Lambert T. Koch, president of the German University Council (DHV), has criticized what he calls “grade inflation” in the German Abitur exams. Speaking to the “Münchner Merkur” from Ippen-Media, Koch stated that to maintain the validity of the Abitur, the escalating issue of grades must be curbed by fully utilizing the entire grading spectrum.
Despite graduating students achieving better grades in recent years, Koch notes that universities are facing problems. The nearly 34,000 scholars organized by the DHV have expressed concern for some time that while the Abitur formally certifies the ability to study, it increasingly fails to guarantee this in practice. Although the DHV President acknowledges that highly motivated and high-achieving young people still enrol and excel in their studies from the first semester, university faculty are observing significant deficiencies. These shortcomings include insufficient mathematical prerequisites, alongside noticeable declines in reading comprehension, reading motivation, and general expression skills.
To compensate for these shortcomings, universities offer “subject-specific bridge courses” to teach missing fundamentals. However, this remedial teaching method faces structural limitations because universities lack the capacity to permanently assume the educational responsibilities traditionally held by schools.
Data from the Conference of Ministers of Education confirms that the Abitur grades have indeed improved significantly over recent years. Whereas the weighted national average for the Abitur in 2006 was 2.5, it now stands at 2.36. Koch warns that liberally awarded top grades create false expectations that invariably lead to disappointment during university life. Therefore, he argues for a return to the principle of “quality over quantity” so that the Abitur once again serves as a reliable proof of actual academic capability across the country.