Abitur

''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen years of schooling (see also, for Germany, ''Abitur'' after twelve years). In German, the term has roots in the archaic word , which in turn was derived from the Latin (future active participle of , thus "someone who is going to leave").

As a matriculation examination, ''Abitur'' can be compared to A levels, the '' Matura'' or the International Baccalaureate Diploma, which are all ranked as level 4 in the European Qualifications Framework.

In Germany

Overview

The ("certificate of general qualification for university entrance"), often referred to as ("''Abitur'' certificate"), issued after candidates have passed their final exams and have had appropriate grades in both the last and second last school year, is the document which contains their grades and formally enables them to attend university. Thus, it encompasses the functions of both a school graduation certificate and a college entrance exam.

The official term in Germany for this certificate of education is ; the contraction ''Abi'' is common in colloquial usage. In 2005, a total of 231,465 students passed the ''Abitur'' exam in Germany. The numbers have risen steadily and in 2012, a total of 305,172 students obtained the ''Allgemeine Hochschulreife''. This number reflects those who pass the traditional ''Abitur'' at their high school. Adding (for 2012) the 51,912 students who obtained the ''Hochschulreife'' at vocational training schools, that total number increases to 357,084. If those who obtain the ''Fachhochschulreife'' (144,399 in 2012) are also added, then the total of those who obtained the right to study at a university or a ''Fachhochschule'' is 501,483 (2012).

History

Until the eighteenth century, every German university had its own entrance examination. In 1788 Prussia introduced the , a law, for the first time within Germany, establishing the ''Abitur'' as an official qualification. It was later also established in the other German states. In 1834, it became the only university entrance exam in Prussia, and it remained so in all states of Germany until 2004. Since then, the German state of Hesse allows students with ''Fachhochschulreife'' (see below) to study at the universities within that state.

Equivalency

The academic level of the ''Abitur'' is comparable to the International Baccalaureate, the GCE Advanced Level and the Advanced Placement tests. Indeed, the study requirements for the International Baccalaureate differ little from the German exam requirements. It is the only school-leaving certificate in all states of Germany that allows the graduate (or ''Abiturient'') to move directly to university. The other school leaving certificates, the '' Hauptschulabschluss'' and the '' Realschulabschluss'', do not allow their holders to matriculate at a university. Those granted certificates of ''Hauptschulabschluss'' or ''Realschulabschluss'' can gain a specialized ''Fachhochschulreife'' or an ''Abitur'' if they graduate from a ''Berufsschule'' and then attend '' Berufsoberschule'' or graduate from a ''Fachoberschule''.

However, the ''Abitur'' is not the only path to university studies, as some universities set up their own entrance examinations. Students who successfully passed a " Begabtenprüfung" ("test of aptitude") are also eligible. Students from other countries who hold a high school leaving certificate that is not counted as being equivalent to the ''Abitur'' (such as the American high school diploma) and who do well enough on the ACT or SAT test, may also enter German universities. A person who does not hold the ''Abitur'' and did not take an aptitude test may still be admitted to university by completing at least the 10th grade and doing well on an IQ test (see: Hochbegabtenstudium).

Other qualifications called ''Abitur'' in colloquial usage

In German, the European Baccalaureate is called ''europäisches Abitur,'' the French-German Baccalaureate is called ''deutsch-französisches Abitur'', and the International Baccalaureate is called ''internationales Abitur,'' neither to be confused with the German ''Abitur''.

The term ''Fachabitur'' was used in all of Western Germany for a variation of the ''Abitur'' until the 1990s; the official term for the German qualification is ''fachgebundene Hochschulreife''. This qualification includes only one foreign language (usually, English). The ''Abitur'', in contrast, usually requires two foreign languages. The ''Fachabitur'' also allows the graduate to start studying at a university but is limited to a specified range of majors, depending on the specific subjects covered in his ''Fachabitur'' examinations. But the graduate is allowed to study for all majors at a '' Fachhochschule'' (University of Applied Sciences, in some ways comparable to polytechnics). Today, the school leaving certificate is called ''fachgebundenes Abitur'' ('restricted subject ''Abitur')''.

Now the term ''Fachabitur'' is used in most parts of Germany for the ''Fachhochschulreife (FHR)''. It was introduced in West Germany in the 1970s together with the '' Fachhochschulen''. It enables the graduate to start studying at a ''Fachhochschule'' and, in Hesse, also at a university within that state. In the Gymnasiums of some states it is awarded in the year before the ''Abitur'' is reached. However, the normal way to obtain ''Fachhochschulreife'' is graduation from a German ''Fachoberschule'', a vocational high school, also introduced in the 1970s.

The term ''Notabitur'' ('emergency ''Abitur) describes a qualification used only during World War I and World War II. It was granted to male German ''Gymnasium'' students who voluntarily enlisted for military service before graduation as well as young women who were evacuated from the major cities before they could complete their ''Gymnasium'' education as planned (approximately three to five million children and teenagers had to be evacuated during the war). The ''Notabitur'' during World War I included an examination, roughly equivalent to the ''Abitur'' exam. The World War II ''Notabitur'', in contrast, was granted without an examination. After the war this was a major disadvantage for the students concerned since, unlike its World War I counterpart, the certificate was generally not recognised in West Germany and never recognised in East Germany. Universities requested the ''Abitur'' to consist of written exams including at least two foreign languages (almost always Latin and French, the latter sometimes replaced by English). Students, who received the ''Notabitur'' during World War II were offered to re-enter school to prepare for and take the exam after the war had ended. Those special ''Abitur'' preparation classes were made up of young adults of different age and sex, which was very unusual at the time.

Equivalent high school graduation certificate in other countries

The equivalent graduation certificate in the Czech Republic, Austria, Poland, Italy and other countries of continental Europe is the '' Matura''; while in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the West Indies, it is A-levels; in Scotland it is Higher Grade; in the Republic of Ireland it is the Leaving Certificate; in Greece and Cyprus it is the " apolytirion" (a kind of high school diploma); in Malta it is the Matriculation Certificate (MATSEC), in