Applying the ISCED‐97 to the German educational qualifications Silke L. Schneider 1 This chapter describes the educational system in Germany and examines how the ISCED‐97 is applied to German data. The current main topics of debate concerning the German educational system touch on all different levels of education: Increasing provision of child‐care and its development towards early education; the question of prolonging primary educa‐ tion to grade 6; the unsatisfactory performance of 15‐year‐olds in the PISA‐studies (OECD, 2001; 2004); the shortage of apprenticeship places; the implementation of Bachelor and Master degrees in higher education; and the introduction of fees to counter the chronic underfunding of universities (Statistisches Bundesamt, 2006). 1 Historical and legal background of education in Germany The most substantial changes in the educational system in Germany since World War II affected five of the six current eastern federal states (Thuringia, Saxony, Saxony‐Anhalt, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg‐Western Pomerania) and East Ber‐ lin, 2 with the establishment of and later break‐up of the German Democratic Re‐ public (GDR) and its own educational system. Compared to some other European countries, the system only changed very gradually in West Berlin and the ten west‐ ern federal states (Bavaria, Baden‐Württemberg, Hesse, Saarland, Rhineland‐ Palatinate, North Rhine‐Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Schleswig Holstein, Hamburg and Bremen) that made up the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) during the dec‐ ades of partition. The structure of the educational system of the GDR was centrally organized in ac‐ cordance with Soviet ideals, and in stark contrast to the system effective in West Germany. From 1945 onwards, a unitary educational system developed in the GDR. The state had the monopoly in education matters, so that apart from a few church‐ related pre‐primary institutions, there was no private education. Elementary school was called polytechnic secondary school (Polytechnische Oberschule) and was com‐ pulsory for all children between age 6 and 16. It had a specific focus on science and technology, but another important aim of basic schooling in the GDR was the edu‐ 1 I would like to thank Jördis Kummerländer for providing an early version of this chapter for elaboration. 2 The re‐united Berlin makes the 6th eastern German federal state of today’s FRG. Like Hamburg, it is a city state.