FAQ for the trial lessons

All pupils whose total marks exceed 14 will also receive a registration form when their school reports are issued on 30 January 2026. The registration form contains all the essential information about the trial lessons. Registration for the trial lessons is voluntary. If you intend to register your child for grammar school, please hand in this form on 9 or 10 February 2026 at the last primary school your child attended.

Trial lessons are conducted in accordance with Section 56 of the School Act (SchulG) and Sections 5(1) and 29a of the Secondary Education Regulation (Sek I-VO). These legal provisions can be found under Legal provisions.

At the Staatliche Europa-Schule Berlin (SESB), the non-German partner language is the first foreign language. The non-German partner language replaces the first foreign language.

The relevant schools will be happy to explain these regulations on request.

For pupils who have been taught in classes for bilingual German-Turkish literacy and education (ZWERZ) in accordance with Section 12 (1) of the Primary School Regulations, the grade point average is calculated as follows: When calculating the numerical value for the first foreign language, an average is taken from the grades for Turkish and English. To do this, the grades for English and Turkish for the school semesters 5.2 and 6.1 are first added together, then the sum is halved and rounded up to the nearest whole number in favour of the performance in English.

If the decimal place is 5, the grade is rounded up to the next whole number if the report card grade in Turkish in 6.1 is better than the report card grade in English. If, on the other hand, the report card grade for Turkish in 6.1 is worse than for English, or if both grades are the same, the grade is rounded down to the next whole number. The result is entered as a whole number for the first foreign language in the calculation of the grade sum.

The relevant schools will be happy to explain these rules on request.

For pupils participating in the school trial ‘Bringing forward English lessons with French as the first foreign language’, the grade point average is calculated from the report card grades at the end of Year 5 and the first half of Year 6 in the subjects German, mathematics and first foreign language, English or French. To determine suitability, the marks for the second half of Year 5 and the first half of Year 6 in French and English are first added together, then halved and rounded to the nearest whole number to calculate the numerical value for the first foreign language.

If the decimal place is 5, the French grade in the first half of Year 6 is decisive: if the French grade is lower than the English grade, the grade is rounded up to the next whole number (higher, i.e. worse grade total). If the grade in French is better than in English, or if the two report card grades are the same, the grade is rounded down to the nearest whole number (lower, i.e. better grade total). The result is entered as a whole number for the first foreign language in the calculation of the grade total. If the grade total exceeds the numerical value of 14, admission to a grammar school is only possible if the pupil can demonstrate their suitability in a trial lesson.

The relevant schools will be happy to explain these regulations on request.

For pupils participating in the German-Ukrainian School Berlin pilot project, the grade point average is calculated based on the grades on their report cards at the end of Year 5 and in the first half of Year 6 in the subjects German, mathematics and their first foreign language, English and Ukrainian. To determine suitability, the marks for the second half of Year 5 and the first half of Year 6 in English and Ukrainian are first added together, then halved and rounded to the nearest whole number to calculate the numerical value for the first foreign language.

If the decimal place is 5, the grade for Ukrainian in the first half of Year 6 is decisive: if the grade in Ukrainian is lower than in English, it is rounded up to the next whole number (higher, i.e. worse grade total). If the grade in Ukrainian is better than in English, or if the two report card grades are the same, the grade is rounded down to the nearest whole number (lower, i.e. better grade total). The result is entered as a whole number for the first foreign language in the calculation of the grade total. If the grade total exceeds 14, admission to a grammar school is only possible if the pupil can demonstrate their suitability in a trial lesson.

The relevant schools will be happy to explain these regulations on request.

The handling of special cases is regulated in the Primary School Ordinance and in the annual administrative regulation ‘Procedure for the admission of pupils from alternative schools, special learning groups, other states of the Federal Republic of Germany, foreign countries and in cases of interruption of school attendance to Year 7 or Year 5’. The relevant regulations can be found on our website.

• who have only been attending a Berlin school or a regular class since Year 6, or
• who have returned to primary school at the beginning of Year 6 after leaving grammar school, or
• whose legal guardians have applied for a transfer from a comprehensive school (including recognised independent comprehensive schools) and who did not receive any report cards in Year 5, or
• whose first language is not German, who were last assessed entirely or predominantly verbally in the second half of Year 5, or
• who were taught at independent general education schools that are seeking or have already received recognition and have not yet received report card grades in 5.2,

the grades from Year 5 are not taken into account. When determining suitability for grammar school, the total of the marks from the first half of Year 6 must not exceed 7.

• from welcome classes who receive a support prognosis without grades or
• whose grades in German, mathematics or their first foreign language from the second half of Year 5 and the first half of Year 6 are incomplete (have not been assessed), but who have attended a Berlin school in Years 5 and 6,

it is not possible to calculate a grade point average due to the lack of grades. Consequently, an assessment of suitability for grammar school is only possible through participation in trial lessons.

No, these children can be enrolled at a Gymnasium in Berlin.

Yes, these children must prove their suitability. They will receive a support prognosis from the school supervisory authority based on their current grades. If the total grade exceeds 14 in German, mathematics or the first foreign language from the second half of Year 5 and the first half of Year 6, trial lessons must be attended to determine suitability.

Yes, these children must prove their suitability. In these cases, decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, depending on whether there is an assessment basis that allows for conversion. The respective regional school supervisory authority is responsible for this.

Please understand that the data collected is primarily used for the work of the Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family Affairs. Therefore, access to this data is not unrestricted. However, you will find some important information in the press release dated 4 March 2025.

The trial lessons will take place on 20 February 2026 at one of twelve so-called location schools. There is exactly one location school in each school district. Your child will be assigned to exactly one of these location schools. The location school will be indicated on the registration form.

The trial lesson is used to determine suitability for grammar school throughout Berlin according to a standardised procedure.

The centrally specified tasks test linguistic and mathematical skills as well as interdisciplinary competencies that are considered necessary for successful learning at grammar school.

The tests are based on the respective framework plans for the first half of Year 6. The trial lessons last approximately three hours and include individual and group work phases as well as a welcome and breaks.

The following schedule represents an ideal scenario for the trial lessons; if necessary, the organisation will be adapted to the specific circumstances of the school. The times given here are for guidance only.

The trial lesson ends at around 12:30 p.m., at which point you can pick up your child. Parents/guardians are not expected to be present during this time.

Please accompany your child so that they arrive punctually at 8.30 a.m. at the school indicated on the registration form.

In addition to a drink and a snack for break time, your child should bring a pencil case (fountain pen or ballpoint pen, pencil, ruler or set square, coloured pencils if required). No other special teaching materials are necessary.

The trial lessons comprise three parts in the form of three workbooks for the pupils. On page 1 of the workbook, the participants write their name and primary school independently. You are welcome to practise this with your child in advance. Page 2 gives the pupils tips on how to solve the tasks.
You can take a look at the first two pages of a workbook here: /sen/bildung/schule/bildungswege/uebergang-weiterfuehrende-schule/probeunterricht/arbeitsheft_beispielseiten.pdf.

The tasks are based on the levels of the framework curriculum and are based on the competencies and standards specified therein up to the first half of Year 6. This is not a knowledge test on individual teaching topics. Each workbook begins with a general introduction on page 1 with instructions on how to complete the tasks. The teacher will read this page together with the pupils and discuss any questions that may arise with the group. The tasks themselves are written in such a way that no additional explanations by the teachers are necessary.

The mathematics and German tasks are to be completed individually in writing. The interdisciplinary section comprises tasks that can be completed either individually or collaboratively. The partial results are to be written down individually by the pupils. The pupils can switch between collaborative and individual work independently.

All parts of the tasks are completed independently by the pupils, with approximately 45 minutes of working time allocated for each part. After each part of the task, the workbooks and any additional note sheets must be handed in to the teachers.

All pupils have the opportunity to continuously develop their potential during their six years of primary school. Their learning development is closely monitored by their primary school teachers, who make an informed assessment of their future prospects based on long-term observations. This assessment is based on a wealth of experience and takes into account the individual progress of the children over several years.

Basic skills in German and mathematics are essential for academic success in all subjects at grammar school. A solid grasp of these fundamentals is a prerequisite for successful learning at grammar school, which requires faster learning up to Year 10 than other types of school.

The tasks for the trial lessons are developed by experienced primary and secondary school teachers in line with the relevant level. They are based on the guidelines of the joint framework curriculum for Berlin and Brandenburg in order to ensure a fair and performance-based process.

The entire development process is supervised by school and subject supervisors from the Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family Affairs.

Yes. Disadvantage compensation or measures to protect pupils from failing grades that have already been granted at primary level are taken into account when conducting the trial lessons. This also applies to the needs of pupils from welcome classes. In a disadvantage compensation conference, the measures are determined uniformly for all regions and for different case constellations.

Pupils are assessed on the basis of their performance in written assignments in German and mathematics, as well as their interdisciplinary skills.

In order to demonstrate their suitability for grammar school, pupils must achieve a total of at least 75 per cent of the possible assessment units. This means that the results from the two subjects and the assessment of interdisciplinary skills are added together and at least three quarters of this total must be achieved. This ensures that pupils have the necessary foundations for grammar school education.

In Berlin, attending a Gymnasium from Year 7 onwards is not a mandatory requirement for obtaining the Abitur. This decision does not restrict the pupil’s educational career, and it is still possible to obtain the general higher education entrance qualification.

Berlin offers a variety of educational pathways that lead to the Abitur independently of attending a Gymnasium. Integrated secondary schools (ISS) and community schools (GemS) also enable pupils to obtain the Abitur as the highest general school leaving certificate after acquiring the vocational training qualification (BBR) and the intermediate school leaving certificate (MSA). Pupils therefore continue to have a wide range of opportunities to shape their school career individually and complete it successfully.

The expected total number of pupils will not change as a result of the school placement procedure. The long-term consequences for school development planning will be analysed once the registration process has been completed. As every year, the relevant department of the Senate Administration for Education, Youth and Family Affairs is supporting the districts in allocating school places to all pupils.

Pupils who have taken part in the trial lessons, their legal guardians and any authorised representatives (solicitors) have the right to inspect the files. Requests for inspection must be addressed to the regional school supervisory authority.