Registration takes place on ILIAS. Before you can actually register for a course, we need to know your starting level of English so that we can allocate you to a course that matches your current level. To do this you will need to take an online placement test. Placement tests will be offered from mid-June till September for the winter semester and from mid-January till March for the summer semester. If you have taken a placement test before or provide us with a valid English language certificate (see list of accepted English language on ILIAS or in our FAQs), we can use the result to allocate you and you do not have to take a placement test again.

Once registration is closed and we know the starting course level of all students, the actual course registration begins based on the course level. This will be in mid-September for the winter semester and in mid-March for the summer semester and always before the second enrolment period (Belegphase) ends.

Each course level requires a minimum number of students and if we do not have enough registrations we may not be able to offer a particular course. In this case we will try to find an appropriate solution for the students concerned. This usually only applies to courses at level A1 to B1. Courses at level B2 or C1 will always be offered and with different time slots on offer.

Each course takes place once a week and usually start in the first week of the lecture period unless otherwise specified. The exact timetable for the semester will be finalised once all students have taken the placement test and we know how many courses we can offer.

All classes will take place in the following time slots:
Monday and Tuesday: 14:00-17:00 and 18:00-21:00
Wednesday and Thursday: 9:00-12:00, 14:00-17:00 and 18:00-21:00

The courses consist of 12 sessions, with the penultimate session reserved for the end of course test.

The course is worth 6 credit points. To pass the course and receive credit points, you need to attend at least 9 of the 12 sessions and participate in the end-of-semester exam.

As a Bachelor student of the WiSo Faculty, you can choose the course as part of Studium Integrale (SI). As a Master student you can take the course as part of your extracurricular modules (EA = Extracurriculares Angebot) and also incoming guest students of the WiSo Faculty can receive credit points.

Additionally, you will receive a certificate from the Englisches Institut Köln indicating the language level you have achieved at the end of the course.

You can use the certificate to support your application for an internship or a job, or to apply for a semester abroad during your Bachelor's degree studies (see STAP Bachelor, see details on the procedure in the application manual) and for one of the summer schools (see WiSo@NYC and WiSo@London), both of which are organised by the WiSo Faculty.

The structure of the course and its learning objectives are aligned with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), a guideline used to describe the achievements of language learners across Europe. The levels defined by the CEFR are as follows:
A1 - Beginner
A2 - Elementary / Pre-intermediate
B1 - Intermediate
B2 - Upper Intermediate
C1 - Advanced Intermediate