Schools in Berlin for newcomer families

Compulsory general schooling in Berlin lasts ten school years, completed at a primary school and then a secondary school. It applies to all children who live in Berlin, whatever their nationality, including children with a temporary residence permit and children of asylum seekers. If the ten years have not been completed, the obligation lasts until the 18th birthday.

The obligation is met by attending a public school or a state-approved private substitute school (Ersatzschule, see below). Teaching your child at home instead of school is not permitted. The district school office monitors that compulsory schooling is met.

Attending a public school is free. Berlin's Senate Department for Education states this explicitly in its information for newly arrived families.

• Primary school (Grundschule) lasts six years, longer than in most other German states. Grades 1 and 2 form a flexible starting phase (Schulanfangsphase). Most children complete it in two years, some in one or three, without this counting as repeating a year.
• Secondary school starts in grade 7. There are three main types:
  • Integrierte Sekundarschule (ISS): leads to all school-leaving qualifications, including the Abitur after 13 school years.
  • Gymnasium: academic track, leading to the Abitur after 12 school years.
  • Gemeinschaftsschule: children learn together from grade 1 to 10 at one school and can stay on to the Abitur after 13 years.
• Some Gymnasien (grundständige Gymnasien) take high-achieving pupils from grade 5.
• Qualifications include the Abitur (university entrance), the intermediate school-leaving certificate (MSA) and the vocational qualifications BBR/eBBR.

Who starts when. Children who turn six by 30 September start school on 1 August of that year. For the school year 2027/28, this means all children born between 1 October 2020 and 30 September 2021.

Registration. The district school office writes to families to tell them which primary school is responsible for their address. You then register your child at that school during the registration period, which for school entry in 2027 is 5 to 16 October 2026. Bring your ID, the child's birth certificate and ID, and, if you want after-school care, the application for it. If you moved to Berlin after the letters were sent, contact your district school office directly.

School health check. Before school entry, the district's child and youth health service (Kinder- und Jugendgesundheitsdienst) examines every child. You receive the appointment details around registration.

Earlier or later. Children born between 1 October 2021 and 31 March 2022 can start in 2027 on application if they do not need language support. Applications to postpone school entry for 2027 must be submitted by 26 February 2027, with a statement from the Kita and a doctor's assessment.

A different school. You can ask in writing, with reasons, for a place at another school when you register. Whether it is granted depends on free capacity at that school.

Each Berlin primary school has a catchment area (Einschulungsbereich) set by the district. Children are normally admitted to the school of the area they live in. A request for a different school is granted only if that school has free capacity. Before you sign a lease, it can help to check which primary schools are near the address. Use the official school search by distance and the Berlin school directory, and ask the district school office which school is responsible for a specific address.

Register your child as soon as you live in Berlin. The steps are:

1. Contact the coordination office for welcome classes (Koordinierungsstelle für Willkommensklassen) of the district where you live. It is part of the district school office. Bring, if you have them, ID documents, your registration certificate and school reports. A missing registration certificate or ID should not delay registration; they can be handed in later.
2. The coordination office assesses your child's German and arranges a school medical check, which is required for children who have lived outside Germany.
3. The authority decides on the school and class, based on age, the language assessment and the medical check, and informs you.
4. You register your child at the assigned school with your ID, the child's birth certificate, other documents and school reports.

Where your child goes depends on age:

• Up to about seven: directly into the flexible starting phase of a primary school, with additional German support.
• From grade 3: a welcome class or a regular class with extra German lessons.
• From about 12: a welcome class or regular class at a secondary school.
• From 16: usually a welcome class at a vocational school (Oberstufenzentrum). Young people register through the clearing office for vocational schools (Klärungsstelle).

Welcome classes are small, temporary groups, typically around 12 pupils, at ordinary schools. They focus on German but also teach subjects such as maths and English, and pupils join regular lessons in subjects like sport, music and art from early on. The aim is a quick move into a regular class: at primary level, level A2 German is recommended; at secondary level, at least A2 in reading and writing and B1 in listening and speaking. The move can happen at any time in the school year. Staying longer than 12 months requires a justified application by the school, so for most children the welcome class lasts up to about a year.

Children with good prior schooling can also be placed directly into a regular class if the school, parents and coordination office agree.

Contact the school office of your district. It is responsible for school places and will want to know your child's age and school history. Bring school reports from the last two school years, any certificates of completion or promotion, and details of foreign languages and science subjects studied. For questions about teaching content or special needs, the district's school supervisory authority (Schulaufsicht) can advise.

In grade 6, every child receives a secondary school recommendation (Förderprognose). It is based on grades in German, maths and the first foreign language from the second half of grade 5 and the first half of grade 6:

• If the sum of these grades is 14 or lower, the child may apply to a Gymnasium.
• If the sum is higher, the child can still apply to a Gymnasium after passing a trial lesson test (Probeunterricht) in German, maths and general learning skills. In 2026 this took place on 20 February, after registration on 9 and 10 February.

Parents then register their child at their first-choice school, naming three preferences. In 2026 the registration week was 5 to 12 March. If a school has more applicants than places, up to 10 percent of places go to hardship cases and siblings, at least 60 percent are allocated by the school's own performance criteria, and 30 percent by lottery. Pupils at a Gemeinschaftsschule simply continue into grade 7 there.

The Staatliche Europa-Schule Berlin is a public, free, bilingual school model that exists only in Berlin. Lessons are taught half in German and half in a partner language, by native-speaking teachers, from grade 1 up to the MSA or Abitur. There are nine language pairs: German with English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Greek, Russian, Polish or Turkish, at 18 primary schools and 15 secondary schools.

Admission to grade 1 requires a language test before school entry. A child must speak German or the partner language at a native-speaker level for their age; bilingual children are tested in both. Places are split equally between the three language groups (German first language, partner language first language, bilingual), and siblings and children reaching school age are prioritised; otherwise places are allocated by lottery. The test can only be taken once and must be completed by the end of the first half of the school year before entry (around the end of January), so contact the SESB schools for your language pair in the autumn before your child starts at the latest. Families not yet living in Berlin can be considered if they show they will be resident here at least two weeks before school starts.

Later entry is possible if there are free places and the child's language skills are sufficient. Beyond the SESB, several Gymnasien and secondary schools teach some subjects in a foreign language. Use the school directory to filter by languages and special offers.

Berlin has schools run by independent providers (Schulen in freier Trägerschaft), including denominational, alternative-pedagogy, bilingual and international schools. Two legal categories matter:

• Ersatzschule (substitute school): approved by the state as an equivalent to a public school. Attending it fulfils compulsory schooling. Under the German Basic Law, approval requires that the school does not separate pupils according to their parents' wealth, so fees must not make the school accessible only to well-off families.
• Ergänzungsschule (supplementary school): attending it does not fulfil compulsory schooling.

Before enrolling your child at an international or private school, ask the school in writing which status it has, and confirm with your district school office that attending it meets your child's compulsory schooling. Fees, admission rules and curricula vary by school; compare them directly with each school. The Berlin school directory lists private schools alongside public ones.

• Lunch is free for all pupils in Berlin primary schools, grades 1 to 6 (2026).
• After-school care (ergänzende Förderung und Betreuung, eFöB, often still called Hort) is available at primary schools from early morning until 18:00 and in the holidays. It is free in grades 1 to 3 (2026). Apply for it together with the school registration.
• From the school year 2026/27, federal law gives children starting grade 1 a legal right to all-day care of eight hours on weekdays until they reach grade 5. Lessons, all-day school programmes and eFöB count towards it; ask your school how its offer covers your working hours.

Pupils must show proof of measles protection: at least two vaccinations or proof of immunity from age two, or a doctor's certificate of a medical reason not to vaccinate. Unlike at a Kita, a missing proof does not stop your child from going to school, because school is compulsory. The school must report the case to the public health office (Gesundheitsamt), which can impose fines. Bring the vaccination record (Impfpass) or a foreign vaccination certificate when you register.

• District school office (Schulamt): school places, catchment areas, school changes.
• Coordination office for welcome classes in each district: newly arrived children without German.
• SIBUZ, the school psychology and inclusion advice centres in every district: free, confidential advice on learning difficulties, special educational needs, behaviour and gifted children.
• The Senate Department's information point at Bernhard-Weiß-Straße 6, 10178 Berlin (post@senbjf.berlin.de) answers general questions about schools.