Which School for My Child? How to Find the Right School in Germany

You are moving to Germany with your child and suddenly face a question you never had to ask back home: which school is the right fit? In Germany, that decision isn't made by a single national authority — it's made by 16 federal states, each with its own rules, its own school types, and its own transition rituals. And the whole thing starts faster than most parents expect.

This guide is for families who are new to Germany or who are bringing a child over on a German residence permit. You'll learn when school becomes mandatory for your child, which school types exist, how the transition after primary school works, what happens if your child doesn't speak German yet, how foreign certificates are recognised — and how to actually enrol your child.

Compulsory schooling starts with registration — not with the first day of class

The moment your child is registered with the residents' registration office (Einwohnermeldeamt) and has their habitual residence in Germany, general compulsory schooling (allgemeine Schulpflicht) applies. That holds regardless of nationality, regardless of residence-permit type, and regardless of whether your stay is officially "only temporary". The duty usually begins in the year your child turns six, and lasts for 9 or 10 full-time school years depending on the federal state.1Pupils — Compulsory Schooling and the School SystemKMK

A few numbers immigrant families should know:

• 9 years of full-time compulsory schooling in most states
• 10 years in Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, and Thuringia
• in North Rhine-Westphalia 9 or 10 years depending on the educational pathway
• after that, 2 to 3 years of compulsory vocational schooling if your child does not attend an upper secondary school1KMK — PupilsKMK

This matters for families on a residence permit: if your child joins you as a family member — for example under § 32 AufenthG · Subsequent Immigration of Children or via a derivative residence permit under § 34 AufenthG — compulsory schooling applies from day one of habitual residence. You don't need to wait until the residence permit card is in hand; the moment the address registration is filed, the clock starts. For the wider family-reunification framework, see the principle of family reunification (§ 27 AufenthG).

Which school types exist — and why the federal state matters

The German school system splits children after primary school (Grundschule, grades 1–4, or grades 1–6 in Berlin and Brandenburg) into several school types. The KMK standardises this web of pathways through the Schema der Bildungsgänge und Schularten (Diagram of Educational Pathways and School Types), which you can download directly from the KMK as an overview.3Diagram of Educational Pathways and School TypesKMK

The most important lower-secondary school types at a glance:

• Hauptschule — ends after grade 9 with the Hauptschulabschluss (basic secondary certificate); in many states integrated into other school forms
• Realschule — ends after grade 10 with the Mittlerer Schulabschluss (intermediate secondary certificate, also called Realschulabschluss)
• Gymnasium — through grade 12 or 13, leading to the Allgemeine Hochschulreife (Abitur, the general university entrance qualification)
• Gesamtschule / Gemeinschaftsschule / Oberschule — comprehensive schools that integrate several pathways under one roof (the label varies by state)
• Förderschule — for children with special educational needs, with different specialisations depending on the state

Bavaria shows how distinctly each state can shape its own model: the Bavarian school system is the classic three-track setup (Mittelschule, Realschule, Gymnasium) and is considered especially permeable — almost every certificate opens onto multiple onward routes.4School Types in BavariaBavarian State Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs Bremen, Berlin, and Saarland, by contrast, lean on two-track models (Gymnasium plus an integrated secondary school). So if you move within Germany, your child may have to switch not just schools but the entire school type.

The transition after primary school — the trickiest step

After primary school, parents must decide which lower-secondary school the child moves on to. How much weight your Elternwille (parental decision) carries against the Grundschulempfehlung (primary-school recommendation) depends entirely on the federal state — and this is the point where immigrant families stumble most often.

In five federal states, the primary-school recommendation is binding and overrides the parents' decision: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, and Thuringia.8State-by-State Comparison of School TransitionsDeutsches Schulportal In the other states — for example NRW, Hesse, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein — parents have the final say: "Parents decide on the recommended change of school form."7Transition from Primary to Secondary SchoolMinistry of Schools and Education of North Rhine-Westphalia

In Bavaria, your child receives an Übertrittszeugnis (transition report) at the start of May in grade 4, which contains the recommendation.5Transition and Educational Pathways — BavariaBavarian State Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs In Baden-Württemberg, the primary-school recommendation is built from three components: the pedagogical overall assessment of the class conference, the result of the Kompass 4 competency assessment, and the parents' wishes; if the recommendation doesn't fit, the child can sit a state-wide aptitude test (Potenzialtest) at a Gymnasium, which then makes the final call.6Transition from Primary to Secondary School — BWMinistry of Education, Youth and Sports of Baden-Württemberg A child moving from Bavaria to NRW lands in a different system; a child arriving from abroad straight into BW should have the Kompass 4 date marked on the calendar.

If your child doesn't speak German yet: welcome and DaZ classes

One of the biggest worries immigrant parents have: "My child can't speak German yet — where do they belong?" The answer varies by state in name, but at its core it's similar everywhere: there are Willkommensklassen (welcome classes, also called Vorbereitungsklassen or DaZ-Klassen — German as a Second Language classes — in some states), where newly arrived children focus on learning German before moving into a regular class.

In Berlin, the rule is: "Newly arrived and refugee children who do not yet speak German properly learn German in a welcome class from age eight." Attending a welcome class is intended to last at most one year — after that, the child moves into a regular class, ideally at the same school.9Welcome Classes in BerlinFamilienportal Berlin

What you should know as a parent:

• Enrolment runs through the school supervisory authority (in Berlin, the Sprachförderzentrum — language support centre — at the district office) or directly through the responsible school
• Places are not equally available everywhere — large cities have dedicated language support centres, while rural areas often have only a single class
• Younger children under eight are also integrated — usually directly into primary school with additional DaZ hours, instead of a separate class
• Moving into the regular class is not the end of support — DaZ instruction continues in parallel in many states

Recognition of foreign school certificates

Has your child already earned a school certificate or partial qualifications back home? At some point you'll need an official recognition (Anerkennung) of those certificates — otherwise they can't be used in Germany for vocational training, university access, or employment.

One important distinction up front: for university degrees, the ZAB · Central Office for Foreign Education is responsible. Use our free anabin lookup to check directly whether your qualification is listed in the KMK database.11Recognition of Foreign QualificationsKMK12anabinKMK / ZAB For school qualifications, however — Hauptschule, Realschule (intermediate), or university entrance qualification — the right address is the Zeugnisanerkennungsstelle (certificate recognition office) of the respective federal state.

The KMK puts it this way: "Equivalence with the German Hauptschulabschluss, with an intermediate education qualification (Realschulabschluss), and with the general or subject-restricted university entrance qualification for occupational purposes is decided by the certificate recognition offices of the federal states."10Recognition in the School SectorKMK / ZAB

And one note that often gets overlooked: "For achievements from a school career not yet completed, no official recognition procedure takes place."10Recognition in the School SectorKMK / ZAB In other words: if your child arrives mid-school-year from abroad, there is no formal recognition procedure — the receiving school decides pragmatically on the grade level, often together with the school authority.

Concrete example, North Rhine-Westphalia:

• Up to lower secondary level (Sekundarabschluss I) — intermediate school qualification — the Bezirksregierung Köln (Cologne district government) is responsible
• For the upper secondary level (Sekundarabschluss II) — the university entrance qualification — the Bezirksregierung Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf district government) is responsible13NRW Foreign Qualifications ResponsibilitiesMinistry of Schools and Education of North Rhine-Westphalia

Other states bundle the task into a single office per federal state (Berlin: Senate Department for Education; Bavaria: State Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs). Ask specifically in your state — there is no nationwide central office for school-certificate recognition.

International schools, private schools, substitute and supplementary schools

Many immigrant families ask: "We have a temporary residence permit, maybe 3 or 5 years — should my child even enter the German school system, or is an international school better?" The honest answer: both are legal — but you only fulfil compulsory schooling under specific conditions.

Three categories you must keep apart:

• Private school as a Ersatzschule (substitute school) — recognised as a substitute for a state school. "Whoever attends a substitute school fulfils compulsory schooling."14Private Schools NRWMinistry of Schools and Education of North Rhine-Westphalia Examples: many denominational schools, Waldorf schools, Montessori schools.
• Private school as a Ergänzungsschule (supplementary school) — offers something in addition to the state system. Your child may only attend one during full-time compulsory schooling if the district government has determined "that at least the educational goal of the Hauptschule can be achieved there".14Private Schools NRWMinistry of Schools and Education of North Rhine-Westphalia
• International school — an umbrella term. Some international schools are Ersatzschulen (compulsory schooling fulfilled), others are Ergänzungsschulen with a foreign curriculum and need a separate authorisation. Ask about the status before enrolment — otherwise you risk a situation where your children are formally not in school, even though they show up every day.

For many families — especially EU Blue Card holders and families arriving under § 32 AufenthG (Subsequent Immigration of Children) — a closer look at the regular state school plus a welcome class is worth it: free of charge, strong on integration, and after 1–2 years the child usually speaks fluent German. International schools often cost €15,000 to €30,000 per school year per child and rarely line up cleanly with German compulsory schooling. If your stay in Germany runs longer than 2 to 3 years — and that's almost always the case for family reunification under § 32 AufenthG — the state school is usually the more robust choice.

The enrolment process: what you need to bring

Once the school and the federal state are clear, the bureaucratic part begins. This too varies by state, but the Berlin example illustrates the typical pattern well.

In Berlin, you enrol your school-age child between 5 October and 16 October 2026 at the primary school responsible for you — that is, the school in whose catchment area you live.15Primary School Enrolment in BerlinSenate Department for Education, Youth and Family Berlin

What you need to bring to school enrolment (Berlin standard, other states almost identical):

• your own identity documents (national ID card or passport plus Aufenthaltstitel, your residence permit)
• the child's birth certificate (with a certified translation if the certificate is foreign-issued)
• the child's other identity documents (passport, residence permit, or Fiktionsbescheinigung — the interim certificate issued during a pending application)
• proof of address registration with the residents' registration office
• preventive-care and vaccination records and the result of the school medical examination (schulärztliche Untersuchung), if already available15Primary School Enrolment in BerlinSenate Department for Education, Youth and Family Berlin

In other federal states, the enrolment window often falls in spring before the year of school start (Bavaria, BW, NRW: typically March/April). If you arrive in Germany after that window, it's not a disaster — schools accept lateral entrants year-round, and the school authority will assign you a school if needed.

A final note that's especially relevant for families with a professional context: the German economy is desperately seeking skilled workers, and many occupations are on the list of shortage occupations. People who arrive in Germany well qualified — for example via the Blue Card or a residence permit under § 18b AufenthG — almost always bring family with them. School choice is therefore not a side issue but part of the location decision. Plan it early, plan it concretely, and use the free counselling at the school authorities — it's also there for parents with limited German.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)