Abitur

Abitur (German pronunciation: [abiˈtuːɐ] ⓘ), often shortened colloquially to Abi, is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany.

In German, the term Abitur has roots in the archaic word Abiturium, which in turn was derived from the Latin abiturus (future active participle of abire, thus "someone who is going to leave").

The Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife ("certificate of general qualification for university entrance"), often referred to as Abiturzeugnis ("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.

[1] Abitur confers Allgemeine Hochschulreife (allows students to enter university or Fachhochschule), while there are other ways of obtaining it.

[3] Of those, most obtained their Allgemeine Hochschulreife at a Gymnasium, while 40,000 received it at a different kind of school, most notably at Gesamtschulen.

In 1788 Prussia introduced the Abiturreglement, a law, for the first time within Germany, establishing the Abitur as an official qualification.

It is the only school-leaving certificate in all states of Germany that allows the graduate (or Abiturient) to move directly to university.

But the graduate is allowed to study for all majors at a Fachhochschule (University of Applied Sciences, in some ways comparable to polytechnics).

However, the normal way to obtain Fachhochschulreife is graduation from a German Fachoberschule, a vocational high school, also introduced in the 1970s.

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.

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).

Those special Abitur preparation classes were made up of young adults of different age and sex, which was very unusual at the time.

In 2013, all other states except Rheinland-Pfalz also introduced centralized written exams at least in the core subjects (German, mathematics and the first foreign language, usually English).

Each semester of a subject studied in the final two years yields up to 15 points for a student, where advanced courses may count double, depending on the state.

In late spring, students have mandatory oral examinations in two subjects, which are overseen by a German educational official.

The final GPA includes grades from both junior and senior years, as well as for the five Abitur exams.

The final diploma that students receive after successful completion of these exams allows them to qualify for admission to universities in Germany.