Information on school registration

Anyone who has their place of residence or habitual abode or their place of training or work in North Rhine-Westphalia is required to attend school.

If only one parent is listed on the birth certificate or in the family register, either proof of sole custody (certificate of non-existence of entries in the custody register) or proof of joint custody (joint custody declaration at the youth welfare office) must be submitted.

If both parents are listed in the family register or on the birth certificate, proof of joint custody (joint custody declaration at the youth welfare office) must also be submitted for a child born out of wedlock. In the case of a legitimate child and different surnames, please submit the marriage certificate.

Every child who has reached the age of six by the beginning of September 30 is required to attend school. This means that the birthday before or on September 30 is decisive. All children who turn six on October 1 or later are not required to attend school until the following calendar year.

If parents wish their child to start school a year later, this is only possible if there are significant health reasons. The decision is made by the school management on the basis of a medical report from a school doctor. The background to this is that all school-age children in a year group should be admitted to elementary school and no child should be excluded. Children who need more learning time or have special learning problems should receive targeted support and encouragement.

Younger children who are already well advanced in their learning development can start school early. If you, as parents, wish to enrol your child in school early, first submit an informal application to the head of the elementary school. After detailed consultation with you, the school management will decide whether to admit your child, taking into account the school doctor's report. Early enrolment only makes sense and admission is only possible if a child can be expected to work successfully and happily at school at this early stage.

In principle, compulsory schooling must be completed in Germany. An exemption can be granted under certain conditions. If your child is to attend a school abroad, a written application is required. You can submit this application to the Aachen Municipal Education Authority.

When deciding whether to grant an exemption, it must be taken into account, among other things, that the Compulsory Education Act is intended to guarantee a certain minimum level of education for all children and young people, and that the fundamental obligation for foreign children to attend a German school expresses the legislator's desire for social integration.

In addition, exemptions can only be granted if the foreign school authority or the foreign school supervisory authority has also declared its willingness to accept the child.

You should bear in mind that foreign schools do not offer the same qualifications as the German school system and that a later transition to German schools is more difficult due to different curricula and teaching content.
If your child attends a foreign elementary school, there must be particularly important reasons which, after weighing up all the circumstances, take precedence over the enforcement of compulsory schooling in the German school.

Particularly important reasons are to be assumed, for example, if

• the child is moving from a foreign country where he or she has previously attended a foreign school, in families with dual nationality the child has grown up predominantly in a different culture and language, is to continue to be educated in this culture and it is to be expected that the focus of the child's future living relationships will be abroad, or
• special personal circumstances justify attending a school abroad, taking into account the German school offer.

Information on the mutual recognition of educational qualifications and authorizations between the Benelux countries and North Rhine-Westphalia.