These School Reforms Bring New Obligations and Penalties in 2026

The year 2026 brings a whole series of innovations in the school sector, the most controversial of which is the headscarf ban for girls up to 14 years old. Students with a need for German language support will be required to attend summer school, and schools will have more freedom in organizing German language support during the school year. Starting in the fall, 400 hotspot schools will receive more staff through a "chance bonus."

Headscarf Ban and Sanctions for School Refusal

Starting in the fall, head coverings that "cover the head according to Islamic traditions" will be banned in schools. In the last resort, fines of up to 800 euros may be imposed for violations. An awareness phase is set to begin in schools after the semester break.

Administrative fines of up to 800 euros are also planned for parents starting in the fall of 2026 if they do not support their children in "reintegration" after a suspension. If students are temporarily excluded from classes due to violence, they will be offered up to 20 hours per week of social-pedagogical measures for reintegration and instruction. If parents refuse to cooperate with social workers or child and youth services, the district administrative authority can impose fines. The same applies if they do not participate in the "perspective discussion," which students must have with a teacher if they are at risk of dropping out of school.

Sanctions also threaten if parents do not send their children with a need for German language support to summer school in the last two weeks of vacation. This will be mandatory from summer 2026 for children classified as "extraordinary students" according to the MIKA-D test. Recently, only 7,900 of the total 49,000 extraordinary students took advantage of the support offer. In 2026, it will initially be mandatory for students in German support classes, and the following year for children with better German skills in German support courses. Students without a need for German language support can continue to attend voluntarily.

Mandatory Summer School for German Support Children

There are also changes in German language support during the school year. Since a reform under the Black-Blue coalition in 2018/19, German language support has generally taken place in separate support classes or courses, with extraordinary students only spending subjects like crafts or physical education with their regular class. From fall 2026, school-autonomous models for learning German in the classroom will also be possible. Additionally, instead of two mandatory MIKA-D tests, there will only be one at the end of the summer semester. In the future, children from German support courses will be allowed to advance to the next grade level with a failing grade if the school conference believes they can keep up well in the higher class.

Chance Bonus for 400 Hotspot Schools

In the 2026/27 school year, the "chance bonus" will bring the long-discussed better equipment for locations with particularly many students from poorer families or with a migration background on a larger scale. For 400 primary and middle schools, especially in cities, 800 additional positions are planned. The locations can decide for themselves whether they want more teachers or staff from school psychology, school social work, or social pedagogy.

More Youth Protection on Student Laptops

In the area of digitalization, child protection on laptops and tablets will be expanded in 2026, which children have been receiving in the 1st grades of middle schools and lower secondary AHS for five years. So far, students are only protected from inappropriate content on the internet within the school network. Starting in April, youth protection filters will be applied directly on the device, independent of the WLAN or router used, and parents will be able to set up additional blocks. Additionally, the "Marketplace for Learning Apps" will launch in the fall, providing a platform where middle schools, AHS, and vocational middle and higher schools (BMHS) can find and purchase quality-assured digital learning programs.

Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr (NEOS) also aims to further advance the promised reduction of bureaucracy in the coming year. Schools are to be relieved in areas such as the iKMPlus competency assessments, and administrative processes for private schools will be simplified. A systematic inquiry and complaint management system is planned for the education directorates.

Reform of the Oral Matura

There are changes to the oral Matura: While the inclusion of the annual grade in the Matura grade remains, mere participation in the exam will no longer suffice from the main date in 2026. The previous regulation led to students with a good grade in their annual report appearing unprepared for the "Oral" exam. In the future, a minimum quota must also be achieved in this exam.

Reform Partnership and "Plan Z"

There are also innovations in primary schools: In the school report after the first semester, third graders will receive grades in the subject of English for the first time. Starting with the current school year, the "Living Foreign Language" - usually English - has been changed from a compulsory exercise to a mandatory subject in the third grades and is accordingly graded. By 2026/27, the fourth grades will also be adjusted.

It is still unclear what the "Reform Partnership" between the federal government, states, and municipalities will bring in the education sector. Announced measures include nationwide minimum standards in kindergartens, the consolidation of school staff under one authority, and more school autonomy. Education Minister Wiederkehr is also working on his own reform: By March, he plans to present a "Plan Z" for a fundamental restructuring of the education system. The goal is "a school that prepares for life." Implementation is set to start in the second quarter.

New Test Reports and International Comparative Studies

For schools, 2026 is once again a report year: For the first time, a report with federal and state results on the individual competency measurement PLUS (iKMPLUS) will be published. The basis is the tests from 2023 to 2025 in the fourth grades of primary schools, middle schools, and lower secondary AHS in German (reading), mathematics, and for older students, also English. The iKMPLUS assesses whether students have met the educational standards that apply in addition to the curriculum. The results do not affect grades but are intended to help teachers with individual support. Reports with analyses of the results at the federal and state levels are only available every three years.

The results of the OECD study PISA 2025 are expected to be published in the fall. PISA assesses the competencies of 15- and 16-year-olds in reading, mathematics, and science every three years. Meanwhile, the international primary school reading study PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) will first test in the spring how reading skills and attitudes are in the 4th grade. The results are expected to be published in December 2027.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.