Who will win the German School Award 2024?

Fifteen schools now have the chance to win the German School Award 2024. They were selected by a jury of some 50 education experts and professionals from schools and education administrations.   

Representatives from the nominated schools will travel to Berlin for the award ceremony with Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz on October 2, 2024. The winner of the main prize will receive 100,000 euros, and the five other winners will each receive 30,000 euros. All nominated schools that are not awarded a prize will receive a recognition prize of €5,000. The award ceremony with Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other guests such as ARD Chairman Kai Gniffke will be broadcast live.

The schools were selected in a complex process: In March of this year, the jury initially selected 20 schools from more than 80 applications. Between April and June, the schools were visited and assessed by jury teams. The visits focused on observing lessons. In addition, the jury conducted interviews with the school management, the teaching staff, parent representatives, students and extracurricular partners. The jury then met on June 12 for a final session and nominated 15 schools for the final round of the German School Award 2024

In selecting the winners, the jury evaluates six quality areas. The focus is on "teaching quality" and the question of how schools can best organize teaching and learning for their students. The five other quality areas are "performance", "dealing with diversity", "responsibility", "school climate, school life and extracurricular partners" and "school as a learning institution". These quality areas are now generally recognized as indicators of good school quality.

The concepts of the award-winning schools are evaluated, prepared for publication and made available to all schools via training courses, publications and online on the German School Portal. This helps to broadly reinforce and advance good school practices.