The German school system

There are four school-leaving qualifications in Germany:

"Vocational maturity" (secondary school - lowest qualification) "middle maturity" (Realschule - middle qualification) "Fachhochschulreife" (gymnasium - allows studying at the Fachhochschule) "general higher education qualification" / "Abitur" (gymnasium - highest qualification - allows studying)

If you don't manage to get a high school diploma during your regular school days, you can catch up on it as an adult at night school.

As a migrant, you have the opportunity to do your university entrance qualification at the college. We will provide information here soon on how exactly this works. Until then, feel free to email us at info@gaanf.org if you have any questions.

a) professional maturity

You acquire the vocational qualification during compulsory schooling at the Hauptschule. It's the lowest qualification. Many vocational training courses are not available if you only have the vocational qualification.

b) middle maturity

You get the middle school certificate during compulsory schooling at the Realschule. With the secondary school leaving certificate, you have many vocational training courses at your disposal. For some professions, however, you need a particularly good grade point average. If your grade point average is good enough, you can do your technical college entrance qualification or your Abitur in addition to your secondary school leaving certificate

c) Technical college entrance qualification

You get the technical college entrance qualification at the grammar school. With the advanced technical college entrance qualification, all apprenticeships are available to you. You can also study at technical colleges.

d) General university entrance qualification (Abitur)

You get the "general higher education entrance qualification" (so-called Abitur) at high school. With the Abitur, all apprenticeships and all courses of study are basically available to you. However, some courses require particularly good grades in the Abitur.