for the dual Bachelor's programmes of HSBA
There are admission requirements for all the study programmes. These include good grades in mathematics and English (the equivalent to a 10 point average from two senior-grade school reports or a 9 point average in advanced courses from a school using the German education system). The Business Administration, Business Informatics and Media Management & Communication programmes require an additional grade of 10 or 9 points in the German language.
If you do not fulfil the HSBA admission requirements, this does not mean that studying at HSBA is impossible. In this case you have the opportunity to take part in our entrance examinations. The entrance examinations regularly take place in the subjects Mathematics, German and English. On the following pages you can find further information on the different exams:
The admission requirements for a dual study course at HSBA are specified here.
With the German entrance examination we examine if the applicant has a good level of spelling proficiency and argumentative skills in German in order to be able to study at HSBA. This entrance examination only needs to be taken if the study courses Business Administration (German version), Business Informatics or Media Management are chosen.
The test takes 90 minutes and consists:
To register please use the event database of the Chamber of Commerce Hamburg. Please enter “HSBA” in the search function. You can find the event database via this link:
Registration for the entrance examination
You can also use the registration form for the German entrance examination.
The dates are displayed there and can be chosen accordingly. You will receive a written confirmation of registration by HSBA approximately a week before the exam. If the minimum number of participants is not fulfilled for one date, HSBA reserves the right to postpone the date.
Fees
The fees for the German entrance examination are € 65,00 and need to be paid at least seven days before the exam to the account of HSBA Hamburg School of Business Administration:
Bank: Hamburger Sparkasse
IBAN: DE48 2005 0550 1002 1833 80, BIC: HASPDEHHXXX
Purpose: Zulassungsprüfung Deutsch, Date of exam, name of the participant
If the minimum number of participants for the entrance exam is not reached, HSBA can cancel or postpone the examination up to seven days before the set date. No claims can be made against HSBA.
Information on the exam
In order to prove that you have participated in the entrance exam, you will need to bring your proof of payment as well as your identity cards. Without these documents you can be excluded from the exam.
HSBA informs the applicants of their test results (“passed” or “failed”) within ten days after the examination. The examination cannot be handed out to the candidate; an inspection of the test is not possible. Passing the German entrance examination does not automatically mean that the applicant is enrolled at HSBA. On the day of enrolment the entrance examination cannot be older than two years (from day of test). A retake of the test can only be allowed once in a study year.
Location
The entrance examination generally takes place at HSBA, Willy-Brandt-Str. 75, 20459 Hamburg. Please take a look at the display in the entrance area.
Registration form
If you want to register for the German entrance examination on short notice, the online registration tool is no longer available. In this case please use the registration form for the German entrance examination.
With the mathematics entrance examination, we examine if the applicant has a good understanding of mathematics in order to study successfully at HSBA. The examination takes 90 minutes and consists of the following topics:
HSBA offers applicants the possibility to take part in a mathematics preparation course in order to allow for an intensive preparation for the entrance examination. Please be aware that the course takes place in German.
To register please use the event database of the Chamber of Commerce Hamburg. Please enter “HSBA” in the search function. You can find the event database via this link:
Registration for the entrance examination
You can also use the registration form for the Mathematics entrance examination.
The dates are displayed there and can be chosen accordingly. You will receive a written confirmation of registration by HSBA approximately a week before the exam. If the minimum number of participants is not fulfilled for one date, HSBA reserves the right to postpone the date.
Fees
The fees for the entrance examination in mathematics are € 65,00 and need to be paid at least seven days before the exam to the account of HSBA Hamburg School of Business Administration:
Bank: Hamburger Sparkasse
IBAN: DE48 2005 0550 1002 1833 80, BIC: HASPDEHHXXX
Purpose: Zulassungsprüfung Mathe, Date of exam, name of the participant
If the minimum number of participants for the entrance exam is not reached, HSBA can cancel or postpone the examination up to seven days before the set date. No claims can be made against HSBA.
Information on the exam
In order to prove that you have participated in the entrance exam, you will need to bring your proof of payment as well as your identity cards. Without these documents you can be excluded from the exam.
HSBA informs the applicants of their test results (“passed” or “failed”) within ten days after the examination. The examination cannot be handed out to the candidate; an inspection of the test is not possible. Passing the German entrance examination does not automatically mean that the applicant is enrolled at HSBA. On the day of enrolment the entrance examination cannot be older than two years (from day of test). A retake of the test can only be allowed once in a study year.
Location
The entrance examination generally takes place at HSBA, Willy-Brandt-Str. 75, 20459 Hamburg. Please take a look at the display in the entrance area.
Registration form
If you want to register for the Mathematics entrance examination on short notice, the online registration tool is no longer available. In this case please use the registration form for the Mathematics entrance examination.
To register please use the registration form.
You will receive a written confirmation of registration by HSBA approximately a week before the exam. If the minimum number of participants is not fulfilled for one date, HSBA reserves the right to postpone the date.
Fees
The fees for the mathematics preparation course are € 300,00 and need to be paid at least seven days before the exam to the account of HSBA Hamburg School of Business Administration:
Bank: Hamburger Sparkasse
IBAN: DE48 2005 0550 1002 1833 80, BIC: HASPDEHHXXX
Purpose: Vorbereitungskurs Mathe, Date of exam, name of the participant
If the minimum number of participants for the entrance exam is not reached, HSBA can cancel or postpone the examination up to seven days before the set date. No claims can be made against HSBA.
Location
The entrance examination generally takes place at HSBA, Willy-Brandt-Straße 75, 20459 Hamburg. Please take a look at the display in the entrance area.
The examination takes 120 minutes and consists of the following parts:
For the written part, written questions need to be answered, for the verbal part a personal interview takes place.
Information for the Accreditation of the HSBA-Test
English is essential for many HSBA classes: At the moment, one third of the courses are being taught in English. Furthermore, the dual Bachelor's degree programmes Business Administration (English version), Maritime Management, Logistics Management as well as all Master's degree programmes (except for MSc Digital Transformation & Sustainability) are completely taught in English. This results from the fact that HSBA focuses on International Business and pursues the aim to qualify its students to become promising international executives.
The HSBA English Test is divided into a written and an oral part. Within the written part, the students’ writing, reading and comprehension skills are tested. The writing part requires the students to prove their knowledge within the fields of vocabulary, grammar, tenses, phrasal verbs, word phrases, false friends, sentence structure and translations. Some questions are multiple choice questions, others are open questions.
The reading and comprehension part is divided into a C1 level text from daily newspapers and magazines, and multiple choice questions.
The oral part of the test analyses the students’ speaking and listening skills. This is done in a 45 minute personal interview. The students listen to a talk and subsequently discuss the topic of the talk with their interview partner who is an English native speaker.
In order to pass the test, the students need to demonstrate advanced reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. Thus, we recommend comprehensive preparation and practice. We would advise the following:
Writing Part:
Reading and Comprehension Part:
Read English literature, i.e. books, magazines, newspapers and online journals (BBC News, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Guardian, etc.), subsequently write a short summary and discuss the text with others
Listening and Comprehension Part:
Speaking Part:
We can recommend the following books in preparation for the test. Please note that this is just a small selection to give you a general idea of the literature on the market and that this list is by no means complete.
Recommended Literature:
Additionally, we recommend TOEFL Test preparation books, i.e. Barron’s, Cambridge, ETS, Kaplan, Longman and Princeton Review. We advise you to visit the public libraries before deciding on a copy.
The proof of the necessary English knowledge can also be provided with the following alternative certificates
TOEFL internet-based with at least 90 point
More detailed information on this test can be found at: www.toefl.org
International English Testing Service (IELTS) “academic” with a minimum average of 6.0 points
The following Cambridge Certificates are accepted by HSBA:
Any English certificates submitted cannot be more than two years old (from the date of the test) on the date of registration!
Applicants who spent at least their last school year in Australia, the UK, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand or the USA and who can produce written proof of a qualification to study at a third-level institution meet the admission requirements for English and do not need any further certificates of English skills.
To register please use the event database of the Chamber of Commerce Hamburg. Please enter “HSBA” in the search function. You can find the event database via this link:
Registration for the entrance examination
You can also use the registration form for the English entrance examination.
The dates are displayed there and can be chosen accordingly. You will receive a written confirmation of registration by HSBA approximately a week before the exam. If the minimum number of participants is not fulfilled for one date, HSBA reserves the right to postpone the date.
Fees
The fees for the English entrance examination are € 160,00 and need to be paid at least seven days before the exam to the account of HSBA Hamburg School of Business Administration:
Bank: Hamburger Sparkasse
IBAN: DE48 2005 0550 1002 1833 80, BIC: HASPDEHHXXX
Purpose: Zulassungsprüfung Englisch, Date of exam, name of the participant
If the minimum number of participants for the entrance exam is not reached, HSBA can cancel or postpone the examination up to seven days before the set date. No claims can be made against HSBA.
Information on the exam
In order to prove that you have participated in the entrance exam, you will need to bring your proof of payment as well as your identity cards. Without these documents you can be excluded from the exam.
HSBA informs the applicants of their test results (“passed” or “failed”) within ten days after the examination. The examination cannot be handed out to the candidate; an inspection of the test is not possible. Passing the German entrance examination does not automatically mean that the applicant is enrolled at HSBA. On the day of enrolment the entrance examination cannot be older than two years (from day of test). A retake of the test can only be allowed once in a study year.
Location
The entrance examination generally takes place at HSBA, Willy-Brandt-Str. 75, 20459 Hamburg. Please take a look at the display in the entrance area.
Registration form
If you want to register for the English entrance examination on short notice, the online registration tool is no longer available. In this case please use the registration form for the German entrance examination.