The school system in North Rhine-Westphalia

The primary school takes four years to finish in North Rhine-Westphalia

After elementary school, parents can decide which school their child attends next. The current school will help with some recommendations. There are five options:

• Die Hauptschule
• Die Realschule
• Das Gymnasium
• Die Sekundarschule
• Die Gesamtschule

The Hauptschule starts with the 5th grade and ends with the 9th or 10th grade. Here your child can graduate with a Hauptschulabschluss (after 9th or 10th grade), or attend a special course ("Type B") after the 10th grade and obtain a Mittleren Schulabschluss. With a Hauptschulabschluss or Mittleren Schulabschluss, your child can begin begin vocational training. Students with the Mittleren Schulabschluss and particularly good marks can continue their education at a Gymnasium or Gesamtschule.

The Realschule starts with the 5th grade and usually ends after the 10th grade with a Mittleren Schulabschluss. With this certificate, students can begin vocational training. Students with a Mittleren Schulabschluss and particularly good marks can continue their education at a Gymnasium or Gesamtschule. Your child would also have the opportunity to earn Hauptschulabschluss instead of a Mittleren Schulabschluss.

The Sekundarschule starts with the 5th grade and ends either with the 9th or the 10th grade. Sekundarschule offers both an early career orientation and the opportunity to prepare for an Abitur. Your child can obtain a Hauptschulabschluss (after the 9th or 10th grade) or the Mittleren Schulabschluss (after the 10th grade). Students can start vocational training with any of these certificates. Students with the Mittleren Schulabschluss and particularly good marks can continue their education at a Gymnasium or Gesamtschule.

The Gesamtschule starts with the 5th grade and offers all types of certificates. That means that your child does not have to decide about the certificate he/she wants to obtain immediately. Here your child can earn the Hauptschulabschluss (after the 9th or 10th grade), the Mittleren Schulabschluss (after the 10th grade), or Fachhochschulreife or the Allgemeine Hochschulreife (after finishing the 11th or 13th grade). With the Hauptschulabschluss or the Mittleren Schulabschluss, your child can start vocational training. With a Fachhochschulreife or Abitur, your child can start vocational training or enter university.

In a Gymnasium, students can do their Abitur after the 12th class. Here students have to study hard and be very diligent. Many Gymnasiums have particular focus areas such as science, music & arts, languages ​​or sports. Those leaving Gymnasium after the 9th or 10th grade often obtain -at least- the Hauptschulabschluss or the Mittleren Schulabschluss. Your child would also have the opportunity to acquire the Fachhochschulreife here and enter a university of applied sciences ("Fachhochschule") later. With an Abitur, your child can start vocational training or go to a university.

Once you are granted a residence permit and leave the initial reception centre, your child must go to school. 

You will receive a letter from your community administration, containing all necessary information and contact details of the Municipal Integration Center ("Kommunale Integrationszentrum"). They will offer you advice on schooling and a doctor there will examine your child. Then the school office ("Schulamt") looks for a school for your child and informs you about the result in another letter. Children who do not speak German yet are initially tutored in special German courses.

The staff at your accommodation centre will assist you in the registration process.

You must register your child at a primary school of your choice until November of the year before his/her school starts. In due time, you will receive a letter from the school administration office with all the necessary information and an appointment. You should register your child personally in the designated school on the appointment date. During registration, your child will be examined by a doctor, and his German language skills will be checked.

The staff in your child's kindergarten can help you in the registration process.