Beginners' Guide to the German Education System
- TCT
- Aug 21
- 6 min read
Updated: Sep 3
If you are new to Germany, your encounters with the German education system might range from confusing to challenging - Due to a myriad of reforms over the past years, there are many different terms being thrown around in the bureaucratic beauty of the German language, so here's your guide to finding your way through the educational landscape, along with a brief overview of the most recent reforms.
The Basics
Let's start with some basic facts about the German education system: Education in Germany is free, meaning public schools and universities do not raise any tuition. Of course, costs will still arise for school material, books, lunch etc., even though some schools provide the books they work with. The situation might be different in private schools which often raise tuition to finance better equipment and their staff. Even universities only raise an administrative fee, which is being channeled into canteens, free public transport and academic administration.
Education in Germany is also compulsory, meaning that home schooling is not an option. This is referred to as Allgemeine Schulpflicht. Education is the responsibility of the respective German state (Bundesland) and therefore, you may encounter some differences between different German states. This is due to our föderale Struktur, which means states have authority on certain matters such as education (note that föderal refers to German states instead of the German state.)
The German education system is divided into Primary Education
Primary or elementary school, encompassing 1st - 6th grade in most German states
Secondary Education
Formerly a three-tier system, consisting of Hauptschule, Realschule and Gymnasium, secondary education --after reforms in many states-- is now a two-tier system consisting of Gesamtschule or Sekundarschule and Gymnasium (Note that Gymnasium translates to grammar school). Gymnasium traditionally lasts from 7th - 12th or 13th grade, depending on the respective German state, while all other school forms encompass grades 7-10. At the end of primary school, students receive recommendations which secondary school they should go to based on their abilities and grades, with Hauptschule for those with below-average grades, Realschule for those with average grades and Gymnasium for those with good or excellent grades. After the latest school reform, Haupt- and Realschule have been combined into the Sekundarschule (therefore also sometimes referred to as Integrierte Sekundarschule, integrated secondary school, or Gesamt- or Gemeinschaftsschule, school for all), providing a first school-leaving certificate after 10 years of school. The final exam is the MSA (Mittlerer Schulabschluss). Also Gymnasium students must take the MSA after 10 years before taking their final exams after 12 or 13 years, called Abitur. "Abi", as it is often called by students colloquially, provides students with a higher education entrance certification, i.e. it's the bottleneck students need to pass through in order to go to university. In some German states, traditionally in the South, elementary school ends after four years and students already enter secondary education in 5th grade. Depending on whether Gymnasium lasts until 12th or 13th grade, this is then referred to as G8 or G9 (so either a total of 8 or 9 years spent at Gymnasium). In order to guarantee a better international comparability of students' performance at school level, the OECD introduced the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) study in 2000, assessing students' abilities in different fields. For students interested in receiving a practice-oriented and hands-on education or learning a trade early on, there's the option to enter the dual system, meaning students divide their time between a vocational school and an apprenticeship or training at a company. Tertiary Education
Higher education, such as universities and Universities of Applied Sciences
The traditional German system offering degrees like the Diplom or Magister has, in the course of the Bologna process, been reformed to increase international student mobility and comparability of degrees within Europe and therefore been substituted by Bachelor and Master programs and degrees operating with ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System). For anyone wishing to continue their academic career after their Master program, there's the Promotion and, ultimately, the Habilitation, which are the processes leading to a doctorate and professorate respectively. There are less structured doctoral programs here compared to other countries because doctoral students are expected to have a certain degree of independence. They will be assigned a supervisor, though, to provide advice and feedback on the students' topic of interest. While universities tend to be a bit more theoretical in nature, focusing on research and publications, Universities of Applied Sciences often have a more technical focus and are more practice-oriented.
University lectures and academic classes start 15 minutes later and end 15 minutes earlier than advertised. These 15 minutes are referred to as akademisches Viertel, the academic quarter (15 minutes = a quarter of an hour).
While universities do offer student housing via the Studentenwohnheime, many students decide to form WGs, Wohngemeinschaften, meaning that several students share an apartment together. A Few General Remarks & Observations
In the first years of secondary school, most students spend their days within a fixed class, meaning they will learn a weekly curriculum of different subjects as the same study group. Only in the last two or three years spent in Gymnasium do the students switch to a course-based system where study groups are formed according to subjects taught and where students opt for specialization in certain subjects (the so-called Leistungskurse).
Many schools offer school trips of several days (Klassenfahrten) to other cities, supervised by teachers. Fixed classes have a class teacher responsible for them and schools usually also have a counselor assisting with a variety of topics.
For international students that still need to learn German, there are so-called Willkommensklassen or Sprachlernklassen. Teachers in these classes usually have a DAZ- or DAF-certificate, meaning they are trained to teach German as foreing language (DAZ - Deutsch als Zweitsprache = German as Secondary Language, DAF - Deutsch als Fremdsprache = German as a Foreign Language). However, there is a less structured approach here compared to other countries, so students need to show a lot more initiative of their own. In most larger cities, there usually is a small number of international schools that teach in English, some of them private.
Class schedules have a fixed set of classes per week (and not per day, as in other countries sometimes) and very often, schools offer extracurricular activities and/or non-obligatory courses (called AG for Arbeitsgemeinschaft) in the afternoons after regular class is over.
Homework is regularly given and the length of tests increases with school years. Students are usually graded on a mix of oral participation and written assignments but presentations or projects are also common.
Not all schools provide meals, so students might be required to bring their own food. There's usually mini-intervals between classes and two major breaks across the day that students are allowed to spend outside the school building. While boarding schools exist, they are mostly private and thus raise tuition fees.
Most secondary schools have a certain profile advertised on their website, so they might have an excellent language or Natural Sciences department or focus on attracting Arts and/or Music students, trying to support students' interests and talents. Still, students receive a thorough general education in many different subjects before being able to be a bit more selective in their choice of classes. Students who want to take the Abitur will be required to learn two foreign languages. Generally, schools try their best to turn students into self-reliant and responsible young adults, meaning they will be given a bit more independence compared to other countries.
While Germany is a secular state, state and religion still have strong links. Therefore, most schools offer religious education, even though the ever more diverse student body has led many schools to adopt Ethics and/or Philosophy classes instead of or in addition to Religion. The idea of this guide was to familiarize international students with the German education system. That being said, let's take a look at its most recent reforms - Consider it a short recap, which is a common exercise at schools here. Most Recent Reforms
1999-date | The Bologna process, seeking to increase student mobility and to provide better comparability of degrees in higher education, leads to the adoption of Bachelor and Master programs at universities |
2000 | PISA is introduced as an assessment tool for scholastic achievement |
2004-2011 | G9 is reduced to G8 in many German states |
2006/07 | Ethics and/or Philosophy have come to either substitute or amend Religion as a subject in many schools |
2011 | The Sekundarschule now combines former Haupt- and Realschule, resulting in a two-tier system with regard to secondary schools and providing the MSA as a central first school-leaving certificate after 10 years of education |
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Further resources in English:
German sources:
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