In case you are interested in registering for the German proficiency exam at the Goethe Institute in Frankfurt (without taking the course), then do not waste your time trying to find information on their local website.
One of my students had asked me to locate the necessary information from their homepage, but nothing was listed there for “external exam registration”, except the fees. I researched for about 25 minutes and then ended by sending them a couple of e-mails (3 Jan + 10 Jan), of which only the first one came back with a standard reply. I had inquired about the exam dates and where to find the online exam registration.
The reply to my first e-mail was:
We thank you for your email, however, the Goethe-Institut will be closed for New Year’s holidays from Dec 31, 2009-Jan 03, 2010.
From Jan 04 onwards we will reply to all messages and process registrations.
We thank you for your patience.
Yours faithfully
Goethe-Institute in Deutschland
After my second e-mail was not attended either, I finally decided to call. The receptionist was very helpful and gave me all the details over the phone.
Here they are:
* call ahead (0 69 – 961 22 7-0) to find out the exam date for your level test
* registration must be completed no later than two weeks before the exam
* stop by the Frankfurt office in person
* be ready to pay for the exam (fee chart)
* fill out registration
Exam dates are only available by phone. For example, the next Zertifikat Deutsch (ZD) exam (B1 level) is on 2 March 2010 followed by the oral exam on 4 March 2010.
Registration can only be done in person ( This might apply only to external exam applicants as I can imagine students, participating in a German course, are supplied with the registration by their instructor).