Austria Recorded an Increase in Students

In the school year 2024/25, the number of students in Austria has risen again. At the beginning of the school year, there were a total of 1,185,525 children and adolescents in schools, Statistics Austria announced on Thursday. The increase amounted to 13,100 or 1.1 percent. There was a particular rise in schoolchildren without Austrian citizenship. A new record high in student numbers was registered in the lower level of AHS.

7,100 More Elementary School Students

The number of children has grown in both elementary and middle schools. "These increases are mainly due to the rising number of schoolchildren with non-Austrian citizenship," said Manuela Lenk, Director General of Statistics Austria, in a press release. In elementary schools, the increase was 7,100 or 1.9 percent, with now 376,203 students. There were 3,200 or 1.5 percent more children in middle schools (now 219,185).

The increase becomes even more apparent in a ten-year comparison. During this period, the increase in elementary schools was 14.6 percent, and in middle schools, it was 5.3 percent. Overall, there are 5 percent more schoolchildren since 2014/15.

After previous declines, there has been an increase in elementary schools since 2016/17. Statistics Austria primarily attributes this development to migration movements since 2015. For example, the number of foreign elementary school children has almost doubled in ten years from 44,802 to 89,460.

Record in Lower Level of AHS

The number of students in the lower level of AHS has been rising since 2013/14. Now, with 125,375 children, there is a new record high. Compared to the previous year, the increase was 0.3 percent, and over ten years, it was 11.1 percent. The development is less pronounced in the upper levels. In the upper levels of AHS, there was a slight decline of 0.3 percent. In vocational higher schools (BHS), however, the number of students rose again for the first time - by 0.7 percent.

The picture is not uniform in German language support. Children without sufficient language skills are classified as extraordinary students. In elementary schools, their number slightly increased to 40,698, which is 10.8 percent. In the previous year, it was 10.7 percent. About half are taught in special German support classes or courses. In middle schools, there were 6,531 extraordinary students. This is a slight decrease to 3.0 percent from the previous 3.8 percent.

(APA/Red)

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