Answers to the conference issues from Germany

Subsequent to passing the Abitur examination - which concludes the Gymnasiale Oberstufe - pupils are issued a certificate of Allgemeine Hochschulreife, which is a general higher education entrance qualification.

Pupils have the possibility

• to study (admission to all subjects at all higher education institutions)
  
• to enter into professional training.

Issue 2: Compulsory and optional subjects in the final examination
Issue 3: Assessment and certification of achievement
Issue 4: External and /or internal (school-based) final examinations

Gymnasiale Oberstufe

Whilst still required to take certain subjects or subject combinations during the qualification phase, the pupils have extensive scope for individual specialisation and a wider range of subjects to choose from. Related subjects are grouped together under main areas. The three main areas with examples of subjects they include are listed below:

• languages, literature and the arts, (E.g. German, foreign languages, fine art, music)
  
• social sciences, (E.g. history, geography, philosophy, social studies/politics, economics)
  
• mathematics, natural sciences and technology, (E.g. mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology).

Grundkurse (basic courses) and Leistungskurse (intensified courses) help to organise the pupils' studies according to different levels in terms of academic standards. The two types of course are designed to provide a different level of preparatory academic education - while basic courses (usually two to three periods a week) are intended to provide a broad general education, intensified courses (at least five periods a week) are intended to provide a more in-depth introduction to academic study. Basic courses constitute up to two-thirds of courses. Pupils are required to choose at least two intensified courses, one of which must be either German, continuation of a foreign language, mathematics or a natural science. If German is the first intensified course, the four subjects covered in the Abitur examination must include mathematics or a foreign language. New subjects introduced at the Gymnasiale Oberstufe, e.g. further foreign languages and vocational subjects, may be offered as a second intensified course. Some Länder restrict the choice of intensified courses to certain subject combinations.

In the Gymnasiale Oberstufe the last two grades are known as the qualification phase. Marks obtained in this phase are used to calculate a pupil's total marks, composed of marks received in courses taken in these two years and the marks achieved in the Abitur examination. There is non-procedure for promotion from grade 12 to grade 13.

At the Gymnasiale Oberstufe (upper level of the Gymnasium), performance is assessed on a scale of 15 to 0, which correlates with the usual scale of 1 to 6 as follows:

Mark 1 is equivalent to 15/14/13 points depending on the trend of marks.
Mark 2 is equivalent to 12/11/10 points depending on the trend of marks.
Mark 3 is equivalent to 9/8/7 points depending on the trend of marks.
Mark 4 is equivalent to 6/5/4 points depending on the trend of marks.
Mark 5 is equivalent to 3/2/1 points depending on the trend of marks.
Mark 6 is equivalent to 0 points.

The Grundkurse (basic courses) are simple scored (0 to 15 points), the Leistungskurse (intensified courses) are scored twice (0 to 30 points), the results in the final examination (Abiturprüfung) are scored fourfold (0 to 60 points).

Pupil's total marks in the certificate of the Allgemeine Hochschulreife covers the results in the 4 half-year courses and the results in the final examination

In total not more than 840 points can be obtained, and at least 280 points must be obtained.

The total result is given also by an average mark.

The points obtained results from:

• 22 Grundkurse (basic courses)
  
• 6 Leistungskurse (intensified courses) and a year paper or particular achievements
  
• the courses in the four subjects in the last half-year
  
• and the results in the final examination.
  
• the particular achievements (optional) can be scored with 60 points.