School registration: What do I need to bring with me?
Registration at school is imminent? We have the most important information for you at a glance: Which deadlines for school enrollment apply in your federal state? When are the deadlines for registering at school? What do you have to bring? Here you will find everything you need to know.
School registration: What are deadlines?
Children in Germany have to go to school when they turn six. In order to determine when exactly a child should start school, there are certain deadlines in each federal state. You can see which deadline applies to the federal state in which you live in the table below. If your child’s sixth birthday is before this date, enrollment is planned for the following school year. If your child turns six after the cut-off date, it will usually not start school until the following school year.
Depending on the level of development, it is also possible that your child will start school before his sixth birthday. You can find more information on this topic in our article “When does early school enrollment make sense?” . It is also possible to defer registration at school in exceptional cases, for example if your child has serious delays in its development or does not yet speak German. In general, registration at school for the following school year is intended for the following children:
- School-age children who will be six years old by the reference date
- Deferred children from the previous year
- Children with an application for early school enrollment who turn six years old after the cut-off date
Flexible school entrance phase
In order to gradually make the chaos of registering at school through early school enrollment and deferral superfluous, some federal states are trying out a new concept: the flexible school entrance phase. The first and second grades in primary school are viewed as one unit. During this time, the children are taught across classes in the material of the first and second class. This school entry phase can be completed after one to three years, depending on the level of performance. If a student has special needs, they have three school years to acquire the material of the first and second grade. High-performing students who do well from the start can be promoted to the third grade after only one school year, if they master the material of the first and second class. In this way, all students in a year can be enrolled at the same time and supported depending on their individual performance.
When do you register your child for school?
When exactly the registration takes place in the school is regulated differently from federal state to federal state. In some federal states, school registration is scheduled for the year before school enrollment so that there is enough time for pre-school support measures, if these are necessary. In other federal states, registration for school only takes place in the enrollment year itself – the date is at the discretion of the responsible Ministry of Education or the municipal school authority.
As a rule, you will receive an invitation from the school authority in your city in good time, in which you can read about the official deadline for registering at the school. In this invitation you will probably also find a list of elementary schools near you where you can register your child.
Dates for school registration per federal state
| Federal State | Approximate date for registration | Deadline for the sixth birthday |
|---|---|---|
| Baden-Wuerttemberg | February to April of the school year | 30. September* |
| Bavaria | April of the school year | 30. September |
| Berlin | 4th to 17th October of the previous year | 30. September |
| Brandenburg | February of the enrollment year | 30. September |
| Bremen | January of the school year | June 30th |
| Hamburg | January of the school year | July 1 |
| Hesse | March/April of the previous year | June 30th |
| Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | October of the previous year | June 30th |
| Lower Saxony | April of the previous year | 30. September |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | October/November of the previous year | 30. September |
| Rhineland-Palatinate | August/September of the previous year | August 31st |
| Saarland | November of the previous year | June 30th |
| Saxony | October 1st to September 15th of the previous year | June 30th |
| Saxony-Anhalt | February of the previous year | June 30th |
| Schleswig Holstein | November of the previous year | June 30th |
| Thuringia | 10th to 20th December of the previous year | August 1st |
* The deadline is to be brought forward to June 30th. The move will take place in three steps, with the key date always being brought forward by one month in the coming years.
Sources: Deutscher bildungsserver and grundschulen.net (as of 2020)
What should you bring with you to school?
As a rule, a child is registered at school by both parents together. Your child should definitely come with you when you register at school so that the principal can get a better picture of him or her. You should also have the following documents with you when registering and be able to show them when asked:
- your own ID
- Your child’s ID card
- Your child’s birth certificate
- Evidence of the school entry examination (can be submitted by the start of the school year)
- Copy of your partner’s ID and power of attorney if he/she cannot come with you
- If applicable, divorce certificate and custody order
Registration process at school
The exact procedure for registering varies from school to school. In most cases, the principal will want to have a little chat with your child and with you. You can clarify important organizational questions, for example whether your child should also be looked after at lunchtime, which religious instruction it will attend or which textbooks it will need. Sometimes when you register at school you will already receive a list of important dates for the next school year or the necessary school materials.
The registration at the school usually takes place with the headmaster, as he can decide whether he would like to accept your child at his school. Usually, all school-age children who enroll are accepted from primary school. Only in rare cases, when there are justified doubts as to whether your child can cope with the requirements of the elementary school, can the headmaster reject the registration. If you would like to know more about what to expect or which documents are required, you can simply contact the secretariat of the elementary school.