Germany Pays for a Doctor's Exam Prep Course
Two government programmes in Germany pay for your medical exam prep course, not the exam fee itself. Here is how to ask before you pay.
Ahmed Quteishat
Assistenzarzt, Innere Medizin (Berlin) · Founder of Klaro
Most foreign doctors pay for their own exam prep course. In Germany, two programmes can pay it for you instead.
The IQ Network and the Jobcenter's education voucher (Bildungsgutschein) can both cover it. Neither pays your exam fee, but both can pay the course that gets you ready for it.
What actually gets funded?
The course, not the exam. A prep course for the medical language exam (Fachsprachprüfung) or the knowledge exam (Kenntnisprüfung) can run you hundreds of euros at a private school.
These two programmes can cover that course fee. You still pay the state's exam fee yourself, on exam day.
The IQ Network pays for prep courses
The IQ Network (Netzwerk Integration durch Qualifizierung) runs free medical German and knowledge-exam prep courses. It has an office in every state.
It is funded by the Federal Ministry of Labour and the EU Social Fund. You find your state's office at netzwerk-iq.de.
Write to them before you book anywhere else. Ask which course in your city is currently running and free.
The Jobcenter's education voucher
If you are registered as job-seeking with the Jobcenter or the Arbeitsagentur, a case worker can issue you a Bildungsgutschein. That voucher pays a private provider's course fee directly.
The order matters. Ask your case worker before you enrol anywhere.
If you pay first and ask later, the voucher will not reimburse you.
What these programmes do not cover
The exam fee itself, set by your state medical chamber. The medical language exam costs €595 in Lower Saxony and about €400 in North Rhine-Westphalia (as of 2026).
The knowledge exam costs €980 in Lower Saxony and about €1,050 in North Rhine-Westphalia (as of 2026). Keep that money separate, no funded course will cover it.
Before you pay for a course
- Write to your state's IQ Network office and ask which prep course is running free, before you book a paid one.
- Ask your Jobcenter case worker about a Bildungsgutschein before you enrol, not after you have already paid.
- Get any funding approval in writing, on paper or by email, before the course starts.
- Keep your exam fee saved separately. No funded programme pays it for you.
Stand: 2026-10-26. This is a guide, not legal advice. Every German state has its own rules, and rules change. Check with your state's [medical chamber (Landesärztekammer)](https://www.bundesaerztekammer.de/aerztekammern) before you act.
Ahmed Quteishat — Assistenzarzt, Innere Medizin (Berlin) · Founder of Klaro
Ahmed built Klaro after watching how much of a doctor's move to Germany gets lost in paperwork rather than medicine.
