At the Abendgymnasium, adults with several years of professional activity can obtain the general higher education entrance qualification while working. Classes are usually held in the evening or, in exceptional cases, at the weekend.
The evening grammar school lasts
- three to three and a half years for those with a Realschulabschluss or equivalent level of education, and
- four years for those without a Realschulabschluss or equivalent.
It is divided into the following courses:
- one-year preliminary course (only for persons without a Realschulabschluss or equivalent level of education)
- one-year introductory phase
- two-year course phase.
Persons without a Realschule certificate are awarded an equivalent level of education to the Realschule certificate when they transfer to the course system.
At the end of the first year of the course phase, you will be awarded the Fachhochschulreife if you
- you have achieved the required academic performance and
- prove that you have completed at least two years of vocational training, at least one year of work experience or a voluntary social or ecological year, military or alternative service or federal voluntary service.
If you pass the Abitur examination, you acquire the general higher education entrance qualification. You may then study at all universities in the Federal Republic of Germany.