Registration
Regular registration for NGE Levels 2-4 will open on October 1, 2025 and will take place on AATG’s website.
The 2026 exam fee is $8 per exam. In addition,
By registering for the National German Exam, teachers agree to pay for all registered exam seats and accept and agree to our no-refund policy.
Teachers confirm that their AATG membership is current or if lapsed, that they have joined or renewed their membership before registering.
Teachers who are not current AATG members, but wish to register students, must indicate on the Lingco registration form that they are registering as a non-member. A $95 non-member sponsor fee will be added to their registration total.
Before registering,
Read the NGE Registration Guide, which outlines the technical requirements for administering the exam and the registration steps.
Find out if your school district/institution requires you to have a data privacy agreement (DPA) signed before you and your students can use Lingco’s platform. Send your DPA request to support@lingco.io.
Work with your school’s network/IT administrator to ensure that Lingco emails are not blocked from reaching student and teacher accounts. Read this help article to learn more.
2026 NGE
* Levels 2-4 Registration
October 1, 2025-
January 25, 2026
____________________________
*Levels 2-4 Testing Period
December 1, 2025-
January 25, 2026
____________________________
*Levels 2-4 Make-Up Testing
by application only
January 26, 2026-
January 31, 2026
Step-by-step: NGE Registration
Check your AATG membership or create a guest login if you do not have one already. Teachers should login to the AATG account to confirm their membership status. If lapsed or not a member, they should join or renew their membership. Teachers who are not current AATG members, can create a non-member guest login. If non-AATG members wish to register students, they must add the $95 non-member sponsor fee to their registration total.
Read the NGE Registration Guide.
Register for the exam. Registration takes place through AATG’s website. If you have never used Lingco before, create an account using instructor code: nge-2026. Make sure that you register for the exams using the same email address that you use on Lingco’s website.
Log into AATG’s website and purchase exams for your student(s). You will need to select the level of exam, as well as provide information about yourself, your AATG chapter, and your school. Purchase each exam in the quantity requested to be unlocked in your Lingco account on the registration page. When placing your order, please purchase only the number of exams you need so that the correct amount can be unlocked in your Lingco account. We recommend double-checking your order before submitting, as additional exams cannot be refunded once purchased. Additional exams can be purchased through the end of the testing period.
Invite student(s) to create a Lingco account. For each level exam you are administering, you will add students to that roster by inviting them to create a Lingco account. There are several ways to invite students — you can send an email invitation, share a unique code, or distribute a class link. Your Lingco account will allow you to track which students have joined — and which students have not yet joined — your roster. For help assigning students to the course, view this webpage.
6. Assign student(s) to their test group. Once you’ve invited students to your exam roster, you can start assigning them to their proper testing category. The NGE has two testing categories: standard group and non-standard group.
Does the student’s knowledge of German come primarily from German courses taught at US schools? In most cases, if the answer is “YES", then the student should be assigned to the standard group.
If the student has regular exposure to German outside of the classroom, then likely the answer is “NO” and the student should be assigned to the nonstandard group. Fifth- and sixth-year students should also be assigned to nonstandard group.
You’ll assign students by clicking on the checkbox on one or more student rows, then clicking the green “Set NGE Category” button, and selecting the appropriate NGE category. View an example of assigning test group here.
7. Access the practice exams. This is not mandatory, but reviewing the practice material will familiarize students with the exam layout and makes sure the technology works as expected on their computers.
8. Complete the pre-exam checklist at least one week before exam day. The checklist is available in the NGE Administration Guide. Reviewing the checklist will ensure a smooth exam experience and ensures all technical difficulties can be resolved well in advance.
9. Finalize your exam roster(s). You can continue to purchase more seats up to the late registration deadline, and you can use the roster page to assign students to their appropriate test groups up to the exam start date. If you’d like to add or remove students from the exam roster, you can do this on the roster page too, up to the exam start date. AATG does not offer refunds on unused exams.
10. Have student(s) fill out student questionnaire (5 minutes) before exam day. The questionnaire must be completed before students can access the exam.
11. Pay for the exams. AATG withholds NGE score results and prizes until payment for all exams and related fees are received. Please ensure that you or your business office has submitted actual payment (not just a purchase order) by the end of the administration period. Visit the Payment page for details.