C-Test as a placement test at German universities

Many people know the C-Test from the Studienkolleg entrance exam. German universities also use it in their language centres: for placement into German courses, as an entrance test for DSH courses, and as the standardised online test onSET-Deutsch. Below you will find where it is used and how it is structured, four examples from A2 to C1 to try, and tips for targeted practice.

In English sources it is often written “C-test”. It is the same format.

What is a C-Test?

A C-Test consists of several short texts, usually four to eight. The first and last sentences are complete and give you the context. From the second sentence on, the second half of every second word is missing, and you fill in the missing letters. If a word has an odd number of letters, one more letter is missing than you can see. In other words, you see the smaller half: “Stu____” stands for “Studium”. One-letter words, numbers and names are often skipped.

Each gap is marked separately: one point for a completely correct word, and spelling counts. You usually have about five minutes for a text with 20 gaps, so around 15 seconds per gap. The C-Test does not test subject knowledge but general language ability: grammar, vocabulary and reading comprehension all at once.

Placement is not admission

You cannot fail a placement test. The result decides which course you join. If places are scarce, it also decides whether you get one at all. A C-Test is not, however, proof of German for university admission. According to the provider, even an onSET result replaces neither the TestDaF certificate nor any other proof of German.

At a Studienkolleg, the C-Test is often part of the entrance exam, and there your score counts for admission. You can practise for it on our C-Test online page.

Where the C-Test is used

A selection, checked on the universities’ own pages (as of October 2026). Procedures change, so always rely on your university’s current page.

onSET-Deutsch: the C-Test as a standardised test

onSET-Deutsch (the successor to onDaF) is an online placement test in C-Test format. You do not take it at home but at one of about 600 licensed test centres in 94 countries. The key points, according to the provider (onset.de, FAQ) and the universities:

With 15 seconds per gap and no going back, speed plays a big role in onSET, and speed can be trained: the trainer has a “like onSET” mode for this (20 gaps, 5 minutes, strict umlauts).

Exams without a C-Test

DSH, TestDaF, telc Deutsch C1 Hochschule and the Goethe-Zertifikat C1 normally contain no C-Test. They do have gap-fill tasks, but usually with whole words or multiple choice. C-Test practice still helps, because you need endings, prepositions and vocabulary in context everywhere. It does not replace preparing for the specific exam format, though.

Examples from A2 to C1 to try

Four short extracts from texts in our practice tool, with gaps made by the usual C-Test rule: you see the smaller half of each word. The first and last sentences are complete. Real exam texts are longer, usually with 20–25 gaps.

Here ae, oe, ue instead of ä, ö, ü and ss instead of ß count as correct, and upper or lower case does not matter. Enter jumps to the next gap. In onSET, umlauts must be exact.

How to practise effectively

1. Count the letters. You see the smaller half. If you see “ei__”, only words with four or five letters fit, such as eine, einen, einem, einer, eines. “ein” is ruled out, because then you would only see “e”. TU Dresden and the Studienkolleg in Munich state this rule explicitly; for onSET, a gap has as many letters as you can see or one more (FU Berlin). Still, always read the instructions.
2. Read the sentence first, then fill the gap. The ending often depends on another word: articles and adjectives agree with the noun, the verb agrees with the subject, and the preposition determines the case. In “mit d__ Zug”, “mit” takes the dative, so the answer is “dem”.
3. Get the short words right. Of the 5,149 gaps in our B2 and C1 texts, 38% are words of four letters or fewer: articles, prepositions, pronouns and conjunctions, such as “zu”, “um”, “dass” and “in”. This is where points are lost fastest, and where they are easiest to gain.
4. Train your speed. 20 gaps in five minutes: if you get stuck on a gap, move on and come back at the end of the text.
5. Take spelling seriously. One wrong letter costs the whole point. Pay attention to umlauts, double consonants, ß/ss and endings.
6. Read a lot. Newspaper articles, non-fiction and university pages all help. The C-Test rewards knowing fixed word combinations such as “in der Lage sein” or “Zugang zum Studium”.

Frequently asked questions

See also: the free C-Test online, how to get into a Studienkolleg and the Feststellungsprüfung.