Is IELTS Required for Germany Student Visa? What Officials Say

The German student visa does not set its own IELTS requirement or band score. What the visa asks for is proof of the language skills your study programme needs: the federal government's Make it in Germany portal says you must prove your language skills to the German embassy or consulate, and that some programmes require a certain level, usually B2. So whether you need IELTS, and what score, depends on your university and course, not on the visa.

This page summarises what official German government and university pages said when we read them on 3 November 2026. It is information only, not visa advice. The German Embassy in Islamabad and the Consulate General in Karachi decide each case, and their pages and the Consular Services Portal are the final word.

What the German government says

The Make it in Germany page on studying lists, among the requirements for a student visa:

• "Some programmes require a certain level of language proficiency, usually level B2."
• "You must prove your language skills to the German embassy or consulate."

The page does not name IELTS, TOEFL or any other test, and does not give a score. It also gives the money you must show: a blocked account of at least €11,904 in 2026, a scholarship, or a formal declaration of commitment.

What the German missions in Pakistan say

The missions' study visa page (dated 27 November 2025) says Pakistani applicants apply through the Consular Services Portal, and that past degree certificates, transcripts and proof of tuition payment (where your course charges fees) are mandatory from the start. It says the full list of required documents appears after the portal's questionnaire. The page itself does not mention IELTS, TOEFL or German certificates. So the portal's list for your own application is the one to follow.

Who decides which English test you need?

Your university. uni-assist, the service many German universities use to check international applications, says the required level "may vary between different universities and courses of study", and asks you to check each university for the proof and level it accepts. It lists IELTS, three kinds of TOEFL and the Cambridge FCE, CAE and CPE as English certificates, and says it can check an IELTS Test Report Form online.

One university's page shows how much this varies. Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences (h_da) asks for at least IELTS 6.5 or TOEFL 88 for its Electrical Engineering master's and its MBA, says it does not accept the Duolingo test, and accepts other certificates such as TOEIC, Cambridge and CEFR B2 certificates for some programmes. For some of its arts and media master's, it accepts a Medium of Instruction (MOI) certificate from your bachelor's.

Can I get a Germany student visa without IELTS?

Make it in Germany and the missions do not name IELTS as a visa document, so the visa itself does not ask for IELTS in particular. The question is whether your university admits you without it:

• With an MOI letter: uni-assist lists three ways to show English was your language of instruction: a degree certificate or transcript that says so, written confirmation from your university, or a link to your university's web page (not a screenshot). Whether a university accepts this is its decision, course by course.
• German-taught programmes: you need German, not English. uni-assist says all universities accept DSH, TestDaF, Goethe-Institut certificates and the DSD. Most bachelor's degrees in Germany are taught in German.
• English-taught but German also asked: uni-assist warns that some English-taught courses still ask for proof of German.

Make it in Germany does not say which proof the embassy accepts in each case, so the document list the portal gives you is the final word. Never buy an IELTS certificate or an MOI letter: a fake document can get your visa refused and your admission cancelled.

Is IELTS required for the DAAD scholarship or a German master's?

That depends on the scholarship and the course, not the visa. Our Germany scholarships guide gives DAAD's language rules for EPOS, and our article on whether the GRE is required for a master's in Germany covers the other test question students ask. For the UK, our list of universities that accept English proof other than IELTS shows which name Pakistani universities on their own pages.

Your next step

Read two official sources: the language requirement on your course's admission page, and the document list the Consular Services Portal gives for your own application. Those, not this page, decide what you need. Our Study in Germany guide covers the rest of the process, and our IELTS, TOEFL and Duolingo guide compares the tests. Rules change, so confirm everything on the missions' and your university's official pages before you apply.