Germany University Intake Deadlines: Summer 2027 and Winter 2027/28

Germany university intake deadlines for a seat you can still apply to are Summer 2027 (semester from 1 April 2027) and Winter 2027/28 (semester from 1 October 2027). Winter 2026/27 applications are closed. That semester begins on 1 October 2026.

If you have a Zulassung for this winter, stop planning deadlines. Enrol, then use winter semester start. If you do not, plan backward from April 2027 or October 2027. The bottleneck is still APS, uni-assist queues, or VPD, not the date printed on a homepage.

TL;DR

Uni-assist says those two dates apply for many, not all, courses. The university's deadline is the deadline. Submit the online form and the full documents in My assist before it.

Official page: uni-assist deadlines and processing time. Portals usually mean 23:59 German local time on the stated date. Convert that cutoff with the Germany time zone converter before you treat “tonight” as still open in IST or another zone.

Winter 2026/27 is closed

The usual winter cutoffs, including 15 July 2026, have passed. Lectures for this intake are in autumn 2026 (often from around 12 October, on each university's calendar).

• You have an offer: accept it, pay the semester contribution, enrol. Zulassung vs Immatrikulation.
• You do not: Summer 2027 is the next start. Do not wait for a late winter seat. A few programmes with open admission keep a portal up. That is not a plan.

Summer semester application Germany

Summer semester application Germany files for April 2027 are in progress now (autumn 2026).

Uni-assist's own guidance: apply as early as you can, at least eight weeks before the university deadline, so missing documents can still be added. If your course uses 15 January 2027, eight weeks earlier is about 20 November 2026. A complete upload in the last week of December is legal for a 15 January deadline and still a bad plan. June and July peak delays are a winter problem. January is the summer crush.

Summer intake 2027 deadlines are not one national day. Open each programme page. A summer course can close on 15 November, 1 December, or 15 January.

Winter semester deadline Germany 2027

Winter semester deadline Germany 2027 means the application deadline during 2027 for an October 2027 start (Winter 2027/28), not the semester that is already underway.

July 15 deadline uni-assist

The July 15 deadline uni-assist applicants memorise is a common winter date, not a promise.

Uni-assist states both of these, and they are easy to mix up:

• The deadline that binds you is the university's deadline. Form and documents must be in My assist before it.
• 15 July (winter start) and 15 January (summer start) are the dates often used. Not always.
• Uni-assist agrees processing deadlines with universities, so a file that arrived complete before the deadline can still be evaluated after that day. That is not permission to upload late.
• Recommended buffer: at least eight weeks before the deadline.

Fees on the current uni-assist model: €75 for the first university and €30 for each extra choice. Confirm before you pay. Calculator: application fee calculator. Blurry scans cost weeks. Use the uni-assist documents guide.

When to apply German universities

When to apply German universities from India, China, Vietnam, or Mongolia is "when APS will exist before the portal closes", not "the week of 15 July".

APS processing is often 3 to 8 weeks, and longer in peak season. Guides: APS India, who needs dMAT, APS China, APS Vietnam. Track a live file with the APS processing time tool.

dMAT, first India sitting: registration closed 15 September 2026, the test was 26 September 2026, certificates from 12 October 2026. If that test applied to you and you sat it, upload the g.a.s.t. PDF as soon as it is online. APS can check documents earlier. It will not issue the certificate until the dMAT PDF is in the file. If you missed the sitting, do not invent a next date. Read dMAT registration and the APS dMAT page before you plan a January uni-assist upload.

Rule for winter: if APS is not on track by May, a 15 July uni-assist submit is risky.

Rule for summer: if APS or dMAT is still open in December, a 15 January submit is the same kind of risk.

Universities that have closed before 15 July in recent winter cycles (check the live page, do not reuse the month blindly):

• RWTH Aachen: often May
• University of Stuttgart: often mid-May
• Freie Universität Berlin: some programmes end in May

Missing May because July looks far away is the usual APS mistake. The same mistake in autumn is "I will apply for summer in January".

Germany application timeline international students

Germany application timeline international students should count backward from the intake, with visa time included. A July admission does not produce a September visa in India.

Use the visa timeline tool. Read rejection reasons before you file CSP.

Full document order: application checklist.

What students get wrong

• "Winter 2026 is full, so I will start the summer file in March." March is arrival month for summer, not application month.
• "15 January is the real deadline." It is a common deadline. Your programme may have closed in November.
• "Uni-assist can keep working after the deadline, so I can upload after it." Processing after the deadline is for files that were complete on time.
• "All universities use uni-assist." Direct-apply portals do not.
• "I will do APS after I see an offer." For APS countries the certificate is usually before a complete application, not after.

Final checklist

1. Pick Summer 2027 or Winter 2027/28. Confirm the programme exists in that intake.
2. Copy each programme's deadline from the course page.
3. Put APS, dMAT if it applies, and the language test on the calendar first.
4. Upload a complete uni-assist file at least eight weeks before that deadline. For APS countries, prefer October to November (summer) or May (winter).
5. After admission, run visa and housing backward from April or October, not from the week you feel ready.

Related: Application checklist · Uni-assist documents · Winter semester start · Visa requirements

Official references:

• Uni-assist, deadlines and processing time
• DAAD, study in Germany