Holders of vocational qualification who want to study for a degree need ambition and discipline
Jana Löffler originally trained as a tourism agent. In her free time, the 25 year old designs and tailors funky outfits for herself and her friends. With some success so it seems, given that last year, College of Art Berlin-Weißensee accepted Jana, who comes from Mannheim, onto their bachelor degree course for fashion design.
Afterwards, Jana would like to take her masters and if possible, a dissertation. Her aim is a professorship at a design or art college. This is despite the fact that Jana has no upper secondary school leaving certificate.
She finished school with a vocational extension certificate, which is an intermediate secondary school qualification. She considers the fact that she can study anyway as the opportunity of a lifetime. "I like to show others how you can turn your ideas and fashion them into something interesting and real. And I plan to do the same with my own ambitions."
Young people with artistic or sporting talent but no upper secondary school leaving certificate have had access to higher education for quite some time. By contrast, those who are interested in business, technology, humanities or natural sciences still need the standard higher education entrance qualifications.
That is, unless he or she has completed training in a recognised vocation and can demonstrate a couple of years’ experience. In such cases, many science-weighted institutes of higher education admit applicants with only an intermediate school leaving certificate to bachelor courses and even to master courses; even PhD studies at a later stage are not out of the question.
The back story lies with educational policy: in order to place vocational education and training on the same footing as academic education, the culture ministers in Germany's Länder or federal states agreed, on 6th March 2009, on generally accepted standards for general and subject-based requirements, when granting those with vocational qualifications entry to higher education.
However, even six years later, these arrangements have only been implemented in 10 of the 16 German states (Länder).
Only one aspect is binding across the Federal Republic of Germany: after the student has completed one year of their studies successfully, the right to admission to higher education granted on the basis of the agreement from March 2009 has to be recognised by Germany's other Länder – as long as the student continues studying the same subject or on a similar course.
So, anyone admitted to study science in one of the German states Länder can continue their degree anywhere in Germany.
Except for in those Länder where the agreement reached at the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs in 2009 has still not been implemented, anyone can enter a university or university of applied sciences, if they hold one of the following vocational education qualifications: certified senior clerk (Chamber of Industry and Commerce), state certified technician, business economist, educators or training staff for care and care providers.
A successful examination to become a master of trades will also entitle the applicant to study whatever degree they wish, provided that there are no entry restrictions for the subject.
Even so, between three and ten per cent of the higher education places available are reserved for applicants with vocational qualifications. The rule is: those with the best grades get accepted.