page_title: Education in Germany
hierarchical_section_title: Education in Germany
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Schilder in Lüneburg
context_page_description: Education in Germany is primarily the responsibility of individual German states, with the federal government playing a minor role. Optional Kindergarten education is provided for all children between one and six years old, after which school attendance is compulsory. The system varies throughout Germany because each state decides its own educational policies. Most children, however, first attend Grundschule for 4 years from the age of 6 to 9.
  Germany's secondary education is separated into two parts, lower and upper. Lower-secondary education in Germany is meant to teach individuals basic general education and gets them ready to enter upper-secondary education. In the upper secondary level Germany has a vast variety of vocational programs.
  German secondary education includes five types of school. The Gymnasium is designed to prepare pupils for higher education and finishes with the final examination Abitur, after grade 13.
  From 2005 to 2018 a school reform known as G8 provided the Abitur in 8 school years. The reform failed due to high demands on learning levels for the children and were turned to G9 in 2019. Only a few Gymnasiums stay with the G8 model.
context_section_description: Education in Germany is primarily the responsibility of individual German states (Länder), with the federal government playing a minor role. Optional Kindergarten (nursery school) education is provided for all children between one and six years old, after which school attendance is compulsory. The system varies throughout Germany because each state (Land) decides its own educational policies. Most children, however, first attend Grundschule (primary or elementary school) for 4 years from the age of 6 to 9.
  Germany's secondary education is separated into two parts, lower and upper. Lower-secondary education in Germany is meant to teach individuals basic general education and gets them ready to enter upper-secondary education. In the upper secondary level Germany has a vast variety of vocational programs.
  German secondary education includes five types of school. The Gymnasium is designed to prepare pupils for higher education and finishes with the final examination Abitur, after grade 13. 
  From 2005 to 2018 a school reform known as G8 provided the Abitur in 8 school years. The reform failed due to high demands on learning levels for the children and were turned to G9 in 2019. Only a few Gymnasiums stay with the G8 model. Children attend usually Gymnasium from 10 to 18 years.
  The Realschule has a broader range of emphasis for intermediate pupils and finishes with the final examination Mittlere Reife, after grade 10; the Hauptschule prepares pupils for vocational education and finishes with the final examination Hauptschulabschluss, after grade 9 and the Realschulabschluss after grade 10. There are two types of grade 10: one is the higher level called type 10b and the lower level is called type 10a; only the higher-level type 10b can lead to the Realschule and this finishes with the final examination Mittlere Reife after grade 10b. This new path of achieving the Realschulabschluss at a vocationally oriented secondary school was changed by the statutory school regulations in 1981 – with a one-year qualifying period. During the one-year qualifying period of the change to the new regulations, pupils could continue with class 10 to fulfil the statutory period of education. After 1982, the new path was compulsory, as explained above.
  The format of secondary vocational education is put into a way to get individuals to learn high skills for a specific profession. "Most of Germany highly skilled workforce has gone through the dual system of vocational education and training also known as V.E.T.". Many Germans participate in the V.E.T. programs. These V.E.T. programs are partnered with about 430,000 companies, and about 80 percent of those companies hire individuals from those apprenticeship programs to get a full-time job. This educational system is very encouraging to young individuals because they are able to actively see the fruit of their loom. The education system is encouraging to individuals because they know that most likely a job will be waiting for them when they are done with school. The skills that are gained through these V.E.T. programs are not easily transferable and once a company commits to an employee that came out of these vocational schools, they have a commitment to each other. Germany's V.E.T. programs prove that a college degree is not necessary for a good job and that training individuals for specific jobs could be successful as well
  Other than this, there is the Gesamtschule, which combines the Hauptschule, Realschule and Gymnasium. There are also Förder- or Sonderschulen. One in 21 pupils attends a Förderschule. Nevertheless, the Förder- or Sonderschulen can also lead, in special circumstances, to a Hauptschulabschluss of both type 10a or type 10b, the latter of which is the Realschulabschluss.
  The amount of extracurricular activity is determined individually by each school and varies greatly. With the 2015 school reform the German government tries to push more of those pupils into other schools, which is known as Inklusion.
  Many of Germany's hundred or so institutions of higher learning charge little or no
caption: Sign of different coexisting school types on a school complex in Germany
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