School-leaving qualifications

The Hauptschulabschluss is the first general school leaving certificate that entitles you to start vocational training.

You can obtain it without an additional examination if you achieve sufficient grades in all subjects in grade 9. Another option is to take an external examination.

With the Hauptschulabschluss, you can start vocational training for which this qualification is sufficient. It should be noted that the full scope of compulsory schooling must have been completed.

The qualification also entitles you to obtain further school-leaving qualifications at a later date via the second educational pathway. It is automatically part of all higher-level school-leaving qualifications.

The qualifying secondary general school certificate is a secondary general school certificate that is upgraded with successful participation in a central examination in the ninth grade.

The qualifying secondary general school certificate improves the chances of gaining access to vocational training. Pupils who actually attend a Realschule or Gymnasium can also take this exam as external candidates.

Those who pass the exam with a sufficiently good average grade can then attend the tenth grade and thus have the opportunity to obtain the Realschulabschluss.

In Thuringia, you have the option of obtaining a qualifying Hauptschulabschluss.

In some other federal states, pupils receive the extended lower secondary school leaving certificate if they complete the tenth grade with sufficiently good results, usually without an additional examination.

It entitles them to attend secondary schools, such as vocational schools, subject to certain admission requirements.

The Realschulabschluss is considered an intermediate school leaving certificate and is achieved by successfully passing a central examination after the tenth grade. Those who also complete the school year with sufficiently good grades can acquire the general higher education entrance qualification after a further 3 school years in the gymnasiale Oberstufe.

The Realschulabschluss is a prerequisite for attending vocational schools. Depending on the federal state, the regulations vary as to the extent to which a simple Realschulabschluss is sufficient for admission to vocational schools or the admission requirements are linked to a specific grade point average.

Anyone wishing to obtain the Realschulabschluss via the second educational pathway must pass an external examination or attend a vocational school.

In some federal states, the Extended Realschulabschluss can be awarded. In some federal states, this qualification is also known as the Qualifizierender Realschulabschluss.

The qualification after grade 10 is usually achieved if the average grade is above a minimum requirement. More weight is placed on the individual grades in certain subjects.

Sometimes the school-leaving certificate can be achieved via an additional examination. The Extended Realschulabschluss entitles the holder to attend a Gymnasium or Fachgymnasium.

The Fachhochschulreife is the second highest school-leaving qualification in Germany and entitles students to study at a Fachhochschule, but not at general universities.

The general Fachhochschulreife entitles the holder to study all subjects offered at Fachhochschulen. A subject-specific Fachhochschulreife only entitles the holder to study a specific subject at a Fachhochschule.

The Fachhochschulreife is acquired in 2 phases.

1. The school-based part involves attending the gymnasiale Oberstufe for at least 2 school semesters. This means that you must attend at least the eleventh grade and obtain sufficient grade points, which the school management can use to award you an average grade.
2. The vocational part of the Fachhochschulreife can be obtained in various ways. You can complete vocational training or a guided internship of at least one year. You also have the option of completing a voluntary social or ecological year, federal voluntary service or military or civilian service.

If you would like to obtain your entrance qualification for a university of applied sciences via the second educational pathway, you can also complete the school-based part at a technical college or technical secondary school if you have previously completed vocational training.

The Abitur is the highest school-leaving qualification in Germany. It is also known as the general higher education entrance qualification and entitles students to study at all universities and comparable institutions of higher education.

One of the requirements for the Abitur is instruction in a second foreign language.

There is also the subject-specific higher education entrance qualification, for which no second foreign language is required. The subject-restricted Abitur only entitles the holder to access the courses of study at a university that are listed on the certificate.

An additional examination in a second foreign language can convert a subject-specific higher education entrance qualification into a general higher education entrance qualification.

A Kolleg or Abendgymnasium offers the opportunity to obtain the Abitur via the second educational pathway. An external examination is also possible.