Schools in Germany for expat children: Kita, Grundschule and options

German school is a bit like German weather: it depends on where you are. There is no national education ministry running the schools. The 16 Länder do, and the differences are real, from the age at which children start to the number of years in primary school. The reassuring part is that once you understand the logic, it is stable and free. This guide to schools in Germany is built around that logic.

How does the German school system work?

Schooling is compulsory for every child who lives in Germany, whatever the nationality, in general from the year the child turns six, for nine years of full-time education. Afterwards, a young person who is not in full-time school goes to part-time vocational school, normally for three years.

The shape is: Grundschule (primary school), from grade 1 to 4, or to grade 6 in Berlin and Brandenburg; then secondary school, where children are steered towards different tracks. The Gymnasium leads to the Abitur (the university entrance diploma). Most Länder have replaced the old Hauptschule and Realschule with schools offering several tracks. The move depends on the primary school's recommendation and the Land's rules. Holidays are set Land by Land, staggered, and published by the KMK, the standing conference of education ministers.

How do you enrol a child who arrives from abroad?

1. Register the whole family at the registration office: your address decides the local primary school. See our Anmeldung guide.
2. Contact the school or the local education office (Schulamt). For a child arriving from abroad, the school authority decides the placement, and enrolment is possible during the school year.
3. Bring the papers: the child's registration certificate, passport or ID, recent reports and certificates (translated if possible) and the vaccination record. Federal law requires protection against measles.
4. Ask about German support. If the child does not speak German, ask about reception classes or extra German lessons. They vary by Land and municipality.
5. Look at private options early if you want a French or international school. Places and fees are decided by each school.

If your children are of different ages, you are choosing between a state and a French or international school, or you will move between Länder, the practical differences add up. Moovy can compare the options in plain English and tell you what to ask each school. It does not enrol your child for you.

What about nursery, Kita and after-school care?

From their first birthday, children have a legal right to a place in a Kita (Kindertagesstätte) or with a registered childminder (Tagesmutter), and from the age of three to a kindergarten place until they start school (§ 24 SGB VIII). Before one year, a place is guaranteed only if your needs justify it, for instance if you work, seek work or study.

The law is federal but the organisation, fees and waiting lists are local. Ask the youth office (Jugendamt) of your city, and register with several nurseries. The Länder may require notice: in Berlin, the application for a nursery voucher is made at the earliest nine months and at the latest two months before the start date. Berlin has made nursery care free since August 2018, with €23 a month for lunch and at most €100 a month for extra services. Elsewhere, fees are often income-based.

After school, children starting grade 1 from 2026/27 get a right to eight hours of care a day on weekdays until grade 5, introduced one grade a year: grade 1 in 2026/27, grades 1 and 2 in 2027/28, until the whole primary school is covered from 2029/30.

Which schools in Germany teach in French or English?

The AEFE directory lists French schools or franco-German schools in Berlin (École Voltaire and Lycée français), Bonn, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt (Lycée Victor-Hugo), Freiburg, Hamburg, Heidelberg, Munich (Lycée Jean-Renoir), Saarbrücken and Stuttgart. The Franco-German lycées in Freiburg and Saarbrücken prepare the Franco-German baccalaureate, a binational diploma created by the 1972 convention. It is not the same as the Abibac, a double Abitur and baccalauréat diploma offered in over 80 partner schools in each country. Ask each school which one it prepares. Fees are set by each school.

International schools teaching in English and other languages exist in the big cities. They are private and fee-paying.

What are the pitfalls?

• Counting on home education. It is not an alternative to attending school.
• Waiting for September to enrol. Report your child as soon as you arrive.
• Assuming the system is the same in every Land. Check starting age, length of primary school and track recommendations.
• Travelling in term time. Absences need prior permission, and a holiday is generally not accepted. Unauthorised absence can lead to fines in some Länder.
• Neglecting German. Even in an international school, German helps with daily life and later studies.

How are foreign qualifications recognised?

For higher education diplomas, the ZAB office evaluates them and runs the anabin database. For a school-leaving certificate, two cases: for university entry the university decides, and for professional use (starting an apprenticeship, for example) the Land's recognition office does, which you can find in anabin. A single school year abroad is not recognised on its own.

If you are weighing a city for your family, see our guide to the best places to live in Germany.

Can you homeschool in Germany?

In practice, no. The Schulpflicht is an obligation to attend a school, and the school laws of the Länder say that you meet it by going to one of the schools they list. In Bavaria, for example, article 36 of the school law lists the admitted schools, and not sending a child is an administrative offence, with fines set by article 119. Home education is not an alternative, and the fine amounts vary by Land. If you were homeschooling before you moved, plan your children's enrolment from the first day, and ask the local school office how your child will be placed. This is one of the most common surprises for families arriving in Germany, and the rule is the same for every nationality.

How do you choose between state, French and international schools?

Ask these questions in this order:

1. How long will you stay? A family staying a few years may prefer a school whose curriculum matches that of the home country, such as a French or international school. A family settling for good often chooses state schools, which are free and lead to the Abitur.
2. Which language will the child study in? State schools teach in German. Reception classes help children who arrive without it.
3. What will the next stage be? The Abitur opens German universities. The French baccalauréat and the Franco-German baccalauréat are options at certain schools. Check what each diploma opens before you commit.
4. What does it cost? State schools are free apart from supplies, trips and lunch. Private schools set their own fees, which you must ask them for.
5. Where is the school? For primary state school, your address decides the school in many places.

Schools in Germany differ from Land to Land, so write to the school you consider and ask for the current application rules and deadlines.

What about nurseries before school?

Do not wait for school age to plan. Nursery places are the real bottleneck in big cities, and you should register with several providers as soon as you know your address. Keep the proof of measles protection ready. See the section above on the legal rights, and ask the youth office for the registration portal of your city. Our guide to the best places to live in Germany compares what the four big cities offer.