Education at a glance

The age range of students in academic secondary schools (AHS), lower secondary schools (Hauptschulen) and vocational colleges (Berufsbildenden Schulen) cannot be compared directly. However, the comparatively low rise in student numbers during the reporting period, which turned into a slight decrease in the last two school years, indicates a falling demand over the past few years for lower secondary schools in comparison to the two other important school types. There has been a constant increase in student numbers during the reporting period in both academic secondary schools and vocational colleges.

Analogous to the relative constant number of primary and secondary students, the number of teachers remained quite constant overall between school years 2004/05 and 2006/07.

Trends in tertiary education

The growing number of students going to university continued over the past few years and in the 2010/11 academic year reached a figure of 265 030 regular students at public universities. This increase is reflected in the growing number of school students gaining their school-leaving certificate. In the 1994/95 academic year the tertiary educational sector was expanded with the setting up of "technical universities" (Fachhochschulen). These new institutions gained positive acceptance right from the beginning and this educational sector saw greater rates of increase than traditional universities, in terms of numbers of both students and graduates. The number of students at technical universities during the 2010/11 academic year was 38 459.

In the 2007/08 academic year the academies of education have been upgraded to universities of education. By now, there are nine public and five private universities of education and three private courses of study, which offers studies leading to a teaching profession. In the 2010/11 academic year there were 11 400 students enrolled in courses for the teaching qualification.