The German School System

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ImPULS- Schule Schmiedefeld
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The German School System

• there is no common German
• School System
• every federal state is
• self accountable for its
• educational politics
• names for different kinds of
• school vary from state to state
• the following is an example of the
• federal state of Thüringen (one of
• the so called new federal states
• (former East Germany)

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Fachhochschulreife (Permission to study at a
specialized college)
Allgemeine Hochschulreife (Permission to study at
university)
Kolleg
Fachober- schule
Fach- schule
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Förderschule (for children with special needs)
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13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Gymnasiale Oberstufe (Grammar School)
Vocational Grammar Schol
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Higher vocational school
Gymnasium
Abitur (Permission for university)
Berufs-fach- schule
Vocational school
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Gesamtschule (Comprehensive School)
Special grade 10)
Realschulabschluss
Regelschule
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Preperation for job (1 year)
qualifizierender Hauptschulabschluss/ Hauptschulab
schluss
Grundschule Elementary School
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Something about the school system in Germany (by Sandy Engelhardt, grade 10)

It's compulsory to attend school for 9 years here All students begin with "Grundschule" (Elementary School) at the age of 6 or 7. Elementary School is for grade 1 through 4. Then you can attend "Gymnasium" or "Regelschule". If you decide for "Gymnasium", you will take grade 5 to 12 there. You have to pass an exam after grade12, called "Abitur" which allows you to study. You can also get vocational training after grade 12. If you attend "Regelschule" (it's a bit like American "Middle School"), you are labelled after grade 6. You normally attend a grade according to "Realschule" or "Hauptschule". Our school is a project school and our students are labelled, but not divided into different grades- they learn together in one grade. Our teachers have to teach us according to our abilities. The students who achieve good marks (1 to 3) can normally attend "Realschule". Then you leave school after grade 10 with a so called "Realschulabschluss" that means you have to pass an exam at the end of grade 10. Possibly you can start a vocational training after grade 10 or even attend "Gymnasium". That means further 3 years of school to achieve the allowance to study, but this way is a very hard one. The students who get worse marks in grade 6 have to attend "Hauptschule" from grade 7 to 9. These students do not have to pass any exam before they finish school. If they are willing to leave school with a better chance on the job market they can try to pass an exam called "Qualifizierender Hauptschulabschluss". They can take an additional year to finish "Realschule" as well if they manage to pass with good results. The German school system is very complicated and bit different from federal state to federal state. We hope that we can give you an idea of what it is about in the federal state of Thüringen.
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