Lambert T. Koch, President of the German University Council (DHV), criticized what he termed “grade inflation” in the German Abitur examinations. Speaking to the Munich Merkur, Koch stated that to sustainably safeguard the credibility of the Abitur, the continuing “grade inflation” must be curbed by systematically utilizing the entire grading spectrum.
Despite students achieving increasingly high grades, universities are facing challenges. According to Koch, the nearly 34,000 scientists organized by the DHV have long been concerned that while the Abitur formally certifies academic readiness for study, it no longer reliably guarantees it in practice. However, the DHV president also acknowledged that highly motivated and high-performing young people still take up their studies after graduating, shining from the first semester onward. Nevertheless, university faculty are increasingly observing conspicuous deficiencies; besides insufficient mathematical prerequisites, students’ reading comprehension, willingness to read, and general expressive abilities have noticeably declined.
To compensate for these deficits, universities offer “subject-specific bridging courses” designed to convey missing foundational knowledge. However, this remedial teaching method hits structural limitations because universities lack the capacity to permanently assume the educational responsibilities of schools.
Data from the German Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs confirms that Abitur grades have indeed improved significantly over recent years. Where the weighted national average for the Abitur stood at 2.5 in 2006, it is now 2.36. Koch warned that readily awarded top grades create false expectations, which inevitably lead to disappointment during the actual university study process. Therefore, he argued, there must be a “return to the principle of quality over quantity” so that the Abitur can once again serve as a reliable indicator of genuine academic ability nationwide.
