School in Germany: compulsory without exception, selection after grade 4, and € 259 Kindergeld
Public schools are free and the Schulpflicht is absolute: it starts in the year your child turns six, lasts nine or ten years and knows no home schooling. After grade 4 — in Berlin and Brandenburg grade 6 — the system splits into Gymnasium, Realschule and Hauptschule. You register your child at the school of your neighbourhood, in Berlin in a two-week window in October, and the Kindergeld of € 259 per child per month you apply for yourself at the Familienkasse.
Your child can go to the public school in Germany, free of charge, and must: the German Schulpflicht starts in the year a child turns six, lasts nine full-time school years in most states (ten in Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen and Thuringia) and knows no exemption for home schooling. Whoever is used to an exemption or a broad first year from the Netherlands needs to know two things. The system splits early: after grade 4 of the Grundschule — in Berlin and Brandenburg after grade 6 — children go to the Gymnasium, the Realschule or the Hauptschule, or to a school that combines those routes. And enrolment has a window: in Berlin two weeks in October, almost a year before the first school day. The good news is the Kindergeld: € 259 per child per month, regardless of income, to be applied for at the Familienkasse.
How is German education structured?
Education in Germany is a matter for the states; the Kultusministerkonferenz coordinates the main lines. Those main lines:
| School | Age | Grades | Compulsory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kita (childcare) | up to 6 | — | no; falls under youth welfare, not the school system |
| Grundschule | from the year your child turns 6 | 1 to 4; Berlin and Brandenburg 1 to 6 | yes |
| Sekundarstufe I: Gymnasium, Realschule, Hauptschule or combined school types | about 10 to 15 | 5 to 9 or 10 | yes, until the nine or ten years are complete |
| Gymnasiale Oberstufe | about 15 to 18 | one year Einführungsphase, two years Qualifikationsphase, then the Abitur | no |
| Vocational training (duales System) or Berufsschule | from about 15 | — | part-time compulsory schooling, usually three years |
The split after the Grundschule is the step Dutch parents underestimate: the recommendation comes around age ten, and although switching is possible in grades 5 and 6 and in principle every qualification of Sekundarstufe I can be obtained at every school type, the route is fixed early. In many states Hauptschule and Realschule have meanwhile been merged into schools with several educational paths.
How do I enrol my child?
At the public Grundschule of your Einzugsbereich, the school that belongs to your address and that your district's Schulamt tells you. Berlin shows how tight that is: for school year 2027-2028 the enrolment window runs from 5 to 16 October 2026, for children born between 1 October 2020 and 30 September 2021. You appear in person, with your passport, a current Meldebescheinigung and your child's birth certificate. If you want a different school, including a private school, you still enrol your child first at the responsible school and apply there in writing for the other. Children born before 31 March after that can start early if they need no language support.
If you arrive in the middle of the school year, enrolment runs via the Schulamt; the school of your neighbourhood is then the starting point. Without the Anmeldung it doesn't start — the Meldebescheinigung is the first document the school asks for.
The Schulpflicht is absolute. Whoever has their home, habitual residence or work in Berlin falls under it, and absence is allowed only by exception and for weighty reasons. A year's deferral before the Grundschule is possible on request if the child's development calls for it; home schooling is not.
What is the Kindergeld, and how do I get it?
The Kindergeld is € 259 per child per month, for children under 18 and under conditions beyond that, regardless of your income, for whoever lives in Germany or another EU country. It doesn't come by itself: you apply for it at the Familienkasse of the Bundesagentur für Arbeit, online, and with a BundID without a signature. The application is free, and the Familienkasse itself warns against paid intermediaries. Two deadlines to remember: the Kindergeld can be paid retroactively for at most six months, so apply in the first months; and against a refusal you can object within a month.
On the Dutch side the child benefit stops as soon as your departure means you are no longer insured in the Netherlands, says the SVB — often benefit from the new country of residence comes back in its place. Within the EU benefits are offset, not stacked: report your departure to the SVB and your application to the Familienkasse, so that neither reclaims later.
What does school still cost?
Public education is free; what you pay is books and materials in some states, after-school care (Hort) where it isn't free, and school trips. A private or international school has fees. The largest item comes before school: a Kita place is in Germany not a statutory part of education but of youth welfare, with waiting lists in the big cities. Whoever comes with a toddler gets on the list as soon as the address is known.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.3: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Germany or go straight to step 5.3 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change — when in doubt the source is leading, not this article.
- Kultusministerkonferenz — compulsory schooling, Grundschule and the educational paths of Sekundarstufe I and II — kmk.org
- Eurydice (European Commission) — the German education system, overview — eurydice.eacea.ec.europa.eu
- Berlin — the Schulpflicht (start, duration and deferral) — berlin.de
- Service Berlin — enrolment at the public Grundschule of your catchment area (window, documents) — service.berlin.de
- Bundesagentur für Arbeit — applying for Kindergeld (€ 259 a month, six months retroactively) — arbeitsagentur.de
- SVB — child benefit when you go to live or work outside the Netherlands — svb.nl
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