Schools in Germany: how your address decides the school (Schulbezirk)
For primary school, your registered address usually determines which public school your child attends. What the Schulbezirk is, how enrollment works, and what to check before you rent.
School attendance is compulsory in Germany (Schulpflicht) from around age six, and homeschooling is not permitted. In many states you don't choose the public primary school (Grundschule): it follows from your registered address (your Anmeldung), not from where you actually spend your days. A few states let parents choose, and the local school authority handles exceptions.
How the Schulbezirk works
The rules are set by each Bundesland, so the same question has different answers across Germany. Three common models: in Bavaria the Schulsprengel is binding — your address assigns the school, and switching needs an approved exception (Gastschulantrag). In Berlin every address belongs to an Einschulungsbereich — you can request a different school when you enroll, but catchment children have priority. In North Rhine-Westphalia fixed primary catchments were abolished — you can apply to any Grundschule in the city, but when a school is full, children living nearby come first.
- Find your city's school-assignment map: search "Schulbezirk" or "Einzugsgebiet" plus your city's name — most cities publish a street-by-street lookup
- The registered (Anmeldung) address decides — moving means a new school assignment
- Exceptions exist everywhere: sibling at the school, childcare situation, language programs — but they must be applied for and approved
- Secondary schools (Gymnasium, Realschule…) are generally chosen freely — the strict catchment logic is mostly a primary-school topic
How enrollment (Einschulung) works
- 1The city writes to you automatically — usually about a year before school start, based on your registered address and your child's birth date.
- 2Register your child at the assigned school during the announced Schulanmeldung period (bring passports, birth certificate, Meldebescheinigung).
- 3Your child attends the school-readiness health check (Schuleingangsuntersuchung) — a standard appointment with the public health office.
- 4If you want a different school, file the exception application at the same time and state your reasons — don't wait for the rejection letter.