Licence, BTS, DUT: What Transfers to Germany
Why intermediate diplomas usually don't count toward German admission, why a Licence often does, and how that changes your timeline.
German universities evaluate a foreign qualification against specific rules, and the type of diploma you hold matters more than how many years of study sit behind it. For students coming from a Francophone system, that distinction between a Licence and an intermediate diploma like the BTS or DUT changes the whole plan.
Why Intermediate Diplomas Rarely Count
A BTS, a DUT (increasingly restructured as the BUT) or a comparable two-year diploma is built to lead into further study or directly into a profession within its home system. German admission is evaluated against completed degree levels, not accumulated credit hours, so these intermediate qualifications typically aren't recognized as a stand-alone basis for university admission on their own.
Why a Licence Usually Does
A completed Licence, the three-year Bachelor's equivalent, is a different case. Most Licence degrees from Francophone university systems, including Cameroon's, are recognized in Germany, though recognition is checked program by program rather than assumed for an entire country. The German reference tool for this is anabin (anabin.kmk.org), and it's worth checking a specific university and program there before building a plan around an assumption.
How This Compares Internationally
The same gap shows up outside Germany too, while a Licence tends to translate cleanly almost everywhere. For BTS and DUT:
- United Kingdom: closest to a Higher National Diploma (HND) or a Foundation Degree, both usually needing a "top-up" year to become a full Bachelor's.
- United States: closest to an Associate Degree, the two-year credential awarded by community colleges.
- Germany: no direct equivalent. German higher education has no two-year formal tier between secondary school (or vocational training) and a completed Bachelor's, which is exactly why these diplomas don't transfer on their own.
For a Licence:
- United Kingdom: matches a Bachelor's (Honours) degree, also typically three years.
- Germany: matches the German Bachelor directly, both built on the same three-year, 180-credit Bologna structure.
- United States: broadly comparable to a Bachelor's degree, though American Bachelor's programs are conventionally four years, so a three-year Licence can occasionally get evaluated as short by a US institution specifically, a friction that doesn't come up inside the Bologna-aligned European system.
That last point explains the pattern: France and Germany both follow the Bologna process, the same three-year, 180-credit structure, which is the real reason a Licence crosses that particular border with so few questions asked.
Still Mid-Diploma? Finish the Licence First
For a student currently in the second year of a BTS or DUT, the stronger move is usually to complete the third year, the Licence, before starting the move to Germany. That extra year, however long it feels in the moment, tends to save far more time than it costs: a recognized Licence opens direct application to a Master's program, while an intermediate diploma generally means starting from a Bachelor's first, several years further back in the process.
Even without an immediate Master's placement, a recognized Licence keeps a Bachelor's-first route open from inside Germany, with a Master's application running in parallel once a language course or the first semesters are underway.
Already in Germany With a Licence?
Some students arrive in Germany holding a Licence and enroll straight into a German Bachelor's program, without realizing the Licence itself can be formally recognized (Zeugnisanerkennung). Once that recognition is in hand, especially early in a Bachelor's, it's worth asking the Prüfungsamt or Studienberatung whether a direct transfer into a matching Master's program is possible.
What a Recognized Licence Opens
- Direct Master's access, instead of a Bachelor's detour that adds years to the timeline.
- Eligibility for Mitarbeiter-level part-time roles, which can mean more hours and better pay than a standard Werkstudent contract, since German employers hiring beyond the usual student-job scope generally expect a completed degree.
- A head start toward the EU Blue Card, which requires a recognized university degree once the job search moves past graduation.
Figuring out whether a specific Licence qualifies, and what that means for a given program and timeline, is groundwork GSA Launch™ works through with future students early, before the paperwork starts rather than after.