Overview

• The Federal Statistical Office reports about 62,000 pupils left school in 2023/24 without any certificate, up from nearly 56,000 the previous year.
• The share of school leavers without at least a Hauptschulabschluss rose to 7.8%, compared with 5.5% a decade earlier.
• Longer-term data show a decline until 2013 followed by renewed increases with a temporary interruption during the pandemic, according to the National Education Report.
• BSW leader Sahra Wagenknecht criticized the figures and urged the education minister to gather state counterparts for a Chancellery education summit.
• Teachers’ association president Stefan Düll pointed to language gaps, weak motivation and lack of belonging, while researcher Kai Maaz called for earlier support and tailored offers for late-arriving refugee children.