The ("state examination" or "exam by state"; pl.: ''Staatsexamina'') is a German government licensing examination that future

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofacial c ...

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...

s, food chemists,

psychotherapist Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome prob ...

s and

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the U ...

s (i.e.,

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solicit ...

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

s, public prosecutors, civil-law notaries) as well as surveyors have to pass to be allowed to work in their profession. The examination is generally organized by government examination agencies which are under the authority of the responsible ministry. These agencies create examination commissions which consist of members of the examination agency, university professors and/or representatives from the professions. The Staatsexamina are both legally equivalent to a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in the respective operating ranges.

Overview

Graduating is separated into two independent sequences: the first and the second .

Student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementa ...

s usually study at university for 4–8 years before they participate at final examinations to graduate by the first . This shows the academic qualification and knowledge on theoretical and practical skills. Afterwards teachers and jurists continue to the practical phase of two to three years in their future jobs ending with an examination sequence in order to graduate by the second , which amongst others tests their professional skills in their respective jobs. In law, the first ''Staatsexamen'' (''Erste juristische Prüfung'', or first legal exam) since 2003 consists of two parts: The first part (the ''Schwerpunktbereich'', i.e. elective subject) is taken at the university level under the authority of the respective universities and at their discretion. The second part is taken at the ''

Oberlandesgericht An ''Oberlandesgericht'' (plural – ''Oberlandesgerichte''; OLG, en, Higher Regional Court, or in Berlin ''Kammergericht'': KG) is a higher court in Germany. There are 24 OLGs in Germany and they deal with civil and criminal matters. They a ...

e'' (Higher State Courts). The latter are often also the responsible authorities providing the administrative infrastructure during the '' Referendariat'' and in the end holding the exams of the second ''Staatsexamen''. Only a lawyer possessing both ''Staatsexamina'' is a fully qualified lawyer (''Volljurist'' or ''

Assessor An assessor may be: * ''Assessor'' (fish), a genus of fishes * Assessor (law), the assistant to a judge or magistrate * Assessor (Oxford), a senior officer of the University of Oxford * Assessor (property) Tax assessment, or assessment, is t ...

'') and hence entitled to appear in court whether as judge, prosecutor, attorney (assumed representation is mandatory) or as an agent for the government. The performance on both Staatsexamen is graded on a schale of 0 - 18 points. Four points are required for passing the exam and nine points are the threshold for an exam with "distinction". The career prospects of German jurists are uniquely shaped by the results of the Staatsexamen. Approximately 13% of each class achieve a "distinction" in both state exams. In medicine, the (''Ärztliche Prüfung'', or physician exam) consists of three parts as of 2013. The first part is taken after the first two years of the six-year medical degree, i.e., after the basic sciences part of the degree (somewhat similar to U.S. pre-med) whereas the second part is taken after the fifth year of studies. Following a practical year, the third part follows at the end of the six-year medical degree. In pharmacy, the (''Pharmazeutische Prüfung'', or pharmaceutical exam) consists of three parts. The first part is taken after the first two years of the four-year pharmacy degree, the second part at the end of the four-year pharmacy degree, and the third part after the so-called ''Praktisches Jahr'' (practical year) that prospective pharmacists have to take after graduation. In some cases, the second can be a substitute for a doctorate when it comes to applying for certain jobs at a university (i.e., ''Akademischer Rat'').

Teaching position

The training to become a teacher at a primary, secondary school, special school, junior high school or high school (grammar school) comprises two phases: the teacher training course as the first phase with two school subjects and an educational part, e.g. with pedagogy and pedagogical psychology, at a university or equivalent scientific college. The degree is the "First State Examination" (increasingly replaced by the Master of Education degree). Qualification in a third subject (additional subject, see additional subject), which is also examined in the exam, is possible as part of an additional examination. The one to two-year legal traineeship or preparatory service forms the second phase, which ends with the “second state examination”. Both consist of the grades obtained in the respective examination phase, in particular the two subject grades and a homework grade, in some cases further grades in educational science, and in the case of the second exam also from at least one general assessment of the trainee teacher by the trainer. In contrast to medical studies, for example, where the term "state examination" was also used for a while for another partial examination, the synonymous term "state examination" is regulated in the regulations for the teaching degree courses: In state law in Baden-Württemberg, for example, the Gymnasium teacher examination regulations I (GymPO I of July 31, 2009, valid from September 1, 2009 to December 31, 2024),.

References

Higher education in Germany Master's degrees {{Europe-edu-stub es:Examen