School System

Around 90 per cent of academic and vocational schools in Germany are state run. The majority of those not run by the state are run by the Church.

The school structure is composed of primary education, which usually lasts four years (six years in Berlin), a lower school (secondary I) of four to six years and an upper school (secondary II) of two to three years. Since the 1960s there has been intense debate focusing primarily on the structure of the lower school and on whether a division into three distinct streams (Hauptschule – general secondary school, Realschule – intermediate school, Gymnasium – grammar school) or a comprehensive school is preferable. Most states offer both a tripartite and a comprehensive system. In some states, the Hauptschule and Realschule are incorporated as two streams of the same school, or the various school types are combined as cooperating school complexes which (at least theoretically) allow increased freedom of movement between the school types.

Organisation of the upper school (secondary level II) is comparatively homogeneous all over Germany. The Conference of Arts and Education Ministers (KMK) has agreed on harmonised standards in most areas and has summarised the requirements for the school-leaving exam necessary for university admission (Abitur) in a joint decree applicable to all 16 states. The decree also includes standards and examples of tasks for music as a school subject.

In the eastern states (the territory of the former GDR) pupils can take the Abitur after only twelve years, although there is a trend in some parts of the old Federal Republic to offer a shorter period of schooling of twelve years (as opposed to the traditional 13-year system which in such areas is generally offered as an alternative).