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Four years together, then a split that keeps the Abitur open
Written by
Janine El-Saghir
Janine El Saghir is an editor at How-to-Germany.com, where she specializes in the practical aspects of daily life and integration for expatriates. With years of...
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Erkan Boga
Erkan Boga is the founder and CEO of qmedia GmbH, the publishing house behind How-to-Germany.com. He established the platform with the clear vision of creating...
- Four years of Grundschule, six in Berlin and Brandenburg. Then the primary school recommends a type of secondary school.
- The Gymnasium leads to the Abitur, the certificate for university, after 12 or 13 years. Every other school type keeps a way to it open.
- Each of the 16 states runs its own system. School names, the length of the Gymnasium and how binding the recommendation is all depend on where you live.
German children start school at six and learn together for the first four years. After that they move on to different secondary schools, and that choice shapes which certificates come within easy reach. Registering your child comes first: school enrollment in Germany. Coming from the US, the UK or India? The comparison pages show which German grade your child joins.
The path through school
| Grades | Usual age | School | Certificate at the end |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 6 to 10 | Grundschule (primary school). Berlin and Brandenburg: grades 1 to 6. | No final exam and, as a rule, no leaving certificate (Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate issue one). Children get a report card and a recommendation. |
| 5 to 9 | 10 to 15 | Secondary school of any type | Erster Schulabschluss (first school-leaving certificate), the usual entry ticket to vocational training |
| 10 | 15 to 16 | Secondary school of any type | Mittlerer Schulabschluss (intermediate certificate). At the Gymnasium: the right to enter the upper level instead. |
| 11 to 12 or 13 | 16 to 19 | Upper level of the Gymnasium or a comprehensive school, or a vocational Gymnasium | Abitur (general university entrance qualification) |
| Sources: agreement of the 16 states on the structure of the school system (2020), Eurydice, organisation and assessment of primary and secondary education in Germany, retrieved 8 November 2026. | |||
The first school-leaving certificate can be earned after grade 9 in every state, the intermediate certificate after grade 10. In most states both come with a final exam set by the state. All states recognize each other’s certificates, so a move between states does not cost your child a qualification.
The split after grade 4
In grade 4, or grade 6 in Berlin and Brandenburg, the primary school writes a recommendation for each child. It sums up the child’s progress and says which secondary school type fits, and the school talks it through with you in detail.
What happens next depends on the state:
- In some states the recommendation decides, or the child has to pass a trial period, trial lessons or an entrance test to get into a Realschule or Gymnasium.
- In others the parents have the final word, and the recommendation is advice.
- Some states make the binding decision only during or at the end of grade 6.
A comprehensive school needs no decision at all: it keeps every certificate open under one roof. Grades 5 and 6 are an orientation phase at every school type, and switching between school types stays possible later. If your child arrives in grade 3 or 4 without German, ask the school early how the recommendation will be handled in your state.
School types and what each state calls them
The Gymnasium is the only school type that exists in every state. The classic Hauptschule and Realschule survive in noticeable numbers in only five states: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. Everywhere else they have merged into schools that combine two or three tracks. Some of these schools teach each track in its own class, others teach children together and split them by level in core subjects such as math and German.
| State | School type besides the Gymnasium | Leads to |
|---|---|---|
| Bavaria | Mittelschule | First and intermediate certificate |
| Brandenburg | Oberschule, Gesamtschule | Oberschule: first and intermediate. Gesamtschule: also Abitur. |
| Lower Saxony | Oberschule | First and intermediate certificate |
| Saxony | Oberschule, Gemeinschaftsschule | Oberschule: first and intermediate. Gemeinschaftsschule: also Abitur. |
| Hesse | Verbundene Haupt- und Realschule, Mittelstufenschule | First and intermediate certificate |
| Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | Regionale Schule | First and intermediate certificate |
| Rhineland-Palatinate | Realschule plus | First and intermediate certificate |
| Saxony-Anhalt | Sekundarschule, Gemeinschaftsschule | Sekundarschule: first and intermediate. Gemeinschaftsschule: also Abitur. |
| Thuringia | Regelschule, Gemeinschaftsschule | Regelschule: first and intermediate. Gemeinschaftsschule: also Abitur. |
| Berlin | Integrierte Sekundarschule, Gemeinschaftsschule | All three, including Abitur |
| Bremen | Oberschule | All three, including Abitur |
| Hamburg | Stadtteilschule | All three, including Abitur |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | Gesamtschule, Sekundarschule | All three, including Abitur |
| Baden-Württemberg, Saarland, Schleswig-Holstein | Gemeinschaftsschule | All three, including Abitur |
| Comprehensive schools (Integrierte or Kooperative Gesamtschule) also exist in most states. Source: Eurydice, organisation of general lower secondary education in Germany (last updated 30 March 2026), retrieved 8 November 2026. | ||
Children with special educational needs are taught either in a mainstream school or in a special school (Förderschule), depending on the state and the child.
The way to the Abitur
The upper level of the Gymnasium has a one-year introductory phase and a two-year qualification phase. In states with the eight-year Gymnasium, grade 10 counts as both the last year of secondary school and the introductory phase. Comprehensive schools usually keep the longer route. The Abitur can also be earned at a vocational Gymnasium, and pupils from other school types can move into the upper level if their grades are good enough. The grades of the last two years and the exams together make up the final mark. How that mark is calculated: German grades and the 15-point system. What foreign certificates count as equal: the Abitur and its equivalents.
The school day
German school days are short. Lessons last 45 minutes and usually run from 7:30 or 8:30 a.m. to about 1:30 p.m. Primary children have 20 to 29 lessons a week, pupils in grades 5 to 10 generally 28 to 32. With a five-day week there are about 188 school days a year.
Afternoon care comes from all-day schools (Ganztagsschule), which offer lunch and activities on at least three days a week for at least seven hours a day, and from after-school centers (Hort). In the 2024/2025 school year, 73.8% of primary schools were all-day schools, but only 51.3% of primary pupils took part. From the 2026/2027 school year, children starting grade 1 have a legal right to eight hours of all-day support on working days, with lesson time counting toward the eight hours. The right grows by one grade each year until it covers all four primary grades from 1 August 2029.
What school costs
Public schools charge no tuition and no fees for enrollment or report cards. Most states lend textbooks or pay part of their cost. Lunch, class trips and school supplies are a different matter: families on social benefits can have them covered through the education package (Bildung und Teilhabe). Private schools approved as a substitute for a public school may charge fees, but only moderate ones or with reductions for low incomes and siblings.
Bottom line
For a child of primary age, the recommendation in grade 4 is the decision to prepare for: register early, get German support in place, and ask how your state treats the recommendation. Teenagers who arrive later can still reach the Abitur from any school type.
Part of education in Germany. Next: registering at a school · school holidays · German vs US schools.
Frequently Asked Questions
It happens, but rarely. Every child moves from grade 1 to grade 2 automatically. After that, promotion depends on the end-of-year report card, as a rule from grade 3 (in some states from grade 2, in others only from grade 4). Your child needs at least an adequate mark (4) in the subjects that count, and a weak mark can be offset by better ones. In the 2024/2025 school year 0.9% of primary pupils and 2.2% of pupils in grades 5 to 10 repeated a year. Some states have dropped repetition in certain grades.
In most states children get a written report on their progress at the end of grades 1 and 2 instead of marks. Marks on the 1 to 6 scale start at the end of grade 2 or later. From then on there are two report cards a year, one at mid-year and one at the end of the school year.
Yes. Every pupil is covered by statutory accident insurance during lessons, on the way to and from school, and at school events such as trips and supervised lunch. It covers accidents at school and on the way there. For everything else your child needs health insurance.
Sources (as of 8 November 2026)
Sources (as of 8 November 2026)
- Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education (KMK), agreement of the states on the common basic structure of the school system of 15 October 2020 (in German): primary and secondary levels, certificates, Abitur at vocational schools, mobility between states.
- Eurydice, European Commission, Germany: organisation of primary education, assessment in primary education: lessons, all-day schools, recommendation, repetition.
- Eurydice, Germany: organisation of general lower secondary education and assessment in general lower secondary education: school types by state, transition after grade 4 or 6, certificates after grades 9 and 10, promotion.
- Eurydice, Germany: organisation of general upper secondary education and assessment in general upper secondary education: eight- and nine-year Gymnasium, introductory and qualification phase, final mark.
- Social Code Book VIII (SGB VIII), section 24: the right to all-day care for primary school children from the 2026/2027 school year (in German).
- Eurydice, Germany: organisation of private education and early childhood and school education funding: fees, textbooks, the education package, accident insurance.