With the Orientation Year the University of Oldenburg offers an education programme specifically for people with a current refugee background.

The Orientation Year is aimed at refugees who want to prepare for starting or continuing university studies in Germany and acquire the necessary German language skills.

This programme includes

• language courses in which you can acquire the German skills needed for attaining the German university entrance qualification
• opportunities to get an idea of what studying a specific subject is like, including working with other students
• introductory and follow-on courses on academic working methods in Germany
• specific support and advisory services                     

The programme ties in with the university's regular language courses and degree programmes so that participants are integrated into the university community during their orientation year.

Participants in the Orientation Year programme are not awarded a university entrance qualification or an academic degree.

Participants are enrolled as guest students and are exempt from all fees.

More information on the application procedure

The competence area "Recognition" (Anrechnung) offers refugees with an academic educational background or professional qualifications the opportunity to create their own »competence portfolio« within the framework of the »Services in Refugee Work« project. These portfolios enable refugees to present their educational background in a structured format and highlight skills that they have already acquired.

This service is aimed mainly at persons who no longer possess papers documenting their academic background. However, non-traditional educational and professional/occupational biographies can also be outlined in these portfolios.

The portfolio serves to verify the plausibility of an individual's educational background and can be used in the procedure for obtaining the university entrance qualification.

Competence area "Recognition"