The Hauptschulabschluss (), Berufsreife or Berufsbildungsreife () is a school leaving certificate in Germany. The Hauptschulabschluss may be awarded to students who graduate from a
Hauptschule
A ''Hauptschule'' (, "general school") is a secondary school in Germany, starting after four years of elementary schooling (''Grundschule''), which offers Lower Secondary Education (Level 2) according to the International Standard Classification ...
or
Abendhauptschule. It may also be awarded to students who leave the
Realschule
Real school (, ) is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), F ...
,
Gymnasium or the
Gesamtschule
A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...
after having successfully completed 9th or 10th grade (depending on the
State of Germany
The Federal Republic of Germany is a federation and consists of sixteen partly sovereign ''states''. Of the sixteen states, thirteen are so-called area-states ('Flächenländer'); in these, below the level of the state government, there is a ...
).
Those who receive the ''Hauptschulabschluss'' may start an apprenticeship (Ausbildung) and enroll in a
vocational school
A vocational school (alternatively known as a trade school, or technical school), is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary education#List of tech ed skills, secondary or post-secondar ...
(Berufsschule) or they may also enroll in another school in order to receive other school leaving certificates such as the
Mittlere Reife
The Mittlere Reife (, lit. ''"Middle Maturity"'') is a school-leaving certificate in Germany that is usually awarded after ten years of schooling. It is roughly comparable with the British GCSE.
The official name varies between the federal st ...
.
Education in Germany
School qualifications
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