Title Page for a Term Paper and Bachelor's Thesis: Template

A title page for a term paper or bachelor's thesis usually names the university, institute, title, type of work, supervisors, you (including your student ID) and the submission date. Which of these are actually required is up to your university, though: the title page is not a standard form, but follows the rules of your institute or examination regulations.

What goes on the title page of a term paper?

There is no nationwide rule for term papers in Germany. The guidelines of individual institutes do show a recurring pattern, however. Typical entries are:

• University and institute (sometimes also department or faculty)
• Course: seminar title, sometimes with a course number, and the semester
• Lecturer
• Title of the paper, possibly with a subtitle
• Details about you: name, degree programme or subject combination, semester, student ID (Matrikelnummer), sometimes address and email
• Submission date

One example of such a rule comes from the Institute of Romance Philology at Freie Universität Berlin: at the top left, the name of the university, the institute, the seminar title with course number and the lecturer's name are stacked in that order. The title of the paper goes in the middle, and name, address, subject combination, semester and student ID follow at the bottom right. The same guide has a note that applies in many subjects: the title is not a question, and the subtitle does not state your research question either.

What goes on the title page of a bachelor's thesis?

For a final thesis, you usually need details that a term paper does not have. As an example, the University of Hamburg specifies the following fields in a title page template for bachelor's and master's theses: the type of work, the title ("as applied for"), "submitted by", faculty, department, degree programme, student ID, first and second examiner, and the submission date. The template also includes a sworn declaration to be bound into the thesis, kept separate from the title page.

Typical for a bachelor's thesis are therefore:

• Type of work (bachelor's thesis, possibly with programme and degree)
• Title exactly as registered with the examination office
• First and second examiner with their academic titles
• Student ID and degree programme
• Submission date

Does my student ID have to be on the title page?

Not everywhere, and that is exactly why generalisations are risky. The Chair of Information Systems (Information Management) at TU Dresden states explicitly in its formal guidelines: the student ID is not given on the title page of a final thesis. Personal and examination-relevant information belongs solely on the handwritten declaration of honour. The same guidelines also distinguish between papers of small to medium size and final theses: for the smaller papers they ask for title, name, submission date and course, and for final theses additionally the type of work.

The three examples show that the same entry is mandatory at one university and unwelcome at another. A list from a guide, a forum or fellow students therefore never replaces the rule that applies to your own paper.

What does a text template for the title page look like?

The following template is a neutral compilation of the typical entries above, not an official template. Delete what your university does not ask for and add what it requires:

[Name of university]
[Faculty / department / institute]
[Degree programme]

[Title of the paper]
[Subtitle, if any]

[Type of work: Term paper in the seminar "Seminar title" / Bachelor's thesis]
[Term paper: lecturer, semester]
[Bachelor's thesis: First examiner: title, name – Second examiner: title, name]

Submitted by:
[First name last name]
[Student ID – only if required]
[Semester, email – only if required]

[Place, submission date]

If you have your university's template, always use it instead of this one. If there is none, a plain, centred or left-aligned layout in the same font as the rest of the paper is enough.

Which mistakes happen most often on the title page?

Most mistakes are not design problems but assignment errors. Check before submitting:

1. Wrong or missing details: A wrong student ID or swapped examiner names can lead to queries from the examination office. Proofread every number and name individually.
2. Title differs from the registered title: For a bachelor's thesis, the title should read as it was applied for. If you changed it later, check before submission whether that is allowed.
3. Academic titles wrong or omitted: Write the examiners with their titles, as on the registration.
4. Too much information: Address, date of birth or student ID belong on the title page only if required. In the worst case, your title page ends up in an archive or a publicly accessible library.
5. Decoration instead of information: Pictures, frames and several fonts earn no points. A calm layout looks more careful.
6. Page numbering: Whether the title page counts is set by the rules. TU Dresden, for example, does not number the title page and abstract. If nothing is specified, the title page usually counts without a visible number.
7. Outdated template: Institutes revise their guides. Download the template again shortly before submission and check the date in the document.

How do I design the title page cleanly?

If your university specifies nothing, a few simple principles help. They are rules of thumb, not norms:

• The same font as the body text. The title may be slightly larger or bold; nothing more is needed.
• Clear groups. University details at the top, title in the middle, personal details and date at the bottom. That matches the layout described in the Berlin example above.
• No question as a title. A title names the topic; the research question belongs in the introduction.
• Keep the declaration separate. Hamburg and Dresden treat the sworn or honour declaration as a page of its own. It does not belong on the title page, but is bound in and signed separately.
• Check the PDF at the end. When exporting from Word or LaTeX, line breaks shift easily. Look at the finished file, not just the editing view.

Where do I find my university's requirements?

There are four places to look, in this order:

1. The seminar's learning platform or the chair's page, often called "guide to academic writing" or "formal guidelines".
2. The examination regulations or the examination office's leaflet, especially for the bachelor's thesis.
3. The registration documents of the final thesis: they contain the title and examiners, which you copy verbatim.
4. Your supervisor. A short question before submission costs less than a correction.

The order matters: if your lecturer or supervisor tells you something different from a guide, what they say applies.

How does the title page relate to the rest of the paper?

The title page is only the start. How to build a term paper from research question to schedule is covered in our article How to Write a Term Paper. For the final thesis with topic choice, supervision and structure, see How to Write a Bachelor's Thesis: Topic, Plan, Structure. And if a conversation follows after submission, the thesis defense and its typical questions will help. More articles about studying are collected in the Subjects & Topics category.

When should I write the title page?

Ideally last, but not only on the submission day. At the start, create a file with the fixed details (university, name, student ID, seminar) and add title and date only once they are settled. That leaves only proofreading at the end. If you work through a lot of material for term papers and your thesis, LearnCastAI can help turn texts into summaries and flashcards. It will not do the title page for you, though, because only you know your university's requirements.

The title page is followed by the table of contents – and with it your outline. How to build and number it is explained in the article on the bachelor thesis structure.

Conclusion

A good title page is plain, complete and matches your university's rules. Typical entries are university, title, type of work, supervisors, name, student ID and date, but which of them are required or even excluded is stated in your guide. For everything else around your studies, see LearnCastAI for students.