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Gymnasium Admission

Last activity 21 June 2024 by masoomas940

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skumard

Hi,

my kid shall be 13+ years old by August-2021. He is completing 7th Class at India and learning German (target B1). He shall arrive Germany in April next year.

Kindly let me the possibilities and guidance to get admission in Gymnasium. He is interested in University studies via public school education. However, I learnt, the German school authorities shall take admission to realschule.

Let me, the approach to get admission in Gymnasium

Regards
Sunil

beppi

In general, the parents decide which type of secondary school a kid enrolls at. The school only gives a recommendation based on the kid's skills - for foreign kids there may be an assessment test (ask at the school authority of your town).
But if you enroll him in a Gymnasium (the highest kind of secondary school, leading to univerity admission) without the necessary preconditions, he might fail there and be downgraded to Realschule or Hauptschule (the lower kinds of secondary school) after two frustrating years of repeating failed classes.
Therefore most teachers would recommend starting at Realschule and, if he is good there, upgrading to Gymnasium (which is always possible once the preconditions are met).
B1 German is not enough to sufficiently understand lessons, so you may explore the option of enrolling him in a preparatory class for foreign students at first. These are offered at some schools (again, the school authority can tell you which ones) and, although it means he will graduate a year later, greatly reduce the chance of failure and demotivation.

skumard

Thanks Beppi

masoomas940

Hello!

My name is Masooma and I am 14 years old . I am from Pakistan. I am doing o levels here and I am completed my 8 olevel .I am going to Germany next month so what are the requirements for admission there because I did not learn German and I was studying in a english medium school.

beppi

@masoomas940 Without German language abilities, you cannot enter a normal German school. Thus, if possible, delay your move to Germany until you have completed a B2 course of German, or better.

If you have to come before that, please note that if you are above the age of compulsory schooling (4 years primary and 5 years secondary school are obligatory), you may not be able to enter one of the preparatory classes to bring foreign kids up to speed, which some public schools offer (free of charge). Enquire about this at your local school authority ("Schulamt")!

(And even if you can enter such a preparatory class, you will lose a year before resuming normal schooling.)

Apart from public schools, there are of course some (but not many) private schools, which you can always enter if you have the money (they start at around €1000/month) - and some of them (the international ones) even teach in English and/or follow foreign curriculum (only then do your O-levels have any value).

Please note that private schools in Germany are not usually better than public ones - some are, but others are geared towards "stupid but rich" kids.

TominStuttgart


    Hello! My name is Masooma and I am 14 years old . I am from Pakistan. I am doing o levels here and I am completed my 8 olevel .I am going to Germany next month so what are the requirements for admission there because I did not learn German and I was studying in a english medium school.        -@masoomas940

One has to attend school until at least the age of 16 in Germany. Public schools are free and good but instruction is in German. If a pupil arrives and doesn’t know German then they will have to be put in a program to learn it; possibly costing them a year academically. In some cities there are international schools that offer instruction in English but they are not so common and expect to pay 12,000+ Euros/year tuition. Expectations that a school system is going to offer instruction in English to accommodate non-German speakers is delusional. Some bilingual schools do exist but one still needs to know German, the intent of those is to strengthen the learning of English, not to avoid learning German.


If the intention is to eventually go to university in Germany as Germany has one of the best university systems in the world, one should know that the vast majority of bachelors are taught in German, on a C1 level. Many masters are offered in English but can be costly for non-EU citizens even at public facilities. Tuition-free is guaranted only for EU citizens and long-term German residents. Some masters programs continue to be tuition-free for all but this depends on the specific program. Bachelors, if one can get acceptance, are still usually tuition-free at public uniiversities except in Baden-Württemberg where they charge 1500 euros/semster and of course there are always additional fees and living costs. I've heard that some public universities in Berlin are now also charging tuition to foreigners for a bachelor but I don't have any details

masoomas940

@beppi

Thank you so much.

I will try my best to learn German .

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