This country profile is part of a collective effort by the network members to map matching practices across Europe. If you find it useful and want to refer to it in your own work, please refer to it as “Basteck, Christian, Katharina Huesmann, and Heinrich Nax (2015), Matching Practices for secondary schools – Germany, MiP Country Profile 21.”

German school system

Germany is a federal state consisting of 16 States (Bundesländer). Education policy is decided at the level of the States. Depending on the State, education is compulsory for nine or ten years with the first four or six years being primary school. Primary and secondary school education in Germany is mostly public and free of charge. There are some private schools, but only about five to six percent of German students attend private schools (this number is increasing however). [1],[2] Private schools are allowed to charge school fees, but most of them receive large subsidies and school fees are kept relatively low. They can also select students according to their own set of criteria. This country profile describes school admissions for public schools.