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BIBB Logo
An offer from the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training
Logo: Anerkennung in Deutschland

Information portal of the German government
for the recognition of foreign professional qualifications

Logo: Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung

Digitalisation

The federal government, states and chambers are working to simplify and accelerate recognition. Here you can find examples of how it can work better.

Zentralstelle für ausländisches Bildungswesen (ZAB)
Graphic shows the ZAB certificate assessment

New ZAB platform digitalises the assessment of higher education certificates.

Initial solution: The recognition in Germany of a foreign higher education certificate is a requirement for many academic professions, or it can be helpful. Until now, this had to be applied for in writing and documents had to be sent off.

Solution approach: The statement of comparability for foreign higher education qualifications was digitalised within 12 months. After applying and uploading the necessary documents, the assessment is completed and a PDF issued with the digital seal.

The Central Office for Foreign Education’s (ZAB) online platform for the statement of comparability for foreign higher education qualifications has been offering this service since 15 February 2024. The entire process is now digital and can be completed without switching media. This service was developed by the ZAB in cooperation with the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community (BMI) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

The platform provides a user friendly and multilingual interface. Users enter all the necessary information into a dynamic application form, upload their documents and pay the fees directly via PayPal, credit card or bank transfer. The digitalised online service should speed up and simplify processes which previously took months to complete.

The lessons learned to date from this project offer valuable insights for future digitalisation initiatives. In particular, taking a holistic view and engaging all those involved has proved successful. The new platform also impressed the eGovernment competition jury and came first in the category of “Particular social relevance” in September 2024. 

Advice: Please check whether you actually need the statement of comparability. Evidence of the comparability of a foreign higher education qualification with a German qualification can also be provided via the anabin database. 

A guide to using the anabin database is available  here. 

Further information about the statement of comparability and anabin can be found on our page Assessment of higher education qualifications.

Contact: General questions on the statement of comparability
Press release from the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs
Kiattisak / Adobe Stock
A hand presses a virtual translation button

AI-supported curriculum translation on the BQ portal

Initial solution: The translation of foreign curricula to support the recognition of professional qualifications in Germany is essential. The traditional method of using sworn translators is time-consuming and expensive. The BQ portal carefully considers innovative alternatives and runs tests using an AI translation tool.

Solution approach: Test runs were completed using DeepL, the Cologne-based AI translation tool. Initial results show that common languages, such as English and Spanish, can already be machine translated with a low rate of errors. This is particularly effective for continuous texts.

Accuracy is lower for lists in bullet point form, in particular in tables, and also for complex, specialist descriptions. Differing terminology used in the source English from different countries of training impacts on the quality of the translation. For languages which are less common, such as Turkish and Russian, quality assurance (post-editing) carried out by translators is recommended. Established AI translation tools are not yet able to provide satisfactory results for some languages, such as Arabic. The influence of the file format on the quality of the translation should also be noted because different file formats produce different translation suggestions. For example, the translations suggested from AI-based translation using DeepL differ depending on whether the source text originates from a PDF or a Word document. The rapid advancement of AI-based translation technology is impressive. The approach chosen by the BQ portal seeks to encourage acceptance of AI translations and in this way to bring about time and cost savings in the recognition procedure.

Contact: Daniel Wörndl (BQ-Portal)
Further information about AI-based curriculum translations
Wanan / Adobe Stock
Man holds his hand with illuminated IT symbols over smartphone and tablet

Making recognition quicker with AI

Initial solution: There is a shortage of medical staff in Germany. The federal state of Bavaria is looking to innovative solutions to address the rising demand for doctors. On 1 January 2024, a pilot project was launched focused on the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

Solution approach: The project envisages the checking of documents submitted as one potential use of artificial intelligence. For example, it could verify the plausibility of diplomas which have been uploaded.

The aim is that this approach will help to speed up procedures. The pilot project is planned through to the end of 2025 and is being supported by the Bavarian Ministry for Health with a budget of around €320,000. It is being implemented in collaboration with the Digital Administration Competence Centre at the University of Applied Sciences in Hof and the government of Upper Bavaria.

Further information about the use of AI in the Bavarian Ministry of Health.

Report examples of good practice

Do you know of other examples that contribute to the optimization of recognition procedures? We would be happy to include your example on our website.

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