Germany Intakes: Winter vs Summer Semester for Nepali Students

German universities take new students twice a year: in the winter semester, which starts in autumn, and in the summer semester, which starts in spring. On paper that gives a Nepali applicant two chances a year. In practice the winter intake carries most programmes, and the visa timeline in Kathmandu, more than the university calendar, decides which intake you can realistically make.

The 2027 calendar

Dates come from the University of Hamburg and the University of Freiburg. The deadlines are the ones uni-assist calls common, not universal: many universities close earlier, especially for master's programmes and the Studienkolleg.

Universities of applied sciences can run on a different clock. Technische Hochschule Ulm starts its winter semester 2027/28 on 1 September 2027, with lectures from 28 September. A month's difference matters when the visa appointment is your bottleneck.

Why winter is the main intake

Plenty of programmes simply do not admit in summer. Freie Universitaet Berlin says most of its degree programmes begin in the winter semester, and the University of Stuttgart admits no one to its bachelor's programmes in summer. If you are applying for a bachelor's, including after a Studienkolleg, treat winter as the default.

For master's programmes it varies from one programme to the next. Search our programme finder, then confirm the start semester on the university's page before you build a plan around April.

What the choice changes for a Nepali applicant

The visa window lands at a different point

The German Embassy in Kathmandu accepts a visa application at most three months ahead of your planned departure, and since 1 December 2025 appointments come through a waiting list rather than direct booking. Processing takes at least about three to four weeks according to one Embassy page, and up to three or four months according to others; our Kathmandu embassy guide has the details.

In both intakes the common deadline falls about eleven weeks before the semester begins: 15 January for a 1 April start, 15 July for 1 October. The visa window opens three months before your trip, so it is usually already open when your admission arrives, and every week a university takes to decide comes straight out of your visa time. A university of applied sciences that starts on 1 September, like THU Ulm, pulls the whole squeeze a month forward.

The application dates sit six months apart

The common deadlines are 15 January for summer and 15 July for winter, and uni-assist wants complete files about eight weeks before either one. Our deadline calendar for Nepali students turns both into dated plans, including whether summer 2027 is still within reach from where you stand today.

Scholarship rounds follow the same rhythm

Some funders run two rounds a year that map onto the two intakes. The Heinrich Boell Foundation, for example, takes applications by 1 March and by 1 September. Its information sheet says payments from the March round start by 1 October at the latest and those from the September round by 1 April, so each round is timed for one intake. Other options are covered in our scholarships guide.

You arrive in different seasons

Winter starters land in late September or early October, when German first-years are hunting for rooms at the same time; our housing guide deals with that rush. Summer starters arrive in March or early April, outside the autumn peak, which can make the first room search less frantic.

Which intake suits you

• Winter if you want a bachelor's, are heading for a Studienkolleg, or want the widest choice of master's programmes. Studienkolleg deadlines often fall earlier than 15 July; see our Studienkolleg guide.
• Summer if your chosen programme admits in April and your documents are already complete.
• Both if you are flexible: apply for summer where it is offered and keep a full winter plan running in parallel, so a late document costs you six months, not a year.

The order of the whole process, from shortlist to enrolment, is set out in our guide on how to apply to a German university from Nepal.