Debate about school grades: “Einer-Abi flood”: Does Germany have a top mark?

Do students make it easier to put on a high school diploma these days? The German Teachers’ Association sees a tendency in this direction and warns of a devaluation of the Abitur. “Compared to earlier years, there is a flood of a one-dab,” said association president Stefan Düll. Both in the proportion of young people who reached a high school graduate between 1.0 and 1.9, as well as for students with the top grade 1.0, there is a clear increase.

“In the 80s and 90s, there were five to ten people with an average of 1.0 to 1.9 at an average high school, today it is often twice to three times as many,” said Düll. The “Rheinische Post” had reported on the statements.

Teacher Association: Abitur must not only be “right to study”

The high school diploma is “nothing that is thrown behind,” the association president restricted. Nevertheless, the quality should not be killed. It is important that the high school diploma is not only the certificate of a study authorization, but also that of a “study qualification”, explained Düll when asked by dpa.

The teacher association receives encouragement from the ranks of the Union. The CDU member of the Bundestag, Christoph Ploß, also told the “Rheinische Post”: “The Abitur is being devalued more and more if more and more students get better grades year after year.” In Germany there is a “note inflation” that must be stopped.

Data on Abitur in Germany show no clear tendency

In its analysis, the teacher association is based primarily on data that has shown a significant increase in the graduation pollen since 2006. For example, the association refers to statistics from the Federal Center for Political Education, which shows that the proportion of high school graduates with the final grades 1.0 to 1.4 across all federal states has increased significantly between 2006 and 2022.

A lot has also changed at school, which favors this development according to the teacher association. So school classes are more heterogeneous today. “Benefits also depend on the relation within the group, heterogeneous achievements in a group mean that services that were good 20 years ago are now considered to be very well assessed. The benchmark is shifting,” writes the association.

However, the statistics also show a change in the after-corona years 2023 and 2024, which affects all top marks up to and including 1.9. According to dpa research, for example, the Abitur statistics of the Conference of Ministers of Culture until 2024 no clear tendency towards more high school graduation between 1.0 and 1.9 in the recent past. Accordingly, in 2021 and 2022 the quota of those who created such a degree was even higher at more than 35 percent than in the following years. In 2023 and 2024, this cut achieved only about 30 percent of the students in comparison. The Abitur data for this year 2025 are not yet available in all federal states.

Also country differences at top graduates of 1.0

Depending on the federal state, there are different results for the top graduation of 1.0. For example, the Saxon Ministry of Culture announced that fewer high school graduates had reached this cut -out this year. While there were still 402 students with a 1.0-cut last year, they were 353.

From Hesse, on the other hand, it is said that this year 5.1 percent of high school graduates had made an Abitur average of 1.0. In contrast, in 2020 it was 2.9 percent. Even in 2021 to 2024, an increase of more than four percent was shown.

The press office of the Conference of Ministers of Education, which has a statistics of the past few years, speaks of a “peak” in the years 2021 and 2022, which, however, did not continue in the following years 2023 and 2024. The number of high school graduates with a 1.0-cut has dropped back in the two after-corona years.

The bottom line is that it can be said: There is no clear evidence of a kind of “notification”, as the Union and Teachers’ Association complain about, at least with a view to the recent past. It remains to be seen how the situation will develop in the coming years.

Left wants to completely abolish school grades

A special position on this topic incompatible with the Union and other parties is taking the left. Notes were completely banished from the schools, explained the education policy spokeswoman for the parliamentary group, Nicole Gohlke. “We are still committed to the abolition of grades and homework,” she told the “Rheinische Post”. Instead of discussing too many one-off die, the quality of the education system should be in the foreground. The discussion about grades passed the topic.