School leaving certificates remain the baseline for most dual programmes. If your documents are from abroad, plan time for recognition or certified translations before peak application season.
Language evidence helps when German is not your first language. A formal certificate is useful, but so is clear written German in your Anschreiben. Companies vary; some prioritise spoken comprehension on the shop floor.
Short hobby courses rarely replace missing school grades. Trade-adjacent evidence — a completed internship, a documented volunteer role with tools, or a previous Teilqualifikation — carries more weight.
During pathway consultation we sort papers into “must include,” “optional,” and “leave out.” A thinner, accurate dossier often outperforms a thick folder of unrelated certificates.