About Education System In Austria

Children aged three to six, may attend kindergarten. After that, school is compulsory for nine or ten years. Austria's secondary education is separated into two parts, lower and upper. Lower-secondary education in Austria is meant to teach individuals basic general education and gets them ready to enter upper-secondary education. In the upper secondary level Austria has a vast variety of vocational programs. The format of secondary vocational education is put into a way to get individuals to learn high skills for a specific profession.

In order to enter university, students are, as a rule, required to have passed the Abitur examination; since 2009, however, those with a Meisterbrief (master craftsman's diploma) have also been able to apply. If lacking those qualifications, pupils are eligible to enter a university or university of applied sciences if they can present additional proof that they will be able to keep up with their fellow students through a Begabtenprüfung or Hochbegabtenstudium (which is a test confirming excellence and above average intellectual ability).