The constitutional court had asked the ministers of education to make the Abitur more comparable nationwide in order to create equal opportunities when applying for a place at a university. A draft now provides, among other things, for reducing the number of advanced courses.
According to a report, the federal and state ministers of education are planning to standardize the Abitur in Germany. Nationwide, the number of advanced courses should be reduced from the previous four to up to three, reported the specialist information service Table.Media, with reference to a draft by the school committee of the Conference of Ministers of Education (KMK). The number of mandatory six-monthly courses should also be increased to a uniform 40.
The paper should be adopted by the ministers in mid-March and apply nationwide to all high school graduation classes from 2025, it said. A KMK spokesman confirmed to the AFP news agency that the committee was talking about standardizing the Abitur. However, he did not give any details. The topic will probably be discussed at the next meeting on March 16.
As Table.Media further reported, at least one of the subjects German, mathematics, a foreign language or a natural science should be taken as an advanced course. The draft provides for one or two exams to be written in these subjects in the first three school semesters, and then only one in the fourth school semester.
The background to the planned reform is a judgment by the Federal Constitutional Court from 2017. It was about the numerus clausus in medical courses. The judges had asked the Ministers of Education to make the Abitur more comparable nationwide in order to create more equal opportunities when applying for university places.
