CORONAVIRUS INFORMATION
A brief overview of our response to the Coronavirus crisis, including our facilities reopening, new student application guarantee, and our next Virtual Open Day. Read more detailed information on our COVID-19 FAQ page.
GERMANY WILL OPEN BORDERS FOR EEA CITIZENS FROM JUNE 15TH, 2020
From the 15th of June, Germany’s travel restrictions will be lifted for 26 partner countries in the EU, as well as the UK, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and local schools in Berlin and the Brandenburg area will no longer have to observe the 1.5m distance rule after the summer holidays. As per the latest travel restriction information Non-EU citizens will also be allowed to enter Germany for study purposes.
The safety measures which have proven increasingly effective until now however, should be taken more seriously than ever to avoid a resurgence in cases over the next months.
This means that if you’re still considering applying for one of our Summer Courses or a degree course in September, you can now plan ahead knowing that you will have access and that you won’t need to quarantine upon arrival. For the remaining countries waiting to find out if they can join us in Berlin, keep an eye on the news as the situation is evolving almost on a daily basis and get in touch with us for further support.
Click here to read why Germany is statistically one of the safest countries in which to weather the Coronavirus situation and for an overview of the current data, plus the safety measures we are implementing in order to ensure the health and safety of our community.
Facilities Reopen
As Berlin exits the lockdown, our facilities have also returned to life and our studios and tech shops have fully reopened, allowing our students to continue developing their projects.
We’ve learned a lot during this time, and although some things (like hygiene measures) have probably changed forever, we’re now 100% sure that online will never beat real-life human interaction, and we’ll continue to put as many resources in place as possible to ensure that we can continue to gather and share well equipped space, expertise and knowledge.
Our summer courses have been pushed back to July, to ensure we can host our students on-site and our degree courses in music and film are still due to commence in September. A few things will inevitably change in terms of group gatherings, but luckily for us, our classes were never bigger than 16 students anyway, so it will be easy for us to continue to work in small groups.
Many of you may be asking yourself if now is a good time to study. While we wait for things to return to normal, for borders to re-open, for industries to thrive and for employment opportunities to return, taking any sort of gap year makes no sense at all. It seems to us that this is an ideal opportunity for growth, study, skillbase development and a chance to really explore our passions. A way of preparing and investing in a potential new future for yourself. We know for sure that none of us can predict how things will pan out but we’re 100% sure that being prepared and ready for that future, whatever it will be, is definitely a great call!
Click here to read why 2020 is the perfect year to study.
Our Application Guarantee
Our team are all still available online as normal and we are processing applications for our summer courses and our longer courses as usual. Although we have passed the deadline for priority applications this year, we will try to provide you with a place on your chosen course assuming that you fulfil the basic requirements of course entry.
Please submit your application (including Summer Courses!) by the 30th of June and our admissions team will get you an answer as quickly as they can.
If you’ve already applied and been invited, we are looking forward to welcoming you to dBs Berlin! However, given the current situation we understand that you may have some concerns about committing to a course in a country or city where you are not currently located.
In recognition of the unprecedented situation in which we find ourselves, we would like to make the following offer to all 2020 course applicants:
If you make an enrolment payment (and a single tuition fee payment) to guarantee your place on any of our courses and you are unable to attend the course for any reason directly related to the Coronavirus outbreak, we will offer a full refund of your monies, as per the following situations:
- If our course delivery is onsite in Berlin and you are either not able to travel due to provable travel restrictions in your own country (or country of residence) or because you are denied entry to Germany by the German authorities.
- If you become ill with COVID-19 before the start of the year and have to take an extended period of time in recuperation such that you are unable to study or unable to catch up with missed work as proven by a doctor’s note
- Should you become ill during your studies with us you are already covered by point 9.2 of our Terms and Conditions.
Alternatively, you may also choose to defer your place for one year. If you have paid your enrolment fee and defer your place for one year, the course cost will be fixed at the 2020 prices.
Have further questions? Try our COVID-19 FAQ page here. Or contact our admissions team: admissions@catalyst-berlin.com // +49 30 2900 9052 Mon-Fri 10:00-17:00 CET