APS Certificate and Türkiye: Do Turkish Students Need APS?

Short answer: If your school or university documents were issued in Türkiye, you do not need APS for your application to a German university. APS (Akademische Prüfstelle) only exists for educational documents issued in China, Vietnam and India.

#What is APS?

APS is an evaluation centre that reviews educational documents issued in certain countries for study in Germany. It checks the authenticity of documents and whether they give access to higher education in Germany before you apply to universities. Today APS exists for three countries only: China (since 2001), Vietnam (since 2007) and India (since 2022) (APS India – About us).

#The issuing country counts, not your nationality

According to APS India, the applicant's nationality is not decisive; what matters is whether the relevant academic documents were issued by educational institutions in that country (APS India – FAQ). In practice:

• You are a Turkish citizen and your documents are from Türkiye → no APS.
• You are a Turkish citizen but, for example, your bachelor's degree is from India → that country's APS check may apply.

#Exemptions (APS India example)

APS India exempts applicants whose relevant degree was not issued in India, holders of international school qualifications such as the International Baccalaureate, and holders of scholarships funded by German or EU public funds (APS India – FAQ). China and Vietnam publish their own rules on their APS websites.

#Do not mix up APS, anabin, uni-assist and admission

• APS does not decide on admission or visas and does not replace the decision of a university, uni-assist or any other admission authority (APS India – FAQ).
• Admission is decided by the university. The programme page tells you whether to apply through uni-assist or directly.
• anabin is the database that shows how foreign qualifications are assessed for access to German higher education; APS applies the criteria published in anabin (APS India – FAQ). Documents from Türkiye are assessed without APS, by the university or uni-assist.

#Correction note

An earlier version of this article described an APS requirement for applicants from Türkiye, an APS office in Ankara and an APS interview. That information was wrong; the article was corrected on 14.10.2026 based on the official APS India pages.

Sources (checked 14.10.2026): APS India – FAQ, APS India – About us.