School and compulsory attendance

In Germany, children generally start school around age six. School attendance is compulsory, but the types of school, the length of primary school and enrolment dates depend on your federal state (Land).

In short

• Your Land sets the school types, the length of primary school and the enrolment date. Full-time compulsory schooling is usually 9 years. Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen and Thuringia set 10. North Rhine-Westphalia uses 9 or 10 depending on the programme. Check the rules where you live.
• Register your address, then ask the school authority how to enrol your child. A Kita enrolment does not automatically register them for school. Do not pay an agent for a state-school place.
• Check your Land’s cut-off birthday to find out when your child starts school; there is no single national date.
• Do not send a school-age child to the integration course instead of school. Children, teenagers and young adults who start or continue school education in Germany have no statutory entitlement to an integration course under section 44(3), number 1, of the Residence Act.
• Placement of a child who has just arrived is the school’s decision with the local school authority. Do not match a foreign grade to a German number on your own.

What you need to know

The Standing Conference of the Länder education ministers says compulsory schooling begins, as a rule, in the year a child turns 6, and that the Länder organise the schools. Primary school runs from grade 1 to grade 4, and in Berlin and Brandenburg to grade 6. Lower secondary school is organised differently by Land.

The tracks include a Hauptschule track, a Realschule track, and a Gymnasium track, sometimes in separate schools and sometimes combined. Full-time compulsory schooling is usually 9 years. Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen and Thuringia set 10 years, and North Rhine-Westphalia uses 9 or 10 depending on the programme. Part-time compulsory schooling, often in a vocational school, is usually 3 years and follows the length of a recognised apprenticeship.

Ask that Land’s education ministry which number applies. Check the contract for any private or international school fees. Teaching at home because of a long illness is teaching the Land arranges when the child cannot attend. It is not an alternative you choose because you prefer to teach at home.

A child who has just arrived is placed by the school management together with the local school authority. Ask whether that school offers preparatory German before a regular class. The integration course is a different course.

Children, teenagers and young adults who start or continue school education in Germany have no statutory entitlement to an integration course under section 44(3), number 1, of the Residence Act. Admission may still be allowed under section 44(4), subject to its conditions and available course places. The integration-course page explains the rest of that rule.

Daycare beside the school day is the Kita page. For a child who attends grade 1 in the 2026/2027 school year or a later year, section 24(4) of Social Code Book VIII gives a claim to 8 hours of daytime support a day from school entry until grade 5 begins, from Monday to Friday excluding statutory public holidays.

Lessons and all-day primary-school activities, including open all-day models, meet the claim for the hours they cover. During school holidays, the claim can also be met by youth-work programmes under section 11 provided by a public or recognised independent youth-welfare body. Land law may allow the facility to close for up to four weeks per year during school holidays.

What to do

1. Register your address. Then ask the local school authority or your Land’s education ministry about enrolment dates and the steps to follow. Dates can differ from those in a neighbouring Land.
2. Ask which school is responsible, and which schools you may choose. A visit does not reserve a place. If the child is new to German, ask whether that school teaches preparatory German.
3. Bring the documents the authority asks for, such as identification, address registration and any school reports from abroad. Ask the authority which translations it needs; school requirements are set by Land law.
4. If the child is older than the usual start, ask the authority which grade and which preparatory class fit. Placement is the school’s decision with the authority, not a choice you make by matching a foreign grade to a German number on your own.
5. If your child is not yet in school, check the separate Kita claim. Once school begins, ask the youth-welfare office about care around the school day. A school place does not provide Elterngeld or extend a residence permit. If your child needs a residence permit, see the family-reunion guide.

Common mistakes

• Copying another state’s school names or its 9-year or 10-year full-time duty. The Standing Conference says the length depends on the Land.
• Enrolling only with the Kita, and assuming the centre will pass the child to a school. School enrolment is the school authority’s step. Ask that authority how to start it.
• Sending a school-age child to the integration course instead of to school. Children, teenagers and young adults who start or continue school education in Germany have no statutory entitlement to an integration course under section 44(3), number 1, of the Residence Act.
• Paying an agent for a state-school place. For a private or international school, check any fees in its contract.