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German universities saw a one per cent decrease in the number of students registering for the admission qualification exam, also known as the Arbitur, representing 3,700 fewer eligible people to attain tertiary education.

According to Destatis, the German Federal Statistical Office, 381,000 students took the Arbitur qualifications exam in 2023, while an uprising trend of younger students attaining such qualifications in December 2023 alone was noticed, Studying-in-Germany.org reports.

Some key factors for the latter results include the immigration of Ukrainian nationals, as well as the declining numbers of students in Germany, with data showing that 1.7 per cent fewer students enrolled in German universities in the 2023/2024 academic year. Another factor contributing to this downward trend can be related to a tick in German overseas students.

2 German States See 10% Decline in Eligible Students

The number of people eligible to study was down by ten per cent in Schleswig-Holstein state and nine per cent in Bremen, which are home to the popular Kiel University and University of Bremen, respectively.

The population changes recorded between 2021 and 2022 in these two federal states can be related to such results. Destatis’s data show that in this period, Schleswig-Holstein had a change of 31,300 in population – to which net immigration, birth, and death rates contribute.

In addition, Bremen recorded a change of 8,400 inhabitants, ranking last in terms of population change across federal states.  These results could also imply that there is a demographic shift towards an ageing population in these states.

In general, the number of graduates with a technical college and university entrance qualification in 2023 was 12,000 in Schleswig-Holstein and 3,000 in Bremen.

On the other hand, the number of people eligible to study rose by ten per cent in Hesse, while in Saxony-Anhalt and Berlin, increases of less than one per cent were recorded.

More Than Half of Eligible Students in 2023 Were Women

Around 54 per cent of eligible people to study in German universities were women in 2023, with 55 per cent of these women being able to study a general or subject-specific university Arbitur qualification.

Furthermore, four-fifths (80 per cent) of those eligible to study acquired university admission qualifications, while the remaining aimed at technical colleges.

In addition, two-thirds of those eligible to study received their university or technical college entrance qualification at a general education school and a little under one-third (32 per cent) at a vocational school.

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