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):

• complete publication (2,7 MB)

 individual chapters:

• Political, social and economic background and trends
• Organisation and governance
• Funding
• Early childhood education and care
• Primary education
• Secondary education and post-secondary non-tertiary education
• Higher education
• Adult education and training
• Teachers and education staff
• Management and other education staff
• Quality assurance
• Educational support and guidance
• Mobility and internationalisation
• Ongoing reforms and policy initiatives
• Appendix

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. 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 is established within the Division for European and Multilateral Affairs 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 English, and partly also in the national language(s) of the country or region concerned, on the Eurydice Website.

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.