Ideal if you'd like to ...
- apply for a position as an au pair in Germany,
- obtain evidence of the language skills required to be granted a visa to join your husband or wife in Germany,
- prove that you have successfully reached level A1,
- be issued an official and internationally recognized certificate.
The Goethe-Zertifikat A1: Start Deutsch 1 is a German exam for adults. It certifies that candidates have acquired very basic language skills and corresponds to the first level (A1) on the six-level scale of competence laid down in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
Passing the exam demonstrates that you can ...
- communicate in a simple manner if the person you are speaking to talks slowly and clearly,
- understand and use familiar, everyday and common expressions and simple sentences (e.g. information about yourself and your family or about shopping, work and your immediate surroundings),
- introduce yourself and others, as well as ask others about themselves, e.g. where they live, who they know and what they own.
Exam dates
*) The cheaper price displayed applies if you have already participated in a German language course at the Goethe Institute in the past six months. The six months refer to the period between when the language course ended and the date of the German language exam. In this case, the price will change automatically during the booking procedure. If not, please contact the course office.
Further Information
If none of the exam dates above are convenient, most of our exams may be booked as individual exams for an additional fee. Please contact us for further information.
For the exam location Washington, DC, exam results A1-C1 are made available approximately two weeks after the exam date. For all other exam locations, as well as C2 Schreiben, results are made available approximately four weeks after the exam date. Mailing certificates can take an additional ca. two weeks.
Practice materials
Accessible and interactive sample exams and practice exercises to help you prepare online are available here.
Further information
The requirements, contents of the exam and further information on the Goethe-Zertifikat A1: Start Deutsch 1 exam are available here: