Highest number of people staying seated

In total, around 25,100 students repeated a grade in the 2022/23 school year, according to Education Minister Martin Polaschek’s (ÖVP) response to a parliamentary question from NEOS. In previous years there were between 17,600 and 21,700 before the number of repeat classes dropped to 11,900 in 2020/21.

Reason for the decline at the time: In 2019/20 and 2020/21 there were significant relief measures due to corona. With a single fiver on your certificate you were automatically allowed to move up to the next school year. This was only excluded if the subject in question had already been assessed negatively in the previous year. Even with two or more fives, the teachers’ conference could allow advancement (in this case, too, only if these subjects were successfully completed in the previous year). Another consequence: Even those who were generally not allowed to move up, but then managed all the re-examinations except one, were automatically allowed to move to the next class.

These regulations ensured that significantly fewer students had to repeat a grade, especially in the 2020/21 school year. The following year, the number of those who remained seated rose to 19,100 and most recently to 25,100. The most obvious explanation for the two sharp increases after the previous slump: those children and young people who were allowed to move up due to the more liberal regulations then failed in the following years, so they basically made up for being stuck.

1900 elementary school students remained behind

In 2022/23, at least 2.4 percent of all students had to repeat a grade. The rate was lowest in elementary schools (0.6 percent) and highest in various middle vocational schools with values ​​of over nine percent. Despite the comparatively low quota, there were still more than 1,900 people who remained in elementary schools.

In a comparison of federal states, the majority of students in Vienna (3.5 percent) repeated in 2022/23 (calculated across all school types). The lowest numbers were in Carinthia and Tyrol (1.8 percent each) and Styria (1.9 percent).

In a statement sent to the APA, NEOS education spokeswoman Martina Künsberg Sarre called on Polaschek to provide more resources for early learning assistance. “For many children, staying seated is an early experience of failure, which in most cases demotivates more than it helps.” The aim of the school system must be to support children and young people with learning difficulties during the school year and not only afterwards through a complex repetition of classes.

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