Berlin Court Upholds New Gymnasium Admission Rules Despite High Failure Rate

A Berlin court has rejected legal challenges to the city's new gymnasium admission process, which includes a controversial test with a 97% failure rate.

The Berlin Administrative Court ruled that the city's new gymnasium admission rules, including a test requirement, are constitutional and within the government's discretion.
The court dismissed a student's emergency appeal, stating that intelligence test results alone cannot override poor academic performance or test outcomes.
Under the new rules, students without a 2.2 or better grade average must pass a test requiring 75% to qualify for gymnasium admission; only 51 out of 1,937 test-takers succeeded this year.
Criticism of the new system includes claims of overly challenging test content, rushed implementation, and insufficient consideration of individual student circumstances.
The court's decision impacts ongoing legal challenges by other families, as it supports the test's fairness and denies claims of disproportionate hardship.