Cenk Başaran (asker) Jul 7, 2023:

A general explanation Many of you missed the point, I think. What I wanted to do was to inform the non-German speaker of what Abitur is. This is an exam taken at the junction of high-school education and university training.

Björn Vrooman Jul 3, 2023:

For one, there are some second-language requirements that many US students will not be able to meet.

For another, the whole general studies stuff they have to do in the first two years of a bachelor (...before getting their associate's degree...) is either done in grades 12 and 13 in a German "high school" or not at all.

Which means if you put a note there saying the diploma is equivalent to an Abitur in Germany, it's a translation error. If you put one there saying it's either an Abitur or a Realschulabschluss, that's a different story.

In fact, if you have an HS diploma and all required "academic units," you'd still only end up here, according to the DAAD:
"Sofern der Unweighted Cumulative Grade Point Average (CumGPA) Ihres High School Diploma bei mindestens 3.0 liegt, haben Sie einen allgemeinen Zugang zum Studienkolleg/zur Feststellungsprüfung für alle Hochschulen mit freier Wahl des Schwerpunktkurses."

With AP courses done, you can still only study in those areas; it's not "allgemein."

The associate's degree is the only way to get accepted right away, but even that has reqs very similar to the requirements for getting an Abitur(!) in the first place.

Best wishes

Björn Vrooman Jul 3, 2023:

Hello Peter To be clear, I was supportive of your answer (I also agree with Michael here).

I only said "I won't disagree with any of the answers," which (excuse the double negation) doesn't mean I don't agree with what you wrote, this part especially:
"An Abitur functions as a university entrance qualification and so does an A Level, but they are not the same, and the translation should not suggest that the person has achieved an A Level rather than an Abitur."

I only said something after reading the other comments about one degree being equivalent to another and for *practical purposes* I don't agree, as this is about translating the degree and all of these are only uni entrance qualifications in their respective countries. They don't guarantee you a spot anywhere else.

Had this question been asked the other way around ("What would you call a high-school diploma in German?"), I'd have most likely added a "disagree" to any answer saying "Abitur."

[...]

Peter Dahm Robertson Jul 3, 2023:

Björn, you are entirely right that a high-school diploma may not be recognized or accepted by every academic institution (your point about national uni admission is well taken). However, recognition is not at issue, as this is generally decided at an institutional level in any case. Safest bet for a translator is therefore to keep the original qualification and try to aid understanding – and as a general rule for explanation or understanding, A-Levels, Abitur AND high-school diploma still share a functional level within their national hierarchy. This is also why, for instance, Abitur and high-school diploma share the ISCED-2011 level of 344 (somewhat indirectly determinable through https://isced.uis.unesco.org/data-mapping/); Abitur and A-Levels share a common level within the European Qualifications framework (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Qualifications_Framew...

Björn Vrooman Jul 3, 2023:

@Lirka, Jennifer, and Peter Not sure about the UK, but a high-school diploma is *not* equivalent to an "allgemeine Hochschulreife" ("Realschulabschluss" works, though).

Because of the different ways university education is structured in the States and in Germany, you need at least an associate's degree to be able to study whatever you want. I have personal experience with this (US-DE household here), but you can also go to the DAAD website and try out some options: https://www.daad.de/de/studieren-und-forschen-in-deutschland...

You'll see that *only* the associate's degree (in combination with some other reqs RE your diploma) will get you an "allgemeine Hochschulreife." Everything else won't, or you'll be limited in what you can study.

As far as I can see (just take a look at it), the UK A Levels won't get you there either (it's *fachgebunden* then).

I won't disagree with any of the answers as you can, ofc, always "downgrade." That sounds a bit arrogant, but it's not meant that way! It's just a common misconception that these degrees are roughly the same. Similar to what Peter said, it's crucial to note, though, that they only allow admission to uni nationally.

Best

Cenk Başaran (asker) Jul 3, 2023:

context Zeugnis der allgemeinen Hochschulreife

Emmanuella Jul 3, 2023:

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abitur

Zoi Patrinou Jul 3, 2023:

Agree. That's why I said "mostly treated.."
It could be also interpreted in the other ways mentioned. And in English I have also met it in the latin form "abiturium".
Hope I have helped 😀

Mair A-W (PhD) Jul 3, 2023:

context depends entirely on your context!