This chapter provides a thematic and chronological overview of national reforms and policy developments since 2024.

The introduction of the chapter describes the overall education strategy and the key objectives across the whole education system. It also looks at how the education reform process is organised and who the main actors in the decision-making process are.

The section on ongoing reforms and policy developments groups reforms in the following broad thematic areas that largely correspond to education levels:

• Early childhood education and care
• School education
• VET and adult learning
• Higher education
• Transversal skills and Employability

Inside each thematic area, reforms are organised chronologically. The most recent reforms are described first. 

Overall national education strategy and key objectives

There is a consensus that, in light of demographic changes in Germany, and with a view to the emerging need for skilled workers, but also because of the challenges posed by digitisation, significant efforts must be made to develop the German education system in the years ahead.

In March 2026, the Conference of Ministers of Education (Bildungsministerkonferenz) adopted a joint roadmap drawn up by the Federation and the Länder. The aim is to reverse the current trend in pupils’ skills as quickly as possible. Over the next ten years, the proportion of pupils failing to meet basic minimum standards is to be significantly reduced, whilst at the same time the top performers are to be specifically supported. 

The Federation and the Länder are working closely together on this and are relying on a structured, evidence-based process that combines analysis with concrete implementation. On this basis, seven key areas for action have been identified, which affect all levels of the education system and, trough their combined effect, are intendend to improve the quality of education in the long term. These include, in particular, data-driven quality development in schools and teaching, improving pupils’ learning conditions, and strenghtening educationals research. It is consired crucial that, in future, the measures are better coordinated and function as a coherent overall system.

As a central educational and family policy project, the Federal Government has anchored a legal entitlement to all-day support for children of primary school age in Book Eight of the Social Code (Achtes Buch Sozialgesetzbuch – Kinder- und Jugendhilfe – SGB VIII). This will be introduced in stages from 2026, starting with the first grade, and will be extended by one grade each year. From the school year 2029/2030, the legal entitlement will apply to all children in grades 1–4. 

The administrative agreement concluded between the Federation and the Länder for the "All-Day Expansion Investment Programme" (Investitionsprogramm Ganztagsausbau) in accordance with Section 10 of the All-Day Financial Aid Act for the implementation of the Act on Federal Financial Aid for the Expansion of All-Day Education and Care Services for Children of Primary School Age (VV II) came into force in May 2023.

In view of the ongoing costs incurred by the Länder as a result of the phased introduction of the legal entitlement (operating costs), the Federation is providing the Länder with gradual relief, increasingly from 2026 and permanently from 2030, by means of changes to the distribution of value added tax revenues in favour of the Länder, amounting to Euro 2.49 billion for the years 2026 to 2029 and a permanent Euro 1.3 billion per year from 2030. The operating costs associated with all-day care are the responsibility of the Länder. The Länder and local authorities have already taken numerous measures and made investments with financial aid provided by the Federation to date.

An amendment to Article 104c of the Basic Law entered into force in April 2019 which enables the Federation to grant financial aid to the Länder for investments by the Länder and local authorities that are significant for the nation as a whole in order to increase the efficiency of the municipal education infrastructure without limiting aid to "financially weak" municipalities. The amendment enables the federal government, among other things, to provide targeted support for municipal investments in the renovation, conversion and expansion of school buildings. The new Article 104c was also the constitutional basis for the DigitalPact School 2019-2024 (DigitalPakt Schule 2019–2024), with which the Federation and the Länder, among other things, pursued the goal of creating digital education infrastructures suitable for the future. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the DigitalPact could be used to address the challenges that have emerged from moving to teaching and learning from home. In December 2025, the Digital Pact 2.0 (2026–2030) was adopted and entered into force on September 1, 2026.

Overview of the education reform process and drivers

In the Federal Republic of Germany responsibility for the education system is determined by the federal structure of the state. Unless the Basic Law awards legislative powers to the Federation, the Länder have the right to legislate. Within the education system, this applies to the school sector, the higher education sector, adult education and continuing education. Administration of the education system in these areas is almost exclusively a matter for the Länder.

The Federation bears responsibility particularly for the regulations governing the following domains of education, science and research:

• Extra-curricular vocational education
• Admission to higher education institutions and higher education degrees (here the Länder may enact laws at variance with the legislation of the Federation after the Federation has made use of its competence)
• Financial assistance for pupils and students
• Promotion of scientific and academic research and technological development
• Public welfare, wich also includes child and youth welfare servieces
• Regulations on entry to the legal profession
• Regulations on entry to medical and paramedical professions
• Employment promotion measures as well as occupational and labour market research

More detailed information on the distribution of legislative competences in the education sector is available in the chapter on Organisation and Governance.

In addition to the division of responsibilities described above, the Basic Law also provides for particular forms of cooperation between the Federation and the Länder within the scope of the so-called joint tasks (Gemeinschaftsaufgaben). Joint tasks in the field of science and education are regulated in Article 91b, paragraphs 1 and 2  of the Basic Law. Pursuant to Article 91b, the Federation and the Länder may mutually agree to cooperate in cases of supra-regional importance in the promotion of science, research and teaching (paragraph 1) as well as for the assessment of the performance of educational systems in international comparison and in drafting relevant reports and recommendations (paragraph 2).

Federalism has proved successful as a state structure which encourages diversity and competition. The Federal Government and the Länder will introduce the appropriate measures and initiatives within their respective areas of responsibility. At the same time, there has been an increase in the common responsibilities of the Länder and the need to agree objectives and coordinated measures on the part of the Federal Government and the Länder in fields of national relevance.

The Länder work together in the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany (Kultusministerkonferenz), which was founded in 1948. Its goal to this day is to ensure the necessary degree of commonality and comparability in the education system of the Federal Republic of Germany through coordination.

In June 2024, the Standing Conference decided on a strategic reorientation. With effect from 1 July 2024, consultations will take place within the framework of independent ministerial conferences for education, science and culture. The Conference of Ministers of Education, the Conference of Ministers of Science and the Conference of Ministers of Culture will independently represent the decisions on sector-specific issues to the outside world under the umbrella of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs. They will be supported in this by the joint secretariat of the Standing Conference.

The following account includes measures resolved by all Länder in the Standing Conference and measures by the Federal Government. Within their own area of responsibility, the Länder take various and far-reaching measures which cannot be separately described. The reform measures of the Länder, mostly with substantial support or in cooperation with the Federation, affect the following areas in particular:

• Expansion of all-day programmes with the aim of expanding educational and support opportunities in implementation of the legal entitlement to all-day care for children of primary school age
• Measures to raise the educational and competence levels of disadvantaged groups
• Measures to secure the potential of skilled workers
• Measures to improve linguistic competence
• Measures to improve dovetailing of the early childhood sector and primary school
• Measures to improve school education, reading competence and the understanding of mathematical and scientific correlations
• Vocational orientation measures and measures to improve transition from school to work
• Measures to strengthen the link between vocational and higher education
• Laws to improve the identification and recognition of professional qualifications acquired abroad by the Federation and the Länder
• Measures to increase the higher education graduation rate and that of comparable qualifications
• Measures for digitalisation in the school and higher education sector

In addition, under the umbrella of the Transfer Initiative for Municipal Education Management (Transferinitiative Kommunales Bildungsmanagement) and within the framework of two European Social Fund Plus funding pathways, the Federation supports education offices in local authorities (the Bildungskommune programme since 2022 and “All-day Education in Education Municipalities – Local Coordination for All-day Education” since 2024), as well as a nationwide support network for local authorities, to assist them in establishing data-driven education management and in shaping local education landscapes.

The Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs is a key partner of the Federal Government in the broad, participatory process of the National Platform for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and its committees, with the shared aim of embedding education for sustainable development across all areas of education. The common basis for this is the National Action Plan for ESD and UNESCO’s ESD programmes.