Academic Transcript Translation for Germany

uni-assist and the preliminary review stage

Applications to many German universities run through uni-assist; the transcript enters a preliminary review at that stage and is used, where the case calls for it, in issuing a preliminary review document (VPD). It therefore matters, if the process is not to be held up, that the translation is scanned legibly and in full. The translation should also show in its declaration which copy the scan is based on, the original or a certified copy; a blurred or half-captured scan makes even a flawless translation impossible to assess.

uni-assist and the university read the transcript together with the diploma and any recognition document, so the spelling of the name, the name of the institution and the dates must agree across all documents belonging to the same person. If the institution is named differently on the transcript from the diploma, both the anabin match and the coherence of the file come into question.

Repeated courses and transfer records

Turkish transcripts sometimes show repeated courses, cancelled marks or courses counted from a transfer separately. The translation keeps those distinctions as they stand; reducing a repeated course to a single line, or leaving out a note about a transfer, leads the German assessor to misread the course load. Explanatory footnotes and symbols, a repeated course marked with an asterisk for instance, are given with their counterparts in the translation, because they are what shows how the average was arrived at.

Credits and ECTS: the figures are not interpreted

Turkish transcripts usually show both the local credit and the ECTS (AKTS) equivalent. Germany uses the ECTS system internally, so that field is read directly; but the translator’s task is no more than to carry across the credit and ECTS values written on the document. Converting local credits into ECTS, trying to fill in missing ECTS information or recalculating a total is not the translator’s business. Whatever the document says is what travels; the calculation and the recognition are for the admissions office. Where there are columns for hours or credits per course, the column headings are translated too, so that the assessor can tell which figure stands for what.

Course titles are translated, course codes are kept

Unlike the name of the institution on a diploma, course titles are translated, because the assessor reads the curriculum through its content. Titles such as “Diferansiyel Denklemler” (differential equations) or “Anayasa Hukuku” (constitutional law) are given comprehensible German counterparts. Course codes, on the other hand, MAT201 and the like, are identifiers and are left as they stand. In translating a title the point is to render the title on the document faithfully rather than force it into an invented standard name; where course content is needed it is requested as a separate document, something along the lines of a Modulhandbuch, but that lies outside the scope of the transcript.

Do not convert the marking scale into the German one

The most delicate decision in a transcript translation concerns the marks. Turning a Turkish mark out of four or out of a hundred into the German 1.0-5.0 scale is, in truth, performing a conversion of marks; yet German universities generally carry out that conversion themselves, with their own formulae, the modified Bavarian formula for example. The translator carries the mark across as it stands and, where necessary, translates the explanation of the marking scale on the reverse of the transcript, but assigns no German equivalent. The table below sums the distinction up.

The reverse, the seal and the signature

The reverse of a Turkish transcript usually carries an explanation of the marking system, a table of letters and coefficients and, where they exist, the criteria for degree classifications; for a German assessor this is the key that unlocks what the marks mean, and it has to be translated in full. The faculty seal and the registrar’s signature on the document are marked in square brackets; a seal that cannot be made out is noted as [illegible], and no reading is invented. In transcripts running to several pages the order of the pages is preserved and the translation is presented in the same layout as the source document.

The order of certification and common mistakes

The order generally runs like this: the official copy of the transcript is obtained, the apostille is added where it is needed, and the document is then translated, apostille included. A translation submitted to an official body in Germany must bear the stamp and the attestation of accuracy of a court-appointed sworn translator (öffentlich bestellter und beeidigter Übersetzer). The most frequent mistakes are these:

• Converting the mark into the German scale and thereby raising a claim of equivalence.
• Leaving the explanation of the marking scale on the reverse out of the translation.
• Having the translation made before the apostille and so having to translate the document a second time.

Germany is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention; even so, confirm the current position from the official HCCH list. You can see the level of certification other documents need in our document guide, look at the cost by number of pages on our pricing page and upload your document for a quote. What is set out here is a guide; the definitive requirement is set by the body handling your application.