School system in Lower Saxony

The primary school takes 4 years to accomplish in Lower Saxony. After primary school, parents decide which school their child attends next. The school staff help in the process by sharing their recommendations with parents. There are five options:

• Hauptschule
• Realschule
• Oberschule
• Gesamtschule
• Gymnasium

The Hauptschule starts in the 5th grade and ends with the 9th or the 10th grade. It prepares your child for the job market from early stages. Here your child can graduate with a Hauptschulabschluss (after the 9th or 10th grade) or a Realschulabschluss (after 10th grade). Your child can also graduate with an erweiterten Sekundarabschluss I, with which he/she can go to Gymnasium later. Your child will have the opportunity to start a vocational training with any of this three school-leaving certificates. With good grades, your child can also continue his/her studies and go for an Abitur.

The Realschule starts with the 5th grade and ends with the 9th or 10th grade. The highest school-leaving certificate students can graduate with from a Realschule, is the Realschulabschluss (after the 10th Class). But there is also the possibility to graduate (after the 9th or 10th grade) with a Hauptschulabschluss. Your child can even graduate with an erweiterten Sekundarschule I, and start Gymnasium afterwards. Students will have the opportunity to start a vocational training with any of these three school-leaving certificates. In case your child has very good grades, he/she can also continue his/her studies and go for an Abitur.

The Oberschule starts with the 5th grade and ends with the 10th grade. Here, the goal is to prepare the students for both job market and university education. In an Oberschule, your child can obtain a Hauptschulabschluss (after the 9th or 10th grade) or a Realschulabschluss (after the 10th grade). Your child can also graduate with an erweiterten Sekundarschule I, and start Gymnasium afterwards. Students will have the opportunity to start a vocational training with any of these three school-leaving certificates. In case your child has very good grades, he/she can also continue his/her studies and go for an Abitur.

The Gesamtschule starts with the 5th grade. Here, your child will have the opportunity to obtain any school-leaving certificate: the Hauptschulabschluss (after the 9th grade), the Realschulabschluss(after the 10th grade) or the Abitur (after the 13th grade). There are two types of Gesamtschule:

• Kooperativen Gesamtschule: Here, there are three different divisions, based on the school-leaving certificate students would like to obtain - Hauptschule level, Realschule level, and Gymnasium level. Your child must choose a level, but it is also possible to switch between them.
• Integrierte Gesamtschule: Here all children study together (up to the 10th grade) regardless of the school-leaving certificate they are planning to obtain. Starting from the 7th class, there are at least two courses per subject, each of which demands different performance levels.

Your child can start a vocational training with any of these three school-leaving certificates. With an Abitur, he/she can also go for university education.

The Gymnasium starts with the 5th grade and ends with the Abitur at the end of the 13th grade. In a Gymnasium, students have to be very diligent and work hard. Your child will need to learn at least two foreign languages during Gymnasium years. Those who leave the Gymnasium after the 9th or 10th grade, often automatically obtain a Hauptschulabschluss or a Realschulabschluss. With the Abitur, your child can opt for university education or start vocational training.

During your residence in initial reception facility, your child will be prepared to start school. Once you leave the initial reception facility, your child must go to school. Children who do not speak German sufficiently yet should initially attend special German classes.

The staff at your initial reception facility will assist you in the registration process.

About 15 months before the enrolment time, you will receive a letter from the primary school responsible for your child with all the necessary information and an appointment. You must register your child personally on this date. Your child will be examined by a doctor and his/her German language skills will be checked on the same day.

The staff in the kindergarten your child attends can provide you with more information about the process.