Grammar school

The gymnasium programme is aimed at intellectually gifted, capable and willing pupils and prepares them for attending university or for the professional and working world. It is tailored to impart a broad and in-depth general education and also enables pupils to form specialisations according to their particular abilities and inclinations.

The gymnasium course of education leads pupils to the general higher education entrance qualification - the Abitur. In the lower secondary level, it comprises grades 5 to 9 or 5 to 10, which are followed by a three-year upper secondary level (Sekundarstufe II). Thus, pupils at the Gymnasium can achieve the Abitur after eight years (G8) or the Abitur after nine years (G9). The gymnasium course of education can also be completed at integrated and cooperative (school form-related) comprehensive schools.

In the gymnasiale Oberstufe, the focus is on preparing students for scientific work, which is why particular emphasis is placed on independent work and learning. The first year of the upper school (introductory phase) serves, among other things, to compensate for the different prerequisites that the students bring with them. Only the performance in the second and third year of the upper school (qualification phase) counts towards the Abitur.

The Abitur examination comprises three written (including the two advanced courses) and two oral examination subjects. For one of the two oral examination subjects, a presentation examination or a special learning performance may be chosen as the form of examination instead of an oral examination. Every pupil must be examined in the subjects German and Mathematics.

It is already possible to acquire the academic part of the Fachhochschulreife after two years in the gymnasiale Oberstufe. A subsequent period of at least one year of work experience or internship then leads to the final issue of the Fachhochschulreife certificate.