Germany is in Central Europe, bordering the North Sea and the Baltic Sea between the Netherlands and Poland, and to the south of Denmark. It has land boundaries with Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland.
Germany is a founding member of the European Union and has the biggest population of any EU country. German is the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Since reunification in 1990 the Federal Republic of Germany is made up of 16 federal states (Bundesländer).
The population is 82.5 million at present although the low birth rate means that the projected population for 2050 is between 69 and 74 million.
Germany is the world's third largest economy, producing automobiles, precision engineering products, electronic and communications equipment, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, and much more besides. Its companies have invested heavily in the central and east European countries which joined the EU in 2004. The GDP per capita is USD 27,100, Germany is ranked 13th in world.
Angela Merkel, leader of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), has been chancellor since late November 2005. In the general elections two months earlier the results were so close that, after lengthy talks, a "grand coalition" was formed with the CDU, its Bavarian CSU allies and the left of centre Social Democrat Party (SPD), that had previously been in power. The coalition's key task is to revive the economy.
The truly federal nature of Germany can be recognised nowhere quite so clearly as in the education system. Each state is fairly autonomous in the organisation of its education system. Therefore there are 16 education ministries and 16 education ministers. The federal constitution gives the individual states their "cultural sovereignty". Although the states have taken steps to ensure a high degree of uniformity in their individual systems, there are some quite major differences.
There is also a federal ministry of education & research which can table issues, advise the Länder and signed Germany up for the Bologna process. Its main responsibilities lie in the area of research support, such as funding for the German research council, the Max Planck, Helmholtz and Leibniz institutes and specific research areas.
Compulsory school attendance varies slightly from state to state and the total period involved can be either nine or ten years. All children first attend Grundschulen (primary school) for either four or six years, depending on the state they live in. The school starting age has recently been lowered to 5 ½. Many schools have introduced English from the first year on. The system then becomes highly selective. With a recommendation from, and in consultation with the class teacher, the parents decide whether their child should attend a Hauptschule, a Realschule or a Gymnasium (grammar school). In some (new) states Haupt- and Realschulen are combined and called Mittel- or Regelschule. Some states do have Gesamtschulen (comprehensive schools) which offer all the three types of secondary schools under one roof.
The majority of schools in Germany are state schools. The normal school day used to be mornings only but, since the implementation in 2003 of the capital spending program “Zukunft Bildung und Betreuung” (future education and care), there has been a marked increase in all-day schooling throughout Germany. Today there are almost 3.000 all-day schools. There are many bilingual schools and Europa schools throughout Germany. The private school sector in Germany is small but growing - in Germany the huge number of schools run by the two major Christian churches do not count as private schools.
In Germany, vocational training is based on a "dual" system which is similar to modern apprenticeships in the UK. Training is provided by companies for three or four days per week and trainees additionally attend courses at a vocational college for one or two days per week. Trainees receive a token wage (training allowance) of approximately GBP 200 - 300 per month. The costs for vocational training are largely borne by the companies.
A law for vocational training (Berufsbildungsgesetz) provides the framework for training but the actual implementation is the responsibility of training organisations, professional bodies and trade corporations (Handwerkskammern). Specific requirements must be met by companies offering traineeships as they are subject to regulation. The length of training (two or three years) generally depends on the training aim and the school-leaving certificate.
After the implementation of the Vocational Training Reform Act in January 2005, a vocational training qualification can now be linked with secondary or advanced school qualifications. For the first time, the new Vocational Training Act makes training periods abroad an equal part of recognised training under the dual system. Germany furthermore participates in the European activities to improve the mutual recognition of qualifications within the European Union. A credit point system for vocational qualifications is to be developed for this purpose.
A German pupil passing the Abitur (A -Level equivalent) automatically qualifies for entrance to university, technical university or polytechnic (Fachhochschule often refer to themselves in English as University of Applied Sciences) and/ or colleges of art and music. A slightly lower qualification Fachhochschulreife is sufficient to qualify for admission to technical colleges. The large number of applicants for some subjects (e.g. medicine, business studies, law, etc.) deemed it necessary to impose admission restrictions - numerus clausus. Accordingly special admission procedures apply to these subjects.
Fachhochschulen are more practice-oriented and follow a precise syllabus which is subdivided into basic and main studies with either spells of practical work during semester breaks or, alternatively, a practical semester. Most Fachhochschulen have already switched to the new Bologna structure, i.e. a highly structured three year BA course plus the option for a two year MA.
Universities are generally more academic and prepare students for work in a profession in which they can apply scientific knowledge and methods. A university level degree is usually required for appointments to senior positions in business and public administration. It is also essential for many of the liberal professions like lawyers and medical doctors. The duration of study may vary between four and seven years depending on the subjects studied and the level of qualification being attained, e.g. Staatsexamen (state examination), Diplom, Magister or doctorate.
The curriculum varies widely from subject to subject and used to be subdivided into Grundstudium (basic studies) and Hauptstudium (main studies). There are regulations specifying the content and the structure of the study course, for example the number of lectures, exercises, seminars or practical sessions that have to be attended, and whether the student has to pass an examination or hold a dissertation to obtain the final qualification or whether he or she just receives a certificate. Whilst the regulations for some subjects of study (e.g. sociology, arts and languages) allow a relatively wide degree of freedom in the structure of the curriculum, courses for subjects like natural sciences and medicine are more rigidly organised.
Higher education institutes are reforming their degree courses to the two-cycle bachelor/ master system as per the Bologna declaration, this transformation should be completed nation-wide by 2010. The almost 3,000 bachelor's and master's courses offered in the summer semester 2005 account for about 27 percent of the overall range of studies available in Germany. The new study courses are offered in modules. More than 70 percent of these courses include a credit point system and examinations which accompany courses.
The Bologna process means that German universities have become rather innovative at introducing highly specific Master courses. Most of them last for about two years, but there are also 18 month courses as well as 12 month courses comparable to UK M.A.s.
According to the German Rectors' Conference (Hochschulrektorenkonferenz – HRK) there are 339 listed higher education institutions throughout Germany; 233 state HEIs, 64 private HEIs with state recognition and 42 church HEIs with state recognition. The total number students in 2005 was 1,716,774
On 23 June 2005 the individual Länder and the national government all signed up to a new Excellence initiative in order to support world class research at German universities. The programme will distribute 1,9 billion euros between 2006 and 2011, the financing is split 75 percent from central government and 25 percent from the federal states themselves. The focus is on clusters of excellence, PG/ graduate schools and the development of world class research projects.
Three universities were chosen to become the first elite universities in Germany the Technical University Munich, the Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich and the University of Karlsruhe. Further successful institutions will be announced in October 2007.
German universities are increasingly interested in recruiting international students in particular top post graduate and research students. International students are not charged more than home students and German HEIs are stepping up active recruitment e.g. through GATE Germany and the DAAD. To this end many German HEIs are increasing the offer of courses taught in English. German universities have just started to introduce fees. Again it varies from state to state but the majority have set their fees at 500 euros per semester.
The recent reforms in the German HE system have not yet had a negative effect on the number of students going abroad. The growth rate for German students choosing the UK in 2006 was five percent.
According to the DAAD report “Wissenschaft weltoffen 2005” (which only provides figures for destination of German students studying abroad from 2002) the UK was the top destination followed closely by the USA and then Switzerland, France, Austria, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Australia and Italy.
According to the HESA statistics for 2005/ 2006 there were 16,630 German students in the UK. Germany therefore was ranked seventh after China, USA, India, Greece, the Irish Republic and France. In addition to that Germany is ranked second as country of origin for foreign university lecturers in the UK.
The top subjects of choice that German students study both at home and abroad are, in order: Law, Economics, Business Administration & Social Sciences; Languages, Cultural Studies & Sport; Mathematics & Natural Sciences; Engineering.
German Erasmus figures are, according to the DAAD statistics for 2004/2005: 22,427 students outgoing and 2,575 outgoing lecturers. Through their international HE agency, DAAD, the German government supports a policy to internationalise German students. The DAAD provides a range of scholarships.
There are various ways that German students can finance studying abroad with state “Bafög” loans and the relatively new Bildungskredite (loans for educational purposes with low interest from banks).
Over the past five years there has been an increase in education and recruitment fairs in Germany. Some of the most prominent ones are Einstieg Abi, Expolingua, StudyWorld, Horizonte. The British Council offers their own UK specific Higher Education fairs in fours cities once a year. (For more information see: www.britishcouncil.de/e/education/hefair).
Germany is one of the top international markets for private schools in the UK. According to the Independent Schools Census 2006, 1,097 German pupils enrolled at private schools in the UK. This figure, an increase of 25 percent over 2005, puts German pupils being privately educated in the UK in second position worldwide (following Hong Kong)
German learners of English studying at accredited language centres in the UK totalled up 19,339 student weeks in 2005, the most popular time for courses being June to September. The actual figure for student weeks is higher as not all accredited centres submit statistics. The top course choices of German learners based on available statistics are: General English (61.5 percent); Junior Vacation (24.5 percent); Business/Professional(8.5 percent); English for Specific Purposes (2.5 percent); One-to-One (2 percent); English “Plus” (1 percent).
The British Council has one office in Germany, in the capital Berlin. We have no public access to our building. Four members of staff work in Education in Berlin. We work in the field of education policy; this includes our series of Education Policy Seminars, the series International Dialogue Berlin, lectures and seminars on school reform etc.
We also work on promotion; including our Higher Education fairs, the provision of education information – a large amount of information is available on our German web pages, we publish a 70 page Studienbrochure (study brochure) in German explaining how to go about studying in the UK, updated annually, plus a selection of infosheets written specifically for the German market, outreach work throughout Germany, talks at international offices of German universities, employment offices and some fairs, and regular lectures/ workshops on studying in the UK , applying for a British university, etc
We have recently coordinated two familiarisation trips on behalf of English in London and English in the North for local German-speaking travel agents to visit accredited language schools in the UK.
We also work on exchange and co-operation; in country support for EU and DFES programmes run by British Council in the UK such as Teachers International Professional Development. We have a web page with information for UK institutions: www.britishcouncil.de/e/education/cooperation.
IELTS is a product which meets a key need of the German higher education market, as an increasing number of Masters courses are delivered in English. The British Council is the main provider of IELTS in Germany. Predicted growth: IELTS is growing strongly with numbers forecast to reach 10,500 by 2010-11.
The British Council and its German partner DAAD run an Academic Research Collaboration which supports the co-operation between research teams in the UK and Germany.
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