As a rule, in the year in which children reach the age of six, they are obliged to enter primary education. Primary education comprises grades 1 to 4 or 1 to 6 (Berlin and Brandenburg). It is provided in primary schools and as part of comprehensive school types.

General objectives

The tasks and objectives of the Grundschule are determined by its position within the school system. The primary school's role is to lead its pupils from more play-oriented forms of learning at pre-school level to the more systematic forms of school learning, and also to direct the form and content of teaching programmes towards the different learning requirements and capabilities of individual pupils.

In March 2024, the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (Kultusministerkonferenz) adopted an “Agreement on Work in Primary School” (‘Vereinbarung zur Arbeit in der Grundschule’). The agreement is based on the 2015 resolution “Recommendations for Work in Primary School” (‘Empfehlungen zur Arbeit in der Grundschule’), which thus acquires a binding character and is intended to provide a uniform framework for work in primary schools throughout Germany

According to the agreement, the task of the primary school is to guarantee basic and well-roundet school education in a joint educational programme for all children. The goal is to acquire adaptable competences. These include above all the key competencesin the areas of linguistics and mathematics, which form a basis for not only all other educational areas in the primary school but also for continuing education as well as lifelong learning and independent appropriation of culture. The nationwide educational standards in the subjects German and mathematics are hereby decisive for the primary sector, grade 4 (resolutions of the Standing Conference of 15 October 2004 as amended on 23 June 2022). The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) as well as the Perspectives Framework for General Studies (Perspektivrahmen Sachunterricht) also provide an orientation.

The primary school takes account of the heterogeneity of its students by providing individualised learning situations that promote the development of students in the sense of educational equity. The primary school combines the general educational offer with supplementary educational, counselling or support services. The participating professions act in a coordinated manner according to individual needs and also offer all-day development and learning opportunities

Specific legislative framework

The Basic Law (Grundgesetz) and the constitutions of the Länder include a number of fundamental provisions on schools (inspection, parents' rights, compulsory schooling, religious instruction, privately-maintained schools) which also have a bearing on primary schools. The legal basis for the Grundschule as the first compulsory school for all children are laid down in particular in the Education Acts and the Compulsory Schooling Acts of the Länder as well as in the Schulordnungen (school regulations) for the primary school enacted by the Ministries of Education and Cultural Affairs in the Länder.