Abitur after twelve years
Encyclopedia
after twelve years, or in eight years (often abbreviated as G8 or Gy8) describes the reduction from the duration in the from nine to eight school years in many of the States of Germany
. In the States Berlin
, Brandenburg
and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern the reduction took place from seven to six years because, there, primary education
goes until grade 6. The principal argument for the reduction are the comparatively long times for vocational education
in Germany
.
In Eastern Germany (especially Saxony
and Thuringia
) it is, however, already a long established norm to take the after twelve years.
Many states of Germany are reversing it to go back with the full 13 years of school to get the Abitur
}
| style="text-align: left;" | Baden-Württemberg
| rowspan="10" | yes
| 2012
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Bavaria
| 2011
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Berlin
| rowspan="3" | 2012
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Brandenburg
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Bremen
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Hamburg
| 2010
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Hesse
| 2013
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
| since 2008 (1949 until 2001)
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Lower Saxony
| 2011
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | North Rhine-Westphalia
| 2013
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Rhineland-Palatinate
| yes
(in full-time schools
in pilot project)
| 2016
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Saarland
| rowspan="5" | yes
| since 2009
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Saxony
| since 1949
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Saxony-Anhalt
| since 2007 (1949 until 2000)
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Schleswig-Holstein
| 2016
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Thuringia
| since 1949
|}
. In spite of the removal of one school year, all contents of the, now thirteen, school years are arranged. This means that the school timetable
is enlarged and that the students have to be at school for fifty hours a week.
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
. In the States Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern the reduction took place from seven to six years because, there, primary education
Primary education
A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...
goes until grade 6. The principal argument for the reduction are the comparatively long times for vocational education
Vocational education
Vocational education or vocational education and training is an education that prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic, and totally related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
In Eastern Germany (especially Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
and Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
) it is, however, already a long established norm to take the after twelve years.
Many states of Germany are reversing it to go back with the full 13 years of school to get the Abitur
| State | Introduction | Finish of the change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| style="text-align: left;" | Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
| rowspan="10" | yes
| 2012
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
| 2011
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
| rowspan="3" | 2012
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Bremen
Bremen (state)
The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen is the smallest of Germany's 16 states. A more informal name, but used in some official contexts, is Land Bremen .-Geography:...
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
| 2010
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
| 2013
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
| since 2008 (1949 until 2001)
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
| 2011
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
| 2013
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
| yes
(in full-time schools
in pilot project)
| 2016
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
| rowspan="5" | yes
| since 2009
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
| since 1949
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...
| since 2007 (1949 until 2000)
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
| 2016
|-
| style="background-color: #b9ffc5;" |
| style="text-align: left;" | Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
| since 1949
|}
Criticism
In part, parents’, teachers’ and students’ organizations express criticism, exclusively from the Western States of GermanyWestern Germany
The geographic term Western Germany is used to describe a region in the west of Germany. The exact area defined by the term is not constant, but it usually includes, but does not have the borders of, North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse...
. In spite of the removal of one school year, all contents of the, now thirteen, school years are arranged. This means that the school timetable
School timetable
A school timetable is a table for coordinating these four elements:*Students*Teachers*Rooms*Time slots Other factors include the subject of the class, and the type of classrooms available ....
is enlarged and that the students have to be at school for fifty hours a week.