A Standard Core Abitur (A-level equivalent) for Germany: a Proposal by the Action Committee on Education

The German Abitur (A-level equivalent) has a longstanding tradition in Germany as a final school examination that certifies an individual’s ability to study and grants access to the higher education system. However, there are decades of evidence suggesting that significant qualitative differences exist between the Länder in terms of the tasks set and the scoring of the Abitur. This makes it impossible to compare the qualification nationally and leads to a great deal of injustice in terms of the assessment of academic achievement and access to higher education. Moreover, this lack of comparability means that a key quality assurance tool is missing. In a new expert report, which is summarized in this article, the Action Committee on Education analyses the Länders’ Abitur examination procedure and shows that steps urgently need to be taken towards greater standardization of the Abitur. To this end a concept for a common core Abitur is developed which could be implemented quickly and which offers concrete recommendations for the development of a Länder-wide Abitur module in the three core subjects of German, mathematic and English. This module could be introduced as of the Abitur class of 2018 and would account for 10% of the overall Abitur score and/or 30% of the Abitur examination. The proposal for a common core Abitur is designed so as to enable its easy integration into the existing system and to give the Länder a high degree of flexibility. The common core Abitur would contribute to safeguarding national education standards, fair access to higher education and adequate ability to study on the part of students.