What are the holiday periods and work rules for Studienkolleg students?

As a Studienkolleg student with a residence permit for study purposes (§ 16b AufenthG), you are allowed to work — the current law has no "no work in the first year" restriction. Once your acceptance is documented, attending a Studienkolleg counts as a study-preparatory measure under § 16b.

#Work rule (§ 16b (3))

• You may work up to 140 working days per year (Arbeitstagekonto).
• A day with up to 4 hours of work can count as half a day.
• A lecture-period week with no more than 20 hours, and every week outside the lecture period, can count as 2.5 working days.
• For each week, the calculation that is more favourable to you applies.

#Holidays

Each Studienkolleg sets its own semester calendar, so there is no Germany-wide holiday length. Check with your Ausländerbehörde how your Studienkolleg's teaching and holiday weeks are applied to the weekly count.

#Keep in mind

These rules apply to a § 16b residence permit. If you hold a different permit (for example for a language course not linked to studies), different rules apply. Counting examples: the 140-day work account.