Following the decision of the German Federal Constitutional Court on the awarding of study places in medicine, the President of the German Rectors' Conference (HRK), Prof Dr Horst Hippler, made the following statement in Berlin:
"The decision corresponds with our view expressed during the court hearing that the school leaving examination grade with corresponding state quotas is an appropriate selection criterion. This criterion may not be overshadowed by the location preference. In principle, selection by means of suitability criteria such as the top school leaving examination grade is thus confirmed by the Constitutional Court.
For the universities, the clarification of the Senate of the German Federal Constitutional Court that they are entitled to the concrete functional structure and focus of the suitability criteria is important. This will help to strengthen higher education profiling.
Limiting the waiting period is a reasonable step towards allowing candidates to plan ahead in a transparent and realistic manner. This will enable applicants to assess their prospects with more clarity.
Legislators at the federal state level have now been called upon to establish regulations in line with the constitution by 31 December 2019. They must face their heightened democratic legitimisation obligation for selection procedures with the utmost care and taking into account the expertise of the universities. The German Rectors' Conference will be actively involved in this process."
