Registering for the B1 exam: step by step

For the B1 exam there is no central registration point. You register directly with a Prüfungszentrum (examination centre) — a Volkshochschule (adult education centre), a language school or an institute licensed to administer your provider’s exam. The route is always the same: find a centre → choose a date → register → pay the fee → wait for confirmation → turn up with identification.

Data checked: 3 September 2026. Registration routes, deadlines and conditions are set by each Prüfungszentrum itself. The current details are on your centre’s site and with your provider — goethe.de or telc.net.

Step 1: Establish which proof you need

Before you book anything: ask the body that requires the certificate. For Einbürgerung (German naturalisation) the BAMF list of recognised proofs of German at B1 applies — which exams are on it is set out in B1 for Einbürgerung. Employers, professional chambers or universities may have different requirements.

That single phone call prevents the most expensive mistake of all: a passed exam that in the end is not accepted.

Step 2: Find a Prüfungszentrum

Search your provider’s site for examination centres in your region. Look at more than the distance:

• How often are exams held? Some centres examine monthly, others a few times a year.
• How far ahead is the next free place? In larger cities dates are often booked out weeks to months in advance.
• Are there two prices? Many centres charge external registrations more than their own course participants — see What the B1 exam costs.
• Does the oral exam take place on the same day? That varies from place to place and decides whether you have to plan for one day or two.

If nothing is free in your city, check neighbouring towns. A date 60 km away in three weeks is often better than a date locally in four months.

Step 3: Register

How registration works is set by the centre — an online form, a registration form by email or registering in person on site are all usual. Have ready:

• a valid identity document (identity card, passport or residence permit) — the name on the certificate is taken from it exactly;
• your contact details and, if asked for, your place of birth and nationality;
• whether you are sitting the whole exam or individual parts — in the Goethe-Zertifikat B1 you can book individual modules;
• the fee, usually by bank transfer or payment on site.

Check the spelling of your name character by character. A typing error on the registration form ends up on the certificate later, and a correction costs time and often money.

Registration only becomes binding once the fee has arrived. A reserved form without payment is not a place at many centres. Keep the payment confirmation.

Step 4: Deadlines, withdrawal and illness

Every centre has a registration deadline, often two to four weeks before the date; after the deadline, registration is sometimes still possible with a surcharge.

Read the withdrawal and illness rules before you pay. They are in the centre’s terms of participation, not in any general law. In practice it is often the case that a late cancellation without a reason forfeits the fee, while a medical certificate submitted in time allows a refund or a change of date, in full or in part. If you fall ill on the day of the exam, contact the centre the same day and obtain a medical certificate.

Can I take the B1 exam online?

No — at any rate not from home. A recognised B1 exam is taken at a Prüfungszentrum. The reason is identity verification: it must be beyond doubt that the person being examined is the person on the certificate. That is why your identification is checked on entry.

What does exist, and is often confused with it:

• Digital exams. Several providers offer the exam on a computer — but on a laptop at the Prüfungszentrum, under supervision, with the same tasks and the same marking as on paper. That is not an online appointment from home.
• Online preparation. Practising, of course, can be done entirely online — for example here, with practice packs in the exam format and the writing training.
• “A certificate online, without an exam”. Offers like that are fraud. A bought certificate is a criminal offence, and the institutes can check on request whether a document was issued by them. More on that in B1 not passed — what now?.

If a provider offers you a remote exam, ask in writing exactly which exam is being taken, and compare the answer with the provider’s site and — for official purposes — with the BAMF list.

How do I get a B1 certificate?

The full route in six steps:

1. Check your level. Do a complete practice pack against the clock before you book. Anyone who is clearly below the pass mark in one area after the trial run should choose a later date.
2. Prepare. Train the weakest areas deliberately. Catch up on the basics in the German course, and practise writing with immediate AI assessment.
3. Register and pay — as described above.
4. Sit the exam. Arrive 20 to 30 minutes early and bring the same identity document you registered with. Without identification you may not take part.
5. Wait for the result. The centre will tell you how long it takes — usually a few weeks. Ask when you register if an appointment with an authority depends on it.
6. Collect the certificate or have it sent to you. The certificate is issued by the institute, not by the Prüfungszentrum itself.

Afterwards: scan the certificate immediately and keep the original somewhere safe. Authorities generally want to see the original or a certified copy. A replacement document if you lose yours is usually possible with the providers, but it costs money and takes time.

Timeline: what to do when

When	What to do
3–4 months before	clarify the proof with the authority, research centres and dates
2–3 months before	do a trial run, settle on a provider and a date, register and pay
4–8 weeks before	train the weak areas deliberately
1 week before	repeat a full pack with a clock, sort out the journey
the day before	lay out your identification and registration confirmation, get an early night
on exam day	be there 20–30 minutes early, hand in your phone switched off

Registration routes, deadlines, fees and withdrawal rules are set by each Prüfungszentrum itself. What is binding is always what is written there.