B1 exam without a course? Prep course or self-study

Yes. telc and the Goethe-Institut do not require a course: you register directly at an exam centre. The Goethe-Institut exam rules say that taking part is not tied to any particular language course or to a lower-level certificate. telc says you can prepare in a language course or by self-study. Each telc centre may set its own registration conditions and prices, so check with your centre. Only the DTZ is tied to the integration course.

Not if you have no link to the integration course. BAMF says the DTZ is the final test of the integration course, and people with no link to an integration course must take a different language test. For citizenship and the settlement permit, telc Deutsch B1 or the Goethe-Zertifikat B1 can be used instead. If you attend an integration course, the BAMF pays for your first attempt at the final tests (§17 IntV).

It depends on the provider. Examples we read on 24 October 2026: €77 for a two-day Prüfungstraining telc Deutsch B1 at VHS Hamburg, €112 (two days) or €176 (eight evenings) for telc Deutsch A2-B1 training at the Münchner Volkshochschule, and €108.40 (reduced €77.98) for a 13-evening online course at vhs Bonn. None of these course pages says the exam fee is included, so plan for it on top: for example €180 for telc Deutsch A2-B1 at the Münchner Volkshochschule, or €160 for telc Deutsch B1 at VHS Münster (December 2026). Some centres charge their own course participants less for the exam.

There is no official figure for self-study. As a reference, the integration course plans 600 lessons of 45 minutes for its language part, from the start to B1. Our estimate, not an official figure: if you already understand everyday German at about B1 and mainly need the exam format, plan around 8 weeks of regular practice, the length of the plan in our telc B1 guide. If you are still well below B1, it takes much longer, and a course can help.

No. §10 StAG asks for B1 German, shown by meeting the requirements of a B1 language exam; it does not require a course. Recognised exams include telc Deutsch B1, the Goethe-Zertifikat B1, the ÖSD Zertifikat B1, DSD I and the DTZ with an overall result of B1. A German school certificate, vocational training or degree is also usually accepted by the naturalisation authority. One exception: if the immigration office, the Jobcenter or the benefits office has obliged you to attend an integration course (§44a AufenthG), you must still attend it. Booking telc or Goethe B1 does not replace that obligation.

For the settlement permit (Niederlassungserlaubnis) the standard requirement under §9 AufenthG is B1 German together with basic knowledge of the legal and social order. A successfully completed integration course proves both. It is not the only route: telc Deutsch B1, the Goethe-Zertifikat B1 or a DTZ result at B1 prove the German part, and the civic part is proved separately, for example with the "Leben in Deutschland" test.

You can try again. Under the telc rules an exam can be repeated as often as you like, and for telc Deutsch B1, if you passed only the written or only the oral exam, you can repeat just the other part within twelve months; tell the centre when you register. This does not apply to the scaled telc Deutsch A2-B1. At the Goethe-Institut, single modules of the B1 exam can be repeated as often as you like; the centre may set a waiting period before the resit.