Education and schooling in Germany is not centralized. Although there are standard guidelines, the school system differs in the 16 Federal States.

1. TEACHERS MEETING IN
UETZE
OCTOBER 2014
The German School System

2. Basic Principles
German Constitutional Law (Grundgesetz) Art. 7: The whole
school system is under the supervision of the state
Federal states are the exclusive owners of the cultural
sovereignity
Have the right and the responsibility to pass any school-
related decrees
Compulsary number of school years as a full-time student: 10
Compulsary number of school years usually ends after
finishing an apprenticeship (Ausbildung) or 12 years of school

3. Cultural Sovereignity of the Federal States
16 federal states…
…16 school systems

4. Cultural Sovereignity of the Federal States
Certain basic agreements of the states:
Conference of the Ministers for education
(Kultusministerkonferenz) decides on principles
Still some differences among the federal states

5. Lower Sachsony - Niedersachsen
The Lower Sachsony
School Law (NSchG)
regulates the forms of
schools that are allowed in
Lower Sachsony
Forms of schools are
formed by the entry
requirements, their
paedagogical tenor and the
possible degrees

6. Lower Sachsony – School forms
General education schools
(allgemeinbildende Schule)
die Grundschule,
die Hauptschule,
die Realschule,
die Oberschule,
das Gymnasium,
die Gesamtschule,
das Abendgymnasium,
das Kolleg,
die Förderschule.
Vocational schools
(berufsbildende Schulen)
die Berufsschule,
die Berufseinstiegsschule.
die Berufsfachschule,
die Fachoberschule,
die Berufsoberschule
das Fachgymnasium und
die Fachschule.

7. Sectors
Primary sector (Primarbereich):
grade 1 to 4
Secondary sector I (Sekundarbereich I):
grade 5 to 10
Secondary sector II (Sekundarbereich II):
grade 11 to 12/13

8. Lower Sachsony
Grundschule
Gymnasium
Realschule
Hauptschule
Oberschule
(Integrierte)
Gesamtschul
e

9. (most common) Degrees
Abitur (grade 12/13)
(erweiterter) Realschulabschluss (grade 10)
Hauptschulabschluss (grade 9)