The National Dossier has been drawn up by the Secretariat of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs each year since 1993 as part of the Information Network on Education in Europe (EURYDICE).

The Dossier provides an overview ranging from pre-school to adult education, as well as offering background information on the basic political and economical conditions in Germany. This is particularly valuable to interested public and private institutions abroad. The focus is initially on the common features of the education systems in the 16 Länder. Features unique to the individual Land are also included in the description in order to illustrate the diversity of the education available in Germany. By means of brief historical introductions to the individual chapters, current developments may be assessed within their historical context. The Dossier is supplemented by references concerning the basic legal regulations of the Federal Government and the Länder, a list of institutions and a bibliography, as well as by a glossary of national terms and the special technical terminology used.

Work on the German Dossier was completed following consultation and agreement with the Federal Government and the Länder. The work was performed by the Eurydice Information Unit of the Länder which, in accordance with a resolution of the Bundesrat, is established within the Documentation and Education Information Service of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs.

The German Dossier is also distributed together with the national dossiers from other European states in the original language and in the English translation in the EURYBASE database for whole text search. The database permits comparisons throughout Europe between the individual aspects of the education systems in the 31 states that participate in the activities of the Eurydice information network.

In accordance with the function of the national dossiers, the annual report contains a reliable presentation of the German education system completed in consultation with the ministries responsible for education. In this regard, the dossier supplements the reporting on education based on statistical indicators and serves Germany as basic documentation and reference source on the federal education system for international contacts and consultations at European level.