at German universities, the above-mentioned basic requirements as well as the subject-specific requirements for recognition of the GCE in Germany apply.
The “Cambridge Pre-U” must be proven by certificates from the “Cambridge Assessment International Education” (formerly: Cambridge International Examinations); a “Cambridge Pre-U Principle Subject” with a minimum grade of M3 corresponds to a “General Certificate of Education - Advanced” Level “(A Level) with a minimum grade of C.
(International) General Certificate of Secondary Education und GCE Ordinary Level
General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), International GCSE and GCE Ordinary Level (GCE O Level), which were obtained in the United Kingdom or at British international schools, are considered equivalent to a German lower or middle school leaving certificate and CANNOT be taken into consideration for access to higher education institutions in Germany.
AICE Diploma
The AICE Diploma is accepted as a university entrance qualification according to the conditions for GCE A Levels.
