Schools

German School System

The organization of the German education system lies primarily with the 16 federal states/”Bundesländer”. However, the overall structure in Germany is the same. After the “Grundschule”/primary education from age six to ten or twelve, follows secondary education, which includes four types of schools:

Gymnasium: prepares pupils for university education and finishes with the Abitur, the final examinations. Depending on the federal state it finishes after grade 12 or 13.

Realschule: is ranked between Gymnasium and Hauptschule. Pupils normally finish Realschule after grade 10 at the age of 16/17. The final examination is called “Mittlere Reife”.

Hauptschule: pupils finish the Hauptschule after grade 9 or 10 at the age of 16/17.

Gesamtschule: this school form combines the previous schools forms.

Course Offerings

German high schools vary in course offerings and size, depending on the grade, the community and “Bundesland”. All schools, however, operate on similar systems. Along with traditional subjects such as math, German, foreign languages, sciences, history and PE, most schools offer “elective” courses in other fields like computer science, music, choir, photography, dance, various sports and arts. In grade 11-13, students are free to choose most of their courses.

A typical student schedule at a German high school may look something like this: