Secondary schools in Saarland

Last Updated on March 24, 2025

The school system in Saarland is simple – it would be strange to see something complicated in such a small federal land. But there are some peculiarities, explained by the historical and geographical connection with France. Some schools are full-day schools with compulsory attendance four days a week until 4 p.m.

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Education system in Baden-Württemberg
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Secondary schools in Schleswig Holstein
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and other federal lands – #Secondary schools in Germany

Secondary schools in Saarland – schema

Mandatory attendance

9 years + 3 years of vocational education or up to 18 years if the student does not have a place in training.

Types of certificates

Hauptschulabschluss – after 9th grade of Gemeinschaftschule.

Mittlerer Bildungsabschluss – after 10th grade of Gemeinschaftschule.

Fachhochschulreife – certificate for admission to Hochschule, but not universities

allgemeine Hochschulreife – certificate for admission to universities and equivalent Hochschule after 12th grade of gymnasium or 13th grade of Gemeinschaftschule

Secondary school in Saarland – first stage

Gemeinschaftsschule

Comprehensive schools where all three main types of certificates can be obtained. The Oberstufe can be in the school itself or in a gymnasium.

Unlike a gymnasium, such a school also has labor as a compulsory subject.

From the 5th grade, two foreign languages ​​are studied (English and French), one of which (or both for the gymnasium level) is considered compulsory, the other – as a course to facilitate communication at home and at work.

Different levels are achieved through courses or intra-class groups. From the 7th grade, an additional compulsory subject is chosen:
a second language
or a language course + economics and profession
or another subject offered by the given school.

Hauptschulabschluss – after 9th grade

Mittlerer Bildungsabschluss – after 10th grade

Fachhochschulreife – after 2 years of Oberschule, only the school part (pratice for 6 month is necessary)

allgemeine Hochschulreife – after 13th grade

European school

Since 2021, the European School has been operating in Saarbrücken, where students study from grade 1 to the European Abitur, which is accepted in all participating countries. Primary school lasts 5 years, secondary school – 7 years.

It is a full-day school where some classes have German as their main language and others have English as their main language.

Children from Saarbrücken, as well as children of employees of European, international and scientific organizations, can enroll in the school.

The main emphasis is on multilingualism and information technology.

Hauptschulabschluss

Mittlerer Bildungsabschluss

Fachhochschulreife – only school part

European Baccalaureate – a certificate that allows admission to universities in all participating countries

Gymnasium

Standard 8-year gymnasium.

Profiles: Natural Sciences, Computer Science, MINT with Computer Science, Music, Biology. Some profiles are linked to a specific first language and are not offered for another.

In Saarland there are gymnasiums with bilingual classes (English or French). The Gymnasium am Rotenbühl Saarbrücken has classes for athletes.

allgemeine Hochschulreife – after 12th grade

Vocational schools

Since Saarland is a small federal state, neighboring states provide the opportunity to study there. Which specialties are taught where can be found on the federal state website. Since 2014, this also includes France.

Berufsschule

Dual education with a contract at work. Lasts from 2 to 3.5 years. School education can be 2 times a week or a block of several weeks.

Hauptschulabschluss

Mittlerer Bildungsabschluss

In some schools, you can attend additional classes in parallel with the 3-year vocational education and receive:

Fachhochschulreife

Berufsfachschule

2-2.5 year Berufsfachschule provide the opportunity to obtain professional knowledge and different certificates. Education is structured in such a way that an intermediate certificate can be obtained after just one year of study. After completing it, you can go to Fachoberschule.

Profiles:

• health and society
• technic
• economics and management
• gastronomy and food

There are separate schools for Kinderpfleger (child care) and for Haushaltsführung und ambulante Betreuung (household management and outpatient care).

Hauptschulabschluss

Mittlerer Bildungsabschluss

Fachoberschule

Fachoberschule accepts students with a Mittlerer Bildungsabschluss:
and a place in production – in the 11th grade, where half of the week is devoted to theoretical classes at school, and the other half to practice
or directly to the 12th grade, if basic vocational education in this specialty has already been received.

Profiles:

design
food and economy (food technology)
engineering (technology and technical mathematics), technical informatics (technical communications), environmental engineering and biology
health and society (pedagogy, psychology, care, sociology)
economics, economic informatics, tourism, French in economics and management

You can get Fachhochschulreife.

Fachhochschulreife

Fachschule

Fachschule are designed to improve qualifications and take people with at least one year of work experience. In addition, you must have a certain level of certification and professional education in a suitable field.

Akademie für Betriebs- und Unternehmensführung – business management, logistics, marketing, investment, personnel management. They take with a real school certificate, vocational education and work experience of at least one year. Part-time training for 3 years. It is possible to obtain an international MBA

Akademie für Erzieher und Erzieherinnen – Fachschule für Sozialpädagogik – educators and social workers. They accept either those with 4 years of work experience + a real school certificate and vocational education, or those with a higher level of certificate + a social year. Part-time training for 4 years (1 of which is practice) or full-time training for 3 years (1 year of practice)

Fachschule für das Hotel- und Gaststättengewerbe – Hauptschulabschluss, vocational education in the required field plus at least 2 years of experience (or just vocational education and 6 years of work in the required field). Restaurant and hotel business. The training lasts 2 years with part-time employment.

Fachschule für Meister/ innen der Hauswirtschaft – management of household. Basic vocational education in this area and work experience are required. Part-time training for 2 years.

Fachschule für Technik – advanced training in various technical fields. Training lasts 2 years (full-time) – 4 years (part-time).

Fachhochschulreife

Berufliches Oberstufengymnasium

The upper level of a gymnasium with a focus on one profession or another.

It lasts three years, and students are accepted with a mittlerer Bildungsabschluss (i.e. a certificate of a real school) with good grades. Students from regular gymnasiums can be accepted after the 9th grade.

Profiles:

• health and society (pedagogy and psychology)
• metal and electrical engineering
• biotechnology and bioinformatics
• information and communication technologies
• economics
  

allgemeine Hochschulreife –after 13th grade

Höhere Berufsfachschule

This is an alternative to Hochschule (as far as I can tell, a purely Saarland variant). It offers rapid acquisition of a profession at the institute level. Accepted with Fachhochschulreife or Abitur.

Höhere Berufsfachschule für Automatisierungstechnik – 2 years, computer science, databases.

Höhere Berufsfachschule für Fremdsprachen in Wirtschaft und Verwaltung – 3 years (2 years of study and 1 year of practice abroad), economics and management in international business. Knowledge of one of three languages ​​is required, training is conducted partially in the language being studied.

Höhere Berufsfachschule für das Hotel-, Gaststätten- und Fremdenverkehrsgewerbe – 3 years (2 years of study and 1 year of practice abroad), hotel and tourism business, event organization. Knowledge of a foreign language is required.

Berufsfachschule für Wirtschaftsinformatik – 2 years, economic informatics, programming and system administration

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