Does anyone know how the Kollegstufe and Gymnasiale Oberstufe work in Germany?

Question

Does anyone know how the Kollegstufe and Gymnasiale Oberstufe work in Germany?

Answer 1

Hi...I live in Germany...I hope this helps you:

The Kollegstufe is the German equivalent of the sixth form of secondary education in the upper stage (grades 12-13, or 11-12) of German high schools. Class groupings are dissolved and instead students choose an individual combination of courses.

The idea behind this concept is not to prepare students for university, where they have to create their own timetable, as is sometimes claimed based on the mere analogy. The idea is to allow students to diversify and pick subjects of their personal preference. The Kollegstufe does not yet allow students to specialize on one or very few subjects like the university does, so a complex set of rules for the Kollegstufe ensures that important subjects (e.g. mathematics, languages) cannot be dropped, a sufficient coverage for different fields of education is achieved and the number of lessons per week covers the required minimum. If you finish the Kollegstufe successfully, which means you comply with all the regulations and pass the final exams, you get the "Abiturzeugnis", formally called "Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife", which entitles you to attend a German university.

The regulations for the Kollegstufe and also for the Abitur are different in the different "Bundesländer" (federal states) of Germany. As educational matters are decided by the governments of the federal states, these differences can be quite big.

The gymnasiale upper stage enclosure those the secondary school Ⅱ added upper class stages of High School, vocational High Schools and comprehensive school and leads of the middle ripe one to the Abitur (general university-level graduation).

In a Rudolf Steiner School the upper stage consists of the classes 9 to 13.

The last two school years of the gymnasialen upper stage are called in Germany also reformed upper stage.

In the gymnasialen upper stage in the course system one informs. Usually no more classes, but only a class exist. The pupils select after certain defaults (task ranges; linguistically, socio-scientifically and scientifically) two achievement courses to ever five and basic courses to ever two, three or four weekly hours. The Abitur is written in the two achievement courses and two, partial selectable, basic courses. Thus one must set clear emphasis in the last school years.

Into the Abitur note also the achievement course notes and the Abitur examinations flow apart from 22 basic course half yearly achievements.

Except the course system it can come however also to a combination from courses and classes. It for example informed in the first upper stage year (introduction phase) still in the class federation or also only determined fan in selected courses, during into which last both years (qualification phase) exclusively in courses one informs.

In Lower Saxony for example however because of saving measures with the school year 2005/2006 the gymnasiale upper stage was reformed; Planning over the same changes runs among other things in Schleswig-Holstein. While the twelfth and Dreizehntklässler are informed after the conventional system, the current Elftklässler up to the Abitur remains in the class federation. Instead of reason and achievement courses specialize the pupils by the choice of emphasis (linguistic, socio-scientific, musi-CH-artistic and scientific emphasis), with which fan determined is more intensively informed than others. Each school must offer the linguistic and the scientific emphasis and/or profile, how it is called. In addition it is dependent on the pupils, there it „selects “, who profiles come (at least 19 pupils must be in a course). Also the Abitur is written now there no more in four, but in five subjects; two the fan German, mathematics and a foreign language are obligation test fan. In some Lands of the Federal Republic beyond that in the meantime the school time is reduced of 13 to twelve years. The gymnasiale upper stage takes thereby one year less.

Also sport can be selected in the gymnasialen upper stage freely to occupy considering the default, directly many individual as crew kinds of sport up to the Abitur. It is informed in sport courses. In some Lands of the Federal Republic sport is compulsory subject, just like religion, ethics, history or political world customer.