School children who have qualified at A2, B1 or B2 level in a Nationale Deutscholympiade (NDO) or other national selection procedure are eligible to compete in the IDO.
Participants must be between 14 and 17 years of age. Two students may participate per country. The students may qualify in different levels or in the same level.
In line with the principles of fairness, the following persons are not allowed to participate in the contest:
- students whose mother tongue or language of communication is German or who have at least one German-speaking parent
- students who have lived for more than six months at a time in a German-speaking country since turning three
- students at German schools abroad
- students of local private schools whose principal language of instruction and communication is German
- students who already have a language scholarship for Germany for 2026
- former students who have already started studying at a university
- students who are already of legal age (18 or older).
False information about students will result in disqualification and/or revocation of their title.
