How we verify information

Our rules

1. Only official sources: German law, German government and missions, APS India, DAAD, HRK, universities. Never blogs, consultants or forums.
2. Every fact shows its source and the date we last checked it. Facts past their review date are marked "may be outdated".
3. We don't guess. If a deadline is written as free text with conditions, we show the original wording instead of converting it into a date.
4. Automatic checks flag conflicts — for example, a Baden-Württemberg course listed as tuition-free, although the state charges non-EU students.
5. AI never creates facts or alerts. When an official page changes, Setu publishes the changed lines word for word, with a link to the page, and only once the change is still there on the next day's check. Alerts written by a person are marked as such.
6. Everything updates by itself in the cloud, for everyone using Setu: official sources and facts are re-checked every morning; course data from DAAD and the course pages of the universities are re-read every week. If a fact's official page changes, the fact shows a warning at once.
7. Anyone can report a mistake. A person checks every report against the official source.

Where the course data comes from

Course details come from the DAAD International Programmes database. We keep only programmes at institutions that the official Hochschulkompass register (German Rectors' Conference) lists as public ("öffentlich-rechtlich"). Private and church-run universities are excluded.

Limitation: the DAAD database lists international programmes. Some German-taught Master's programmes at public universities are not in it.

All sources we use

• APS India – dMAT for selected Master's applicants
• APS India – dMAT affected fields list (v1.0, 29 June 2026)
• APS India
• g.a.s.t. – dMAT in India
• g.a.s.t. – dMAT preparatory materials, General Academic Module (as at 02.09.2026)
• g.a.s.t. – information for dMAT exam candidates (26 Sept 2026)
• g.a.s.t. – dMAT test centres and registration
• § 16b Residence Act (AufenthG) – studies
• § 20 Residence Act (AufenthG) – job seeking
• § 17 Federal Registration Act (BMG)
• § 5 Social Code Book V (SGB V)
• German Missions in India – Studies visa (page dated 16 Feb 2026)
• German Missions in India – Studies visa
• German Foreign Office – abolition of the remonstration procedure
• Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science – fees for international students
• TUM – tuition fees for students from non-EU countries
• KMK – modified Bavarian formula (Vereinbarung über die Festsetzung der Gesamtnote)
• European Central Bank – euro reference rates
• DAAD International Programmes database
• Hochschulkompass (German Rectors' Conference)
• Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit) – Jobsuche
• § 70 Code of Administrative Court Procedure (VwGO) – objection deadline
• § 58 VwGO – missing or wrong instructions on legal remedies
• ARD ZDF Deutschlandradio Beitragsservice
• APS India – APS process
• Federal Ministry of Research – Deutschlandstipendium (English)
• DAAD scholarship database
• German Foreign Office – EU Blue Card visa information (thresholds as of 2026)
• University of Bremen – definitively failed (endgültig nicht bestanden)
• Deutsche Welle – Learn German
• Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan India – German exams
• Berlin Senate – Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Your privacy

Your saved courses, checklists, cost plans, practice results and work entries are stored only in your own browser. You can use all of Setu without an account, and we don't collect personal data for any of it.

Letters you photograph or paste into the letter explainer are read inside your browser and never uploaded. The optional AI explanation, where available, sends the text to Setu's own server only when you press the button, and the text is not stored.

Map and place data: © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License (ODbL).