After graduation to university? It doesn’t have to be. More and more young people with high school diplomas are deciding against studying after school – and in favor of an apprenticeship.
Do you have to study if you have a high school diploma? Apparently fewer and fewer young people in Germany think that way. Many high school graduates start an apprenticeship after school – and the trend is rising.
In 2021, almost a third (29.7 percent) of prospective trainees were also entitled to attend a university or technical college – almost seven percentage points more than ten years ago. This is the result of figures from the Federal Statistical Office.
Realschule students are still clearly ahead
However, graduates with a secondary school certificate still make up the majority of the new trainees at 41.4 percent. The proportion of secondary school students is declining at 24 percent and school leavers without any qualifications at 2.8 percent.
Conversely, however, the following also applies: Realschule graduates are obviously not open to all training occupations. After all, certain apprenticeships were filled almost exclusively with applicants who had at least a technical college entrance qualification. This applies to the areas of software development, marketing communication and media salespeople. Secondary school students, on the other hand, often learn automotive mechatronics or choose medical specialist training.
Graduates are more likely to complete their education
With higher school education, the probability increases that young people will also complete their training in the company they initially chose. At 16.5 percent, high school graduates had the lowest rate of early termination of the training contract.
It was 24.9 percent for Realschule students and a good 38.5 percent for trainees with or without a secondary school leaving certificate. Does that automatically mean dropping out of training? no way. The trainees often just changed companies or took up another apprenticeship, as the statisticians explain.