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1. Main trends in young people's participation in education and training

2. Organisation of the education and training system

3. Main concepts

Main trends in young people's participation in education and training

Current findings on youth participation in education 

Regular information on youth participation in education and training in Germany is provided by the Education Report (Bildungsbericht) published every two years and the Vocational Training Report (Berufsbildungsbericht) published annually.
Based on these data sources, the main trends in youth participation in education can be summarised as follows:

• Once again in 2020, there was an increase in the number of children and young people requiring special needs education compared to previous years, with a share of 7.7 per cent of all pupils. Joint schooling of learners with and without special needs is currently continuing to increase, but the number of pupils in special schools remains at a relatively high level. 
• After a steady increase in the number of school leavers without qualifications over the past few years, the number has recently fallen back. Nevertheless, around 45,000 young people, or 5.9 per cent of the population of the same age in Germany, left school without having obtained a qualification in 2020. 
• In the transition from school to training, the very recent trend of declining demand for vocational education and training (VET) has continued. For example, the number of new entrants to VET fell by 7 per cent between 2019 and 2021. In particular, demand among young people for dual vocational training decreased, whereas the number of those starting school-based training rose. This applies in particular to school-based training in the disciplines of health, social affairs and education. 
• With regard to training schedules, there was a slight increase in the contract termination rate in 2021 compared to the previous year. Most recently, 26.7 per cent of all training contracts were terminated prematurely. However, not all early contract terminations are synonymous with discontinuation of training. In fact, around half of all young people enter into a new training relationship relatively soon after termination of a contract.
• The field of higher education has recently seen a stagnation in the number of first-year students, after many years of growth. The proportion of domestic first-year students has stabilised at approximately 45 per cent. A slight decline in the number of first-year students is expected in the coming years as a result of demographic changes. The number of international students declined as a result of mobility restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic, but this has recently increased again. It is noticeable that an increasing number of young people are choosing to study at a university of applied sciences or take up a dual study programme instead of studying at a university. 
• Analysis of study programmes reveals that the dropout rate for Bachelor’s degree programmes remains relatively high at around 30 per cent. The drop-out rate is lower for Master’s degree programmes, but this has also gone up in recent years. The trend towards extending the period of study has continued. Only about one third of all students complete their studies within the designated period of study.
• The number of young adults without formal vocational qualifications has risen steadily in recent years. According to data provided by the Vocational Training Report 2023, the percentage of 20-34 year-olds without a formal vocational qualification was 17.8 per cent in 2021 (2020: 15.5 per cent). Extrapolated, this amounts to a total of 2.64 million non-formally qualified young adults (2020: 2.33 million).

Challenges in the education sector

One of the major challenges facing the German education system is the social inequality in opportunities for participation that has been apparent for many years. For example, the Education Report 2022 (Bildungsbericht 2022) highlights the fact that over the past 20 years there has been no significant decoupling of social origin, skills attained and type of school attended. On the contrary, pupils from economically weaker homes are still much less likely to attend more advanced types of schools and courses of education after primary school than their peers with a higher social status. It must also be seen as problematic that there are still social disparities in access to training and in training schedules. 

A large part of the current discussion is devoted to the growing mismatch between supply and demand in the training market. As the Education Report 2022 (Bildungsbericht 2022) and the Vocational Training Report 2023 (Berufsbildungsbericht 2023) reveal, for several years now a large number of unfilled training places has been offset by a large number of young people who remain unsuccessful in their search for a training place. A striking revelation is the considerable disparity in terms of qualifications, occupations and regions in the German training market. Whereas in some occupations and regions the number of training places on offer exceeds the number of young people interested in training, the situation in other segments is just the opposite. In general, it is clear that young people without a school leaving certificate, with a (poor) lower secondary school leaving certificate or a certificate from a special school find it more difficult to find a training place than young people with a higher certificate.

Another challenge is the increasing proportion of young people without formal vocational qualifications. Not only do they have worse income and employment opportunities than people with a vocational qualification, given the ongoing skills shortages on the labour market it is essential to exploit existing potential more effectively and once again guide more young adults towards a vocational qualification. 

Finally, the recent past has also seen special challenges in education in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. The Education Report 2022 (Bildungsbericht 2022) addresses the following aspects with regard to the pandemic: 

• Even though digital learning formats developed rapidly during the pandemic, they only partially compensated for the loss of face-to-face courses. 
• In the first year of the pandemic, in particular, the skills levels among pupils were significantly lower than those of their peers in previous years.
• The socio-emotional relationships of many pupils and students suffered due to distance learning and the closure of leisure facilities. This has also had an impact on mental well-being.
• In some education sectors, a lack of human resources made dealing with the coronavirus pandemic more difficult.
• The pandemic has led to increased uncertainty concerning decisions about further education. This became particularly clear in the transition from school to training. The discontinuation of career guidance services has also played a major part in this.
• Pandemic-related travel restrictions reduced international mobility for education participants. They impacted the mobility of pupils, trainees and students as well as participation in international voluntary services.

Organisation of the education and training system

As the German school system is federally organised, the school systems – and thus also provisions on compulsory schooling – differ between the individual federal states (see section on ‘Administration and governance’ for the distribution of responsibilities in the education sector between federal government and the federal states). In all federal states, compulsory schooling begins at the age of 6, although starting dates for school enrolment vary from state to state. In most federal states, compulsory schooling lasts nine – in some states ten – years of full-time school education. Young people who do not attend a full-time general or vocational school at upper secondary level are subject to compulsory part-time or vocational school attendance. This mainly applies to young people who are undergoing dual vocational training; part-time compulsory schooling usually lasts three years, but sometimes only two.

In most federal states, there is a three-tier school system following primary school: Hauptschule, Realschule and Gymnasium. In some states, the Hauptschule and Realschule are merged into one type of school; in addition, some school types offer several educational programmes. There are special educational institutions (Förderschulen) for young people with special educational needs, but the proportion of pupils with special educational needs who are taught at mainstream schools has risen sharply since 2007.

Within the vocational training system, a distinction must be made between dual and school-based training. Dual vocational training is based both in a company and at a vocational school, whereas school-based training takes place primarily at school. There is also a transition system, which comprises educational programmes that do not lead to a recognised vocational qualification, but instead seek to improve the skills of young people. The target group is generally young people with a lower secondary school leaving certificate or no school leaving certificate, but who have not yet completed their compulsory schooling. By attending a one-year training programme as part of the transition system, they are given an opportunity either to take up training or employment or catch up on a general school leaving qualification. The term ‘transition system’ refers to various measures that include, for example, the basic vocational training year (Berufsgrundbildungsjahr, BGJ) or vocational preparation programmes (Berufsvorbereitende Bildungsmaßnahmen, BvB).

Finally, in the tertiary education sector, a distinction can be made between universities and universities of applied sciences, as well as other institutions such as music academies or art colleges. In recent years, the dual study programme has gained in importance. This programme can take a variety of forms, but generally involves a university degree programme that is firmly integrated with placements within a company.

Further information on the German education system can also be found on Eurydice and in the report on the Education System in the Federal Republic of Germany (Bildungswesen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland) by the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK). The German Education Server also provides an overview of the education systems in the individual states. 

Main concepts

In order to understand the German education system, it is especially important to bear in mind the federal responsibilities. For example, in the area of school education in particular, competences lie with the federal states – with the consequence that the school landscape may differ significantly between some states. In order to nevertheless achieve a certain degree of comparability and common ground, the relevant activities are coordinated by the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (Kultusministerkonferenz, KMK), as the permanent representation of education ministers of the federal states.

Vocational education and training (VET) is also a special feature of the German education system. The most widespread form of training is the dual vocational training system, which combines learning at a company with learning at vocational school. The young people conclude a training contract with a company and receive a training allowance during their training. While the in-company part of training is essentially regulated at federal level by the Vocational Training Act (Berufsbildungsgesetz), the federal states are responsible for learning programmes at vocational schools. In order to keep pace with changes in the world of work, regulations on training are continually under revision. According to the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung, BIBB), there are currently 328 recognised dual training occupations.

In addition to dual training, there is also school-based training, in which trainees or students spend the majority of their training at a school and supplement their school-based learning with work placements. In contrast to dual vocational training, there is no training contract between the young people and a company; instead, responsibility for training programmes lies with the respective vocational school or college. School-based training plays a particularly important role in the areas of health, social affairs and education. How school-based training is specifically organised depends not only on the occupation but also on the federal state concerned, since the majority of school-based vocational training programmes are regulated by state law.

Vocational training can also be combined with a degree programme. This is the case with the dual study programme with integrated in-company training (ausbildungsintegrierendes duales Studium), in which vocational training at a company is firmly anchored in the study programme of a university or university of cooperative education. Students who complete a degree programme that integrates vocational training will be awarded a Bachelor’s degree with a completed vocational training course after three to four years. In addition to the dual study programme with integrated in-company training, there is also the dual study programme with integrated practical experience (praxisintegrierendes duales Studium), which provides for institutionally anchored practical components within companies. Here, in contrast to the dual study programme with integrated in-company training, no occupation is learned parallel to the Bachelor’s degree programme and fewer hours are spent at the company. However, some of the in-company practical experience can be counted towards the degree programme. In addition to dual study programmes that integrate training and practical experience, there are also mixed forms that cannot be clearly categorised. 

According to a study published in 2022 by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF), just under 60 per cent of dual study programmes integrate practical experience, and just under 35 per cent integrate vocational training. This means that almost 10 per cent of all degree programmes can be studied on a dual basis; dual study is most widespread in engineering and economics.