Some people like it, some don't - but everyone knows it: School!
I think, most of us here go to school/college/university as well - this is why I thought I could talk about the German school system. Could be interesting for the parties concerned, hm?



Okay, let me start with the first years of education: day nursery, kindergarten and preschool.

There is actually not much to talk about. Most kids attend the day nursery in their first two years, then switch to kindergarten from for next two (3/4 years old) and then, with 5, they switch once again to preschool. Most of the time those three things are all together. Like the day nursery, kindergarten and preschool are in the same building.

However, this isn't always the case - sometimes it's three different addresses you have to go to. And then, some kids also don't attend any of these (we only have a limited number of slots and then, a few parents also don't want their kids to go there).

(No grades are given in these years - you only learn how to get along with other children)

---

Elementary school

Once preschool is over, things are getting tough. From elementary school on you have to go to school. In Germany there is a compulsory education, means if you don't attend school, you'll get in trouble with the law. So yeah, basically every child attends elementary school then.

Elementary school goes 4 years.
In the first grade you only learn reading, writing, addition and subtraction (oh, and the numbers up to 100). Also, in these time period you won't get any grades. The only thing you'll get is smilies.

Laughing smiley - the best you can get
Smiling smiley - second best
Meh smiley - still satisfying
Sad smiley - not satisfying anymore

From second grade, however, you'll get the normal grades then. Also, you'll have other classes from then on. For example I had something called general studies where we talked about things from the fields biology, geography, our environment, etc.
Also, at this point you'll start with small presentations, dictations, multiplying and dividing (and the numbers up to 1000)

For third and fourth grade there is not much to say. Basically the same topics but a bit more advanced, more numbers, harder arithmetic problems - such things.

---

Orientation stage

Okay, now it's getting a bit more complicated. Orientation stage is the fifth and sixth grade basically. And here you have two ways to get through this stage.

Regionalschule:
This is the most common way and the way how most students do it. They spend these two years in the Regionalschule.

Gymnasium (no, not the place where you do sports):
This only do a few students. You need to know...Gymnasium was made for smart student. So, to come to the point, the life at the Gymnasium is harder. And to get accepted for it in the orientation stage you need to take an intelligenze test.

If you have an IQ of 130 or higher, you'll get accepted and can spend your two years of orientation stage at the Gymnasium. Students who get accepted are "highly gifted" (that's how we call them).

---

The years after orientation stage

Regionalschule:
After these two years, you can still stay at the Regionalschule. However, the level in the Regionalschule is lower - means, you don't learn as much as you do at the Gymnasium (you learn the most important things, yes, but at the Gymnasium you get more extra information).
Also, if you want to graduate at the Regionalschule, you only have to go to school till tenth grade. However, then you only have a "mittlere Reife" graduation. This can be translated to "meh" graduation.

Gymnasium:
When you think you're smart enough for the Gymnasium, you can also transfer schools and attend this school type from then on (if you attended the Regionalschule before).
For this, you don't need a test anymore. However, the teachers will give you a recommendation if they think that you're smart enough for the Gymnasium. (You can also go without that recommendation but I saw it with others that they had really lots of problems then)

If you are "highly gifted", then it's only logical to stay at the Gymnasium. However, since you are "highly gifted", you won't be in one class with those who joined after transferring schools (those who transfer from Regionalschule to Gymnasium are only "gifted"). They'll stay in the same class as before, so that the "highly gifted" and the "gifted" will get the appropriate education (obviously, the highly gifted get some harder things than the gifted)

---

What happens after tenth grade?

Regionalschule:
You graduated. You're done with school. You have a "meh" graduation.

Gymnasium:
You still have two more years of school. These count as graduation preparation. After that you'll have your examinations and if you pass you graduated. You have your prom. You're done with school. You have the best graduation possible (called: Abitur).

---

Apprenticeship and college/university

Okay, so in Germany you can do two things to master a job: Start an apprenticeship or study at college/university.

How do I know if I should start an apprenticeship or go to college/university?
Well, that depends on the job you want to do. If you want to be a doctor, you have to go to university; if you want to study media design, you have to go to college; if you want to be a baker, you have to start an apprenticeship.

It really mostly depends on the job. Sometimes you also have the choice. For example: You can start an apprenticeship for graphic design; or you can study communication design with the main focus on graphics. It's basically for the same job. However, if you went to college/university, it always sounds better xD Plus, often you also get more money when you attended college/university.

---

Miscellaneous things

- the rules and laws for the school system vary from Federal state to Federal state (I can only talk about the things in my state, obviously)
- for example, in some states, you have 13 grades and not only 12 (you talk about the same things, but when you have 12 grades, it's more rushed than it is with 13 grades // 12 grades are more stressful)
- Other than "mittlere Reife" and "Abitur", you can also have the "Hauptschulabschluss" (leaving school after 9 years - worst graduation, I think)
- for most of the jobs here, you only get accepted with an "Abitur". So if you have "mittlere Reife" or "Hauptschulabschluss", you can't do much because most of the time you won't get accepted
- English class: In some schools it starts in first grade, in other schools it starts in third grade, in other schools it starts in fifth grade - it always depends
- Other foreign languages: Each school offers different foreign languages to learn. This always depends on if they have teachers for it. Most of the time they offer French and Spanish. And sometimes, when they have the teachers, they also offer Russian and Latin
- extracurricular activities: are offered in most schools (in my state, they just introduced a new law: Everyone under tenth grade has to be active in extracurricular activites - cruel, hm? Thank goodness, I'm eleventh grade xD)
- homeschooling isn't allowed

---

The German grading system

Okay, so we have:

1
2
3
4
5
6

These are our grades. I don't know, are you familiar with the American "A, B, C,..." system? Then you can easily compare the German grading system with that.

1 = A
2 = B
3 = C
4 = D
5 = (would be E then)
6 = F

Yes, we have something between 4 (D) and 6 (F) - and the 5 also counts as failed. I don't know why you have two grades for failing - failed is failed, after all - but we have it xD (Maybe to show you that you almost passed? xD)

And then we also have + and -
So B+, A-, C+, etc. We just don't have F+ and F- xD

Oh, and then, for 11th and 12th (and 13th) grade, we also have another grading system!

	+	regular	-
1 = A	15	14	13
2 = B	12	11	10
3 = C	9	8	7
4 = D	6	5	4
5(= E)	3	2	1
6 = F		0

 
This is basically the conversion table. 15 points would be a 1+ (A+), 5 points would be a regular 4(D) and 7 points would be a 3- (C-) - does that make sense?

Anyway, this is the grading system for those in their graduation preparation.

Here, you can also find another conversion table that shows the comparison between German and American and British grading system:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
(I didn't mention the descriptor grades because we use them only rarely // also, as you can see, they showed the grading system for colleges/universities - I can't confirm that because I'm still a student at school xD But it should be right)

---

How to calculate your grade average (only for 1st to 10th grade):

1. Take all the grades you got in that class and add up the figures
2. Take the sum you got and divide it by the number of grades you got in total

Example:
Let's assume, these are my grades in math:
1 // 2 // 4 // 3 // 2 // 2 // 2

Now I start calculating. Step 1:
1 + 2 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 2
= 16

Step 2:
16 : 7 (because I got 7 grades)
= 2,285...

This will be rounded to 2 now. Means, at the end I'd get a 2 on my report card.
((when I have an average of .5, the teacher can decide which grade they want to give me))

---

S U M M A R Y:
- you have 12/13 years of school
- before that you attend day nursery, kindergarten and preschool
- after elementary school, there are two ways to continue your school career: Gymnasium (good intelligence test for acceptance needed) and Regionalschule
- after 6th grade, you can switch from Regionalschule to Gymnasium (if you didn't do so yet)
- Regionalschule gives you a "meh" graduation after 10 years; Gymnasium gives you the best graduation possible after 12/13 years
- for a "Hauptschulabschluss" you can leave Regionalschule/Gymnasium after ninth grade (no examinations needed) - there are also so-called "Hauptschulen" where school really ends after ninth grade (the niveau of these school isn't really high though)
- people with "meh" graduation and "Hauptschulabluss" have problems with finding a well-paid job
- if you need an apprenticeship or college/university graduation depends on the job
- we have a grading system similar to the American "A, B, C,..." system
- though the grading system changes for 11th and 12th (and 13th grade)

So, I personally like our school system. I think the idea of Regionalschule and Gymnasium is pretty good, giving everyone the chance to get the best education for them possible.
Those who need more time to learn can go to the Regionalschule while those who would be bored by the slow pace can attend the Gymnasium. I think it's a good way to give everyone a fair chance.

Granted, the chances of getting a job with "meh" graduation (the one you get at the Regionalschule) is pretty small. But still - it's more probable to get one with a good "meh" graduation than with a bad Abitur.

What about you? What do you think about our school system? Are there any questions or comments you'd like to share with us? =)

I can't really answer that because it really depends on the Federal state (and its rules) and on the schools. Every school differs, really, and I can't really say that. However, these were my classes last year:

- German class (3 times a week)

- Math class (4 times a week)

- English class (4 times a week)

- Spanish class (3 times a week)

- Latin class (4 times a week)

- History class (twice a week)

- Politics class (once a week)

- Economics class (twice a week)

- Religion class (once a week)

- Geography class (twice a week)

- Biology class (once a week)

- Chemistry class (twice a week)

- Physics class (twice a week)

- Music class (once a week)

- Arts class (once a week)

- Physical Education (twice a week)

- StuO (on my school only - really not cool) (once a week)

- Klassenleiterstunde (time to talk with your teacher about organizational stuff) (once a week)

Also, I should note that one period goes 45 minutes from 7th till 10th grade (I say it again: in my school, that is)!

However, the schedule changes a lot once you come into the graduation preparation (11th and 12th grade): Instead of having around 20 classes, you're allowed to drop seven or eight, so that you can focus on only these classes. These are my new classes, for example:

German - advanced course (twice a week)
Math - advanced course (twice a week)
History - advanced course (twice a week)
English - advanced course (twice a week)
Biology - advanced course (twice a week)
Arts - advanced course (twice a week)
Religion (once a week)
Geography (once a week)
Politics (once a week)
Latin (once a week)
Sports (once a week)

Here, I should maybe mention that one period goes 90 minutes, instead of 45.