Student Enrollment in Germany Rise for Fourth Consecutive Year Reaching 11.5 Million

The number of pupils has risen for the fourth year in a row. In the 2025/26 school year, around 11.5 million young people were taught in general education and vocational schools, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office. - AFP

Germany's student population has grown for the fourth year in a row, with around 11.5 million pupils enrolled at general education schools, vocational schools, and healthcare training institutions in the 2025/26 school year. According to preliminary figures released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) in Wiesbaden on Wednesday, this represents an increase of 0.7% or around 84,000 students compared to the previous school year.

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The rise in student numbers closely mirrors broader demographic trends, by the end of 2024, the number of children and young people between the ages of five and 19 had grown by 0.8% compared to the end of the previous year.

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Growth Across General Education Schools

At general education schools, student numbers rose by 0.9% in the 2025/26 school year compared to 2024/25, bringing the total to around nine million pupils. Almost all federal states recorded an increase. The exceptions were Thuringia, which saw a slight decline of 0.5%, the Saarland with a drop of 0.3%, and Berlin with a marginal decrease of 0.1%.

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The strongest growth was recorded in Bavaria, where student numbers rose by 2.9%, equivalent to around 38,600 additional pupils. Destatis attributed this primarily to the reintroduction of the nine-year Gymnasium model in the state. Under the previous eight-year model, known as G8, pupils completed their Abitur, the German university entrance qualification, one year earlier.

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The switch back to the nine-year G9 model means that one cohort of pupils is now remaining at general education schools for an additional year, which has temporarily inflated Bavaria's student numbers due to an incomplete Abitur cohort in 2025. At vocational schools, by contrast, student numbers fell slightly by 0.4% to around 2.3 million.

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Foreign Students Account for 17% of All Pupils

Of the approximately 11.5 million students enrolled in the 2025/26 school year, around 1.9 million hold exclusively foreign citizenship. This represents an increase of 3.6% compared to the 2024/25 school year and accounts for 17% of all pupils enrolled across Germany's schools.

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