Studying Medicine in Germany: all medical faculties at a glance
Around 40 medical faculties train doctors across Germany — most at state universities with their own university hospital, plus a growing number of private institutions without grade requirements. This guide covers admission, requirements, costs, and the strengths and weaknesses of studying medicine in Germany, with a profile of every faculty.
Note: Medschool Experts advises on grade-free medical studies both inside and outside Germany. We do not handle applications through hochschulstart.de and do not place applicants at German state medical faculties.
- Study places in human medicine are allocated nationwide via hochschulstart.de: up to 20% in advance, then 30% by grade-point quota, 10% through an additional aptitude quota (without a grade requirement), and 60% via the university selection process. The university selection process considers the TMS aptitude test, selection interviews, and vocational training — criteria vary by university. Up to six location preferences may be stated, one of which may be a home location.
- Wartesemester spielen keine Rolle mehr — die Wartezeitquote wurde nach dem Urteil des Bundesverfassungsgerichts von 2017 abgeschafft.
- In the winter semester 2025/26, the grade quota selection thresholds ranged from 779 to 878 points on the 900-point scale; at institutions such as the Charité or Heidelberg they were consistently at the grade equivalent of 1.0. Anyone applying exclusively through the grade quota effectively needs a top grade.
- The classic TMS aptitude test is being phased out: the final regular sitting is on 7 and 8 November 2026, with the combined TMSnat — merging TMS and HAM-Nat — launching from spring 2027.
- State universities charge no tuition fees — only a semester contribution of approximately €72 to €429. Private universities charge approximately €71,000 to €132,000 for the full programme, depending on the provider.
- Eleven of Germany's sixteen states have a rural doctor quota. It offers an admission route without a grade requirement, but commits the graduate to ten years of general practice in underserved areas.
Contents of this guide
How places in undergraduate medicine are allocated
Undergraduate medicine is nationally admission-restricted. Allocation runs centrally through the Stiftung für Hochschulzulassung at hochschulstart.de. Up to 20% of places are withdrawn in advance quotas — hardship cases, second degrees, certain international applicants and special quotas such as the rural doctor quota. The remaining 80% are distributed across three quotas.
Abiturbestenquote
Only the secondary school leaving grade counts. 16 state quotas are calculated by the state in which the qualification was awarded, then merged into a national list. In the event of a tie, service record and a lottery decide. Location preferences do not change a candidate’s ranking.
Additional aptitude quota
School grades play no role here. Only grade-independent criteria count: study aptitude tests such as TMS or HAM-Nat, selection interviews, completed vocational qualifications, professional experience and extracurricular achievements. Scoring uses a 100-point model.
University selection processes
Each faculty combines the school leaving grade with additional criteria of its own weighting. For medicine, at least two grade-independent criteria are required by law. It is therefore worth aligning the six location preferences strategically with your individual profile.
Aptitude tests: TMS, HAM-Nat and the new TMSnat
The Test for Medical Degree Programmes (TMS) counts in the aptitude quota and in university selection processes, but never in the top-grade quota. It costs €100, may be taken twice and is valid indefinitely. The HAM-Nat costs €75 and is used at Hamburg, Magdeburg and Greifswald. Important for planning: the last regular TMS sits on 7–8 November 2026. From spring 2027, the TMSnat replaces both tests — all applicants may register regardless of prior participation.
Standard application deadlines
Wintersemester
Application opens late April. Deadline 31 May for previous-year graduates, 15 July for current-year graduates. Coordination phase until end of August, coordinated late admission until end of September.
Sommersemester
Application opens early November, deadline 15 January. Coordination phase until end of February, late admission until end of March. Not all faculties admit students in the summer semester.
The rural doctor quota
The rural doctor quota is an advance quota allocated not through hochschulstart but through the relevant state authority. Eleven of sixteen federal states use it; those without it are Berlin, Hamburg, Bremen, Schleswig-Holstein and Brandenburg. Selection is made without reference to school grades, usually via aptitude tests, work experience and a structured interview. The price is a commitment: ten years of general practice in underserved areas after graduation and specialist training, with a contractual penalty of up to €250,000. Even this route is highly competitive — in North Rhine-Westphalia, over eleven selection rounds produced 4,825 applications for 1,043 places.
Percentage figures vary slightly between official state portals and secondary sources; the binding references are state laws and regulations.
What you need — and how the programme is structured
Formally you need the general higher education entrance qualification. Without it, two routes exist: an advanced vocational qualification (master craftsman, specialist business administrator, or state-certified technician) grants general higher education access; a relevant vocational training of at least two years plus usually three years of professional experience, or a passed aptitude test, grants subject-specific access. Details are regulated differently by each state. The language of instruction is German; applicants whose school qualification was not awarded in German must demonstrate C1-level German, for example through DSH-2, TestDaF level 4 in all four parts, or telc Deutsch C1 Hochschule.
Compulsory components under the Approbationsordnung
Erste-Hilfe-Ausbildung
Theoretical instruction and practical training, to be completed before registration for the First Medical State Examination. The Approbationsordnung prescribes no fixed number of hours.
Krankenpflegedienst
Three months, completable before the start of studies or during vacation periods, divisible into three monthly blocks. Eligible activities include voluntary service and completed nursing, midwifery or paramedic training.
Famulatur
Four months in four placements between the First and Second Medical State Examinations, including in outpatient care and a general practice. International clinical placements can be counted.
From the first semester to full registration
Strengths and weaknesses of studying medicine in Germany
Germany’s medical programme is among the most stable and best-resourced in the world. The bottleneck is not quality but access: there are significantly more qualified applicants than places.
- No tuition fees at state universities — only a semester contribution. Exceptions apply in Baden-Württemberg for students from non-EU countries and for second-degree students.
- After the Third Section, licensure (Approbation) follows directly — with no additional state examination and no internship.
- The German degree is automatically recognised across the EU and meets the European minimum requirements of 5,500 hours over six years.
- 37 university hospitals with around 190,000 employees, two million inpatient and over twelve million outpatient treatments per year — a dense training network at maximum-care level.
- The 40 medical faculties employ over 35,000 academic and medical staff and attract more than €1.5 billion in third-party research funding annually.
- The Dr. med. doctorate can — unlike in almost any other field — be started and completed alongside the degree programme.
- 70% of places are not awarded purely on grades; in the aptitude quota, school grades count for nothing at all.
- Additional special routes such as the rural doctor quota, the public health quota, and access for vocationally qualified applicants without a high school diploma.
- The Germany semester ticket is valid nationwide on local public transport — convenient for clinical placements and clinical year rotations at other locations.
- Very high selection thresholds: in the winter semester 2025/26 they ranged from 779 to 878 points; at many locations they were at the grade equivalent of 1.0.
- Massive applicant surplus: 31,543 applications for the winter semester 2025/26, around three applicants per first-year place.
- Wartesemester bringen nichts mehr — ein Parkstudium verbessert die Chancen nicht.
- Eignungstests kosten Geld und Monate an Vorbereitung; der TMS ist zudem nur zweimal ablegbar.
- The switch to the TMSnat from spring 2027 creates planning uncertainty, as benchmark data and preparation material are not yet available.
- Criteria differ from faculty to faculty; the six location preferences must be chosen strategically.
- Due to the 16 state quotas, chances depend on the state in which the applicant obtained their high school diploma: in Rostock, 782 points sufficed with a Bavarian qualification, while 819 were needed with a Hessian one.
- The rural doctor quota commits graduates to ten years in a region, with a contractual penalty of up to €250,000 — and is itself highly competitive.
- Die Studienplatzklage ist ein teurer Sonderweg: rund 1.650 Euro je Hochschule, bei mehreren Hochschulen entsprechend mehr.
- High examination density, fixed clinical year start dates, and little scope for paid work alongside studies.
- Reform backlog: the new Medical Licensure Regulation planned since 2017 has still not been implemented due to the financing dispute between federal and state governments.
What studying medicine in Germany costs
State universities charge no tuition fees. Students pay a semester contribution made up of an administration fee, students’ union fee, student services fee and usually a semester transport pass. The range is wide: in a survey of the 40 largest German universities for winter semester 2024/25, it ran from €72 in Erlangen-Nürnberg to €428.75 in Hanover, with an average of €272. Tuition fees exist only in special cases: in Baden-Württemberg, non-EU students pay €1,500 and second-degree students €650 per semester.
Lebenshaltung
The 22nd Social Survey of the German National Association for Student Affairs reported average monthly expenses of €842 for summer semester 2021, including €410 for rent and utilities and €198 for food. The survey pre-dates the inflation wave from 2022, so actual figures are likely higher. The 23rd Social Survey was conducted in 2025 but has not yet been published.
BAföG (German student financial aid)
The maximum BAföG rate in 2026 is €992 per month: €475 basic allowance, €380 housing allowance and €137 health and care insurance supplement. Those living with their parents receive up to €671. Only half must be repaid, capped at €10,010.
Private Hochschulen
Studying at a private institution in Germany without grade requirements costs approximately €71,000–€132,000 for the full programme depending on the provider, and sometimes more for dentistry. Application fees and the semester contribution are additional.
By comparison: studying in Europe without grade restrictions costs significantly less depending on the location. You can find an overview in the
All state medical faculties in Germany
These universities lead to the German State Medical Examination and full registration. No tuition fees apply; allocation runs through hochschulstart.de. Admission numbers fluctuate from year to year and vary slightly by source — they should be read as indicative figures. Click through to each faculty’s dedicated page.
Private medical schools in Germany
Private universities do not allocate places through hochschulstart.de and do not use school grades — they run their own selection processes based on tests and interviews. Those accepted study for the German State Medical Examination and receive the same full registration at the end, but pay for the entire programme themselves. Costs range from approximately €71,000 to over €130,000; dentistry programmes can be higher. All providers listed here are accepting applications in 2026.
Cooperation sites and programmes with a foreign qualification
Not every medical study place in Germany leads to the German State Medical Examination. Some providers teach in Germany but award the qualification from another country. This is entirely legal and in the EU is usually automatically recognised — but the differences must be understood before signing anything. There are also external sites of state faculties where the clinical phase takes place in a different city.
Study in Germany, qualification from abroad
External sites of state faculties
The best-known faculties in brief
There is no official ranking of German medical faculties. What does exist are research metrics, excellence status, hospital size and international rankings — and those measure research, not teaching quality. The same Approbationsordnung applies at every faculty nationwide, and the full registration you receive is the same everywhere. This selection therefore explains what the best-known institutions stand for — not which one is best.
Heidelberg
Germany’s oldest continuously teaching university, 33 Nobel laureates, Excellence University. The university hospital’s 2,599 beds make it the country’s third largest. Heidelberg consistently ranks at the top of German medicine in international rankings — and its selection thresholds reflect that.
Charité Berlin
Founded in 1710, today the joint faculty of Humboldt University and Freie Universität, with 3,293 beds one of the largest university hospitals in Europe. Four campuses, the NeuroCure Excellence Cluster, Berlin Institute of Health. Notable for applicants: the TMS counts for significantly more here than the school leaving grade.
LMU Munich
The country’s largest training site with around 876 places per year and one of Europe’s strongest research centres: all eight German Centres for Health Research, seven Collaborative Research Centres, 16 ERC grants. Reconfirmed in the Excellence Strategy 2026.
TU Munich
The Klinikum rechts der Isar is a supra-maximum-care centre with a strong translational focus and over €91 million in third-party funding. TUM and LMU share the pre-clinical years; allocation to the clinical phase depends on the Physikum result. Also reconfirmed as an Excellence University in 2026.
Tübingen
Three Excellence Clusters, five German Centres for Health Research and €141.5 million in third-party funding. Focus areas in onco-immunology, neuroscience and infection research. The university hospital has 1,658 beds and is one of the strongest research centres in south-west Germany.
Freiburg
Faculty founded in 1457, hospital with around 2,189 planned beds and by doctor count one of the four largest university hospital centres in Germany. The Comprehensive Cancer Centre has been recognised as a leading oncology centre since 2006.
MHH Hannover
Not a faculty but an independent university, and Germany’s largest transplantation centre. The HannibaL model curriculum is practice-oriented. Applicants with a completed healthcare qualification have the best prospects nationwide in the aptitude quota.
RWTH Aachen
Excellence University, model curriculum since 2003 and with around 285 places a large annual intake. The clinical building is one of the largest uninterrupted hospital complexes in Europe and has been listed as a heritage site since 2008.
UKE Hamburg
iMED model curriculum, Excellence University with four clusters, over 1,800 beds and around 3,400 medicine and dentistry students. The distinctive feature in the selection process is the HAM-Nat — applicants here need to prepare for a different test from the rest of the country.
Bonn
The most successful German university in the Excellence Strategy, with six Excellence Clusters. Standard curriculum, hospital with 1,341 beds and 40 clinics. In the aptitude quota, only the TMS counts — ideal for those who perform strongly there.
Frequently asked questions about studying medicine in Germany
How many medical faculties are there in Germany?
What grade do I need for medicine in Germany?
Bringen Wartesemester noch etwas?
What changes with the TMSnat?
Kann ich ohne Abitur Medizin studieren?
Was kostet das Medizinstudium in Deutschland?
Wie lange dauert das Studium bis zur Approbation?
Was ist der Unterschied zwischen Regel- und Modellstudiengang?
Lohnt sich die Landarztquote?
Was ist die Alternative, wenn es in Deutschland nicht klappt?
Sources and status
This guide is editorially maintained. Figures on places, selection criteria and costs change annually; where sources diverge, this is noted in the text. Anything that cannot be verified does not appear here. If you spot an error or work at a faculty and want to correct a detail, write to us — we will check and update.
- Foundation for University Admissions, hochschulstart.de: quota model, rural doctor quota, dates, selection thresholds
- Medical Faculty Association and Association of University Hospitals of Germany: number of faculties, hospitals, and key figures for academic medicine
- Statistisches Bundesamt und CHE: Bewerber- und Studienplatzzahlen
- Medical Licensure Regulation and Federal Medical Ordinance: programme structure, compulsory components, Approbation
- TMS Coordination Office and HAM-Nat Study Centre: test dates, fees, transition to the TMSnat
- Science Council, state ministries, and the universities themselves: accreditation, tuition fees, admission procedures for private providers
- Deutsches Studierendenwerk und DZHW, 22. Sozialerhebung: Lebenshaltungskosten
Last updated: August 2026. Information provided without guarantee — the binding references are always the statutes and notices of the individual university and the competent authorities.
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