Abitur in Baden-Württemberg

The Baden-Württemberg Abitur certificate is obtained through successful completion of the course level (grades 12 and 13 in the nine-year high school (G9) or 11 and 12 in the eight-year high school (G8)) and the written and oral Abitur examination.

reform

In 2002, Baden-Württemberg introduced the Neue Gymnasiale Oberstufe , which is also often referred to as the course level (this designation was previously not common). The previous system of basic and advanced courses was abolished so that choices for students as well as the limited opportunities for emphasis in the subjects mathematics , German and foreign languages . These must be taken for four hours by all students and are a compulsory part of the Abitur examination. However, their curricula have been freed from many of the topics from previous advanced courses.

The previous Abitur was very similar to the Bavarian Abitur .

In the school year 2005/2006, Lower Saxony followed suit with a similar model, which came into full effect in the school year 2006/2007 (see Abitur in Lower Saxony ).

From the 2019/20 school year, i.e. from the 2021 Abitur class, a further reform will come into force, which is strongly based on the old system from before 2002. This had become necessary because the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK) agreed on a maximum of four subjects at a higher level in 2016. The current system still includes five.

Course choice and course types

The course selection takes place towards the end of the 11th grade (G9) or 10th grade (G8), whereby the following subjects must be taken:

Four periods to demonstrate three core competence compartments , a profile subject and a tilt tray .

Various subjects have to be taken over two hours , the combination of which depends on the choice of four-hour subjects. When choosing the subjects (and later also the examination subjects), the division into task areas is important.

Areas of responsibility

Field of activity		Mandatory area	Elective area
I.	linguistic- literary- artistic	German, English, French, Latin, Greek, Russian, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese Music, Fine Arts	Foreign languages started in class 11 at the latest: French, Latin, Greek, Russian, Hebrew, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Turkish Literature, literature and theater, theater
II	corporate scientifically	History, geography, social studies, religion / ethics, economics	Philosophy, psychology (can also be assigned to the first task area depending on the main topic)
III	mathematical- scientific- technical	Mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology	Astronomy, descriptive geometry, problem solving with a computer algebra system, computer technology, geology, computer science, technology
	without assignment	Sports	Special learning achievement (e.g. seminar course)

The subjects in the elective area are also called orchid subjects . They can also be taken voluntarily, which means that additional courses can be credited to the Abitur certificate (first block). However, an orchid compartment cannot be used to fulfill an occupancy requirement. For example, Russian - if it was only chosen in year 11 - cannot be chosen as a core competence, profile or specialty subject, but only as an additional orchid subject.

Four-hour subjects

The three so-called core competency subjects include German, mathematics and a freely selectable foreign language, which, however, must have been attended for at least four years upon completion of the Abitur.

As a fourth four-hour subject (formerly profile subject ) everyone can choose a natural science ( biology , chemistry , physics ) or another foreign language, regardless of the profile they have previously attended .

The fifth four-hour specialist (formerly tilt tray ) can arbitrarily - but only from the compulsory section (see above) - are elected, provided a corresponding course is offered (of the number of pupils and the teacher capacities dependent).

The three core competency subjects and - at the student's choice - one of the two other four-hour subjects are examined in writing.

Two-hour subjects

The following subjects must be taken for two hours in all four semesters:

history
Social Studies / Geography (see below)
Music or visual arts
Religion or ethics (depending on the subject previously attended)
two natural sciences (from biology, chemistry, physics)
Sports

More courses can be taken voluntarily.

Subjects that have already been taken for four hours do not have to be taken for two more hours. Therefore, for example, students who take physics for four hours only have to take one more science for two hours.

The subjects of community studies and geography are only offered in two semesters (community studies in the first and fourth semesters, geography in the second and third semesters). If economics is taken as a four-hour subject, community studies must only be attended in the first half of the year and geography only in the third semester.

If a student proves through a medical certificate that he cannot take part in physical education, he must choose another two-hour subject instead. This can also be an orchid compartment (see above). Since orchid subjects are usually only offered in two out of four semesters of the course, in this case two subjects have to be chosen. For example, sport could be replaced by four semesters in a third natural science, or by two semesters in astronomy and two semesters in psychology .

The hourly load per half-year is at least 30 hours per week (if the occupancy is low, for example with a profile subject biology and history as a specialty), but it can easily reach 32 or 34 hours per week. On average, the hourly load for courses and working groups must be at least 32 hours per week per half-year. The increased occupancy requirements are one of the consequences of the new system; however, not all courses have to be credited in all cases. The hourly workload per week is still within the national German average.

Performance evaluation

In the course level, the grades of lower secondary level ( very good , good and so on) are replaced by a point system in order to be able to assess performance in a more differentiated manner. With less than 5 points, a course is considered under- attended , with 0 points as not attended (registration requirement not fulfilled).

Points	Note in words	Grade (with tendency)	Raw points	Note definition	comment
15th	very good	1+	95%	The services particularly meet the requirements.
14th		10	90%
13		1−	85%
12	Well	2+	80%	The services fully meet the requirements.
11		20	75%
10		2−	70%
9	satisfying	3+	65%	The services correspond to the requirements in general.
8th		30	60%
7th		3−	55%
6th	sufficient	4+	50%	The services show deficiencies, but on the whole still meet the requirements.
5	sufficient	4th0	45%
4th	weak sufficient ¹	4−	39%	The services show deficiencies and only meet the requirements with restrictions. ¹	deficit area
3	inadequate	5+	33%	The services do not meet the requirements, but show that the necessary basic knowledge is available and the deficiencies can be remedied in the foreseeable future.
2		50	27%
1		5−	20%
0	insufficient	6th0	00%	The services do not meet the requirements and even the basic knowledge is so incomplete that the deficiencies cannot be remedied in the foreseeable future.	not used

¹ = Contrary to the official definition of the grade “poorly sufficient”, a course with this grade is not considered passed; the services do not meet the requirements.

Exams and other proof of achievement

In all four-hour subjects, at least two exams must be written per semester . Exceptions to this are the subject of sport and the subject of music, in which, instead of the second exam, a practical examination is usually taken. In the fourth semester (in which the Abitur takes place) at least one written exam has to be written.

In the two-hour subjects, including those taken voluntarily, at least one written exam per semester is required. Sport is also exempt from this rule.

For sport as a four-hour subject, a total of three exams are required in the first two semesters (but at least one in each semester). At least one exam must be written in the third and fourth semester.

In addition to the exams, a total of three different types of performance records must be provided. They are known as the Student Achievement Assessment (GFS). For example, presentations or student experiments can be carried out for this purpose. As a result, they count like an exam and must therefore be comparable in terms of requirements. The subjects in which these assessments are provided can be freely chosen.

When assessing the performance of the subjects music and sport, performance in competitions can also be taken into account at the student's request.

Abitur examination

In the last half of the year the Abitur exam takes place, in which four subjects are examined in writing . At the discretion of the pupils, additional oral examinations without a presentation can take place in the written subjects examined . In modern foreign languages, the communication test has been an integral part of the written Abitur examination since 2014.

In addition, a so-called fifth examination subject is only examined orally (presentation with colloquium ). Instead of this fifth examination subject, you can also claim a special learning achievement (seminar course or participation in a competition, see below).

Written exam and any additional oral exam

Written exams must be taken in the three core competency subjects (mathematics, German and foreign language) as well as one of the four-hour subjects. The examination time is three to five and a half hours, depending on the subject.

The tasks for the written Abitur are created centrally . To this end, the Ministry of Culture commissions selected teachers to prepare high school exams. Some of these suggestions are selected and standardized test tasks are created for all students in the country. This procedure requires that the tests take place at the same time.

correction

The correction takes place in three stages: The first corrector is the respective subject teacher, for whom the name of the corresponding student is available for each exam. The name of the student is then separated from the examination papers (the examination is identified by a unique number) and the second corrector , a subject teacher from another school, receives the examination for correction. Neither the grade of the first corrector nor the name of the student are known to the student in order to guarantee the highest level of neutrality . The final assessor then receives the exams and the results of the first and second correction. He makes the final decision on the grade, but is obliged to determine the arithmetic mean of these two corrections as the final grade if the first and second correction do not differ by more than two points (the better grade is awarded for intermediate grades). In the event of a greater deviation, he himself corrects a third time, but usually has to adhere to the “grade corridor” specified by the first and second correction.

In exceptional cases, the final assessor can set a final grade that deviates from the grades of his predecessors. In order to justify such a deviation, he must prepare a written statement and explain that the first and second correctors have made fundamentally incorrect corrections.

Whether the final assessor knows the names of the examinees and of the first and second correctors is handled differently depending on the administrative district. The procedure in the Stuttgart administrative district is completely anonymous; the final judge knows no names. In contrast, in the Karlsruhe administrative district, the final assessor knows both the names of the examinees and those of the first and second correctors. First and second correctors can now find out the results of all three corrections in Baden-Württemberg upon request.

Additional oral exam

As of the 2007 Abitur class, an additional oral examination is no longer required in one of the written subjects, but it can be chosen voluntarily in these subjects or determined by the chairman of the examination. The Abitur examination, weighted four times with 60 grade points, is then divided into an oral examination (one third) and a written examination (two thirds).

The additional oral exam lasts 20 minutes. The examination tasks are set on the basis of suggestions from the specialist teacher as part of the education and curriculum for the grades. The examinee is given 20 minutes to prepare for the exam. After the examination interview, the examiner, the chairman and the recorder jointly determine the grade and then inform the candidate about it if so desired.

Fifth, oral examination subject

As a fifth (oral) examination subject, any subject of the compulsory area that has not yet been examined in writing - in addition also computer science and foreign languages attended voluntarily - can be considered, as long as all three fields of activity can be covered by the Abitur examination subjects . A presentation exam takes place only in this subject. The examinee suggests four topics, from which the exam chairperson selects one. After the topic has been announced, the candidate has about a week to prepare a presentation on this topic. In the exam, he presents his lecture, for which he has ten minutes. Then another ten minutes of questions about the presentation, the related subject and other topics dealt with in class are asked, making the entire exam 20 minutes long. The presentation test is to be abolished, as the students often prepared the test together with external persons and thus achieved irregular results.

Communication test

The communication test has been a compulsory component in modern foreign languages at general high schools since 2014 and at vocational high schools since 2013. The communication test examines speaking, listening comprehension and cultural competence. The written part of the Baden-Württemberg Abitur examination in modern foreign languages has been shortened from 270 minutes to 180 minutes with the introduction of the communication test. The grade for the written part of the exam is multiplied by and the grade for the communication exam by . The resulting scores are added up. The communication test must take place before notification of the results of the written Abitur examination. Independent of the compulsory communication test, the opportunity was given to take an additional oral test in modern foreign languages after the written test results had been announced. ${\ displaystyle {\ tfrac {2} {3}}}$ ${\ displaystyle {\ tfrac {1} {3}}}$

Special learning achievement

Optionally, a special learning achievement can also be included in the Abitur examination. This can be a competition sponsored by the state or the federal government, or a seminar course.

At a general high school, the grade for the special learning achievement can replace the fifth examination (oral presentation examination), it then counts four times in the Abitur block. At a vocational high school , the special learning achievement can also replace a written Abitur examination.

However, the assignment of the particular learning performance to one of the three task fields must be taken into account. Depending on the topic, a competition can be counted towards each of the three fields of activity. For example, a competition on the subject of politics is assigned to the social science field of activity. If a special learning achievement is to replace a high school diploma examination, all task areas must be covered.

Seminar course

The seminar course is a one-year course in the elective area with three hours per week. It is offered in the first two semesters of the course level. The school decides on the content of the seminar course within a given framework. The seminar course is intended to enable intensive practice in study and work preparation methods.

The student of the seminar course independently selects a topic within the overarching course topic, on which he works out a seminar paper and a presentation. This should be done in group work, as the seminar course should also promote social skills.

The performance evaluation is made up in equal parts:

the grades of the first and second semester, which are made up of intermediate presentations of the topic, participation in class and behavior and cooperation within the group,
the grade of the written seminar paper,
the grade for the final colloquium or following the presentation

The seminar course can be credited as a fifth examination subject. So you don't have to take an oral exam.

competition

A competition must meet the following conditions in order to count as a special learning achievement: upper school level or high school graduation level, preparatory work forms, interdisciplinary content, written documentation.

The time required must roughly correspond to that of the seminar course, a presentation with a colloquium must take place, in group work the contribution of the individual student must be recognizable and the competition must not be recognized in other courses.

Abitur grade and average

The points from the six months and the Abitur are offset in a system that consists of two blocks.

First block

In the first block you will find the achievements from the courses in the four semesters. The following must be taken into account:

the 20 courses in the core subjects,
if they have not already been introduced as a core subject:
- two courses in one of the subjects visual arts or music,
- the four courses in history,
- the two courses in geography and social studies,
- four courses each from two of the subjects physics, chemistry or biology,
if not considered under point 1 or 2:
- the courses in the oral examination subject.

In addition, there are other courses from subjects not mentioned here, such as religion / ethics, sport or the electives. A total of at least 40 courses must be credited. It is possible to count more courses, but the total number of points in the first block is then the average number of points achieved multiplied by 40. In the latter case, the result is mathematically rounded.

A maximum of 600 points can therefore be achieved in the first block (40 recognized subjects × 15 points). In order to pass the Abitur, at least 200 points must be achieved in the first block (corresponding to an average of 5 points or 4.0).

Second block

The second block contains the achievements from the Abitur exams. The grades achieved in the four written exams and the oral exam are counted fourfold if the exam was only written or only oral. If a subject has been examined both in writing and orally, the written result ⅔, the oral result ⅓ contributes to the overall grade, which is included four times in the evaluation.

A maximum of 300 points can be achieved, the minimum number of points to be achieved is 100 (corresponding to an average of 4.0).

Overall result

In total, a maximum of 900 points can be achieved. To pass the Abitur, four requirements must be met:

The respective minimum number of points must be achieved in both blocks (200 points in the first block, 100 points in the second block). It is not possible to transfer missing points from other blocks. Accordingly, the case may arise that candidates with a total of 300 or more points are not recognized for their university entrance qualification .
0 points must not be achieved in any course that is subject to mandatory registration, as this course is then considered not to have been attended.
20 percent of the recognized courses may be “underpointed” (that is, completed with less than five points).
At least 5 points must be achieved in three of the five Abitur exams.

Conversion of the points to an average grade

The Abitur grade (officially: average grade according to the State Treaty ) is determined using a table. For example, 900 to 823 points correspond to the average grade 1.0; 822 to 805 points of the average grade 1.1. The minimum score of 300 points corresponds to the average grade 4.0.

The table was created using the following procedure:

Let the point average be the total number of points / 60, i.e. the weighted average.
A point average of 15 points is assigned to the average grade of 0.666…. 0 points are assigned to the average grade of 5.666…. Between these two limit values is then linearly interpolated , as a formula: . ${\ displaystyle {\ text {Note}} = {17 - {\ text {Point cut}} \ over 3}}$
The grade obtained in this way is canceled after the first decimal, i.e. rounded down.
Average grades better than 1.0 are devalued to 1.0. Without this step, the best attainable high school grade would be 0.6, which theoretically would be achieved with a point average greater than 14.9. The grade 1.0 is achieved with a point average greater than 13.7.

${\ displaystyle average grade = - {\ dfrac {1} {180}} * {\ text {total number of points}} + {\ dfrac {17} {3}}}$

total score	Average grade
900-823	1.0
822-805	1.1
804-787	1.2
786-769	1.3
768-751	1.4
750-733	1.5
732-715	1.6
714-697	1.7
696-679	1.8
678-661	1.9
660-643	2.0
642-625	2.1
624-607	2.2
606-589	2.3
588-571	2.4
570-553	2.5
552-535	2.6
534-517	2.7
516-499	2.8
498-481	2.9
480-463	3.0
462-445	3.1
444-427	3.2
426-409	3.3
408-391	3.4
390-373	3.5
372-355	3.6
354-337	3.7
336-319	3.8
318-301	3.9
300	4.0

Inspection of examination documents

Candidates or, in the case of minors, their legal guardians, have the right, in accordance with Article II 6 of the administrative regulation on data protection in public schools, to inspect their corrected examinations and the minutes of the oral examinations under supervision and to make copies of them at their own expense.

Web links

State education server Baden-Württemberg: Gymnasium
Information on the school type of grammar school from the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Culture
Dates / information on the Abitur from the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Culture

Individual evidence

↑ Christian Gerber, Thomas Hindermann, Dr. Christian Mellwig, Dr. Veronika Nölle, Dieter Saile, Michael Siefert, Claudia Stuhrmann, Katja Wachholtz: Guidelines for the upper school level 2021. (PDF; 5MB) In: https://www.km-bw.de/,Lde/Startseite/Schule/Abitur+ and + advanced level . Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport Baden-Württemberg, October 2018, accessed on January 9, 2019 .
↑ Agreement on the organization of the upper school level and the Abitur examination: Resolution of the Conference of Ministers of Education of July 7, 1972 i. d. F. from February 15, 2018. Conference of Ministers of Education, accessed on May 11, 2019 . P. 25, Appendix 4: Table for calculating the average Abitur grade (N) from the number of points in the overall result (E).
↑ Data protection in public schools. Administrative regulation. In: Landesrecht BW Bürgerservice. juris GmbH - Legal Information System for the Federal Republic of Germany, July 4, 2019, accessed on November 5, 2019 .