The Abitur
Germany's upper secondary diploma: how the final grade is built from two years of courses and the exams.
The Abitur ends the Gymnasium years in Germany and gives the general higher education entrance qualification. Its final grade, from 1.0 to 4.0, comes from the last two years of courses and the Abitur exams, and decides entry to many university programmes.
Education is run by the 16 federal states, so the number of exams, the subjects you must take and the minimum points differ. Check your state's rules (the Oberstufenverordnung) with your school.
Overview
The Abitur is less a single exam than a two-year qualification. From the start of the qualification phase, usually the last two years of Gymnasium, almost every course result goes into the final total. The exams at the end then add the rest. Because each federal state runs its own schools, the details vary, but the framework is shared nationally, and since 2017 the states draw part of their exam tasks in German, maths, English and French from a common pool to make results more comparable.
The final grade matters a great deal. Popular subjects such as medicine, psychology and law select many students by Abitur grade, and the cut-off can sit close to 1.0. That is why it pays to plan early: choose advanced courses you are strong in, keep course results up across all four semesters and practise the exam format with past papers. A tutor can help most where one subject keeps pulling the average down.
How the Abitur is built
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Qualification phase
The courses of the last two years, each marked from 0 to 15 points. Most of them count towards Block I.
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Advanced courses
Two or three subjects taken at a higher level (Leistungskurse or eA), which weigh more.
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Written exams Often 4 to 5 hours
Usually three or four, including your advanced subjects. German, maths and the main languages share tasks from a national pool.
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Oral exam or project About 20 to 30 minutes
An oral exam, or in some states a presentation or special project, completes the five.
How it's scored
The total is made of two blocks: Block I, the course results of the qualification phase (up to 600 points), and Block II, the five Abitur exams weighted four times (up to 300 points). You need at least 300 of the 900 points, plus minimums set by your state in each block. A national formula turns the points into the final grade: 823 points or more gives 1.0, and 300 points gives 4.0.
How to prepare
- Every course in the qualification phase counts, so steady work matters as much as the exams.
- Choose your advanced courses with your future programme in mind: they weigh more.
- Practise with past Abitur papers from your state, and with the national pool tasks published by the IQB.
- Check the grade your target programme needed last year (the Numerus clausus).
Official pages
Dates, registration and fees change from year to year, so check them on the official pages.