In June 2020, the ‚Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in Germany (Kultusministerkonferenz)‘ set uniform performance requirements for the upper secondary school-leaving certificate (gymnasiale Oberstufe) and the general higher education entrance qualification (Abitur) in the Natural Sciences in all 16 Länder. To this end, binding educational standards were adopted in the subjects Biology, Chemistry and Physics.

Analogous to the educational standards for the primary level, the lower secondary school leaving certificate and the intermediate school leaving certificate adopted by the ‚Standing Conference‘ in 2003 and 2004, as well as the educational standards for the general higher education entrance qualification in the subjects German, Mathematics as well as English and French as continued foreign languages adopted in 2012, the educational standards for the general higher education entrance qualification in the Natural Sciences set regular standards related to the final examination. They define the requirements that pupils should be able to meet on average at the end of the gymnasiale Oberstufe in the respective subject at the basic or higher level. 

The educational standards in science are illustrated by learning tasks. They show which tasks can be suitable for achieving the intended educational goals in science in the subjects of Biology, Chemistry and Physics. In addition, examples of possible examination tasks will also be presented in 2021 to provide suggestions as to how the requirements formulated in the educational standards could be tested in the Abitur. 

The educational standards for the Allgemeine Hochschulreife in the Natural Sciences are to be implemented in the gymnasiale Oberstufe on an accrual basis from the school year 2022/202 the school year 2024/25, Abitur e3. Inxaminations based on the new educational standards in the subjects Biology, Chemistry and Physics will then be used nationwide. 

The adopted educational standards apply – with the exception of the Berufsoberschulen, which have a special profile – to all courses of education leading to the Allgemeine Hochschulreife. These standards replace the Uniform Examination Requirements in the Abitur Examination (EPA) for the respective subjects.

More information: https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-policies/eurydice/%23_en

Source:  Eurydice Unit Germany