Britta Ernst (born 23 February 1961) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany who has served as the State Minister for Education and Youth of Brandenburg from 2017 to 2023.

She was a member of the Hamburg Parliament from 1997 to 2011, served as School Minister of Schleswig-Holstein from 2014 to 2017, and as president of the Kultusministerkonferenz in 2021.

[1][4][5] During the 2009 Schleswig-Holstein state election, Ernst was a member of Ralf Stegner's shadow cabinet.

[6] In 2014, she was appointed Minister for School and Professional Education of the state of Schleswig-Holstein in minister-president Torsten Albig's cabinet and served as such until 2017,[7] as well as deputy member of the German Bundesrat from 2014 to 2017.

[8] Since September 2017, Ernst has been serving as State Minister for Education, Youth and Sport of Brandenburg in minister-president Dietmar Woidke's cabinet.