Austria Updates German Support Class Regulations

New reforms for Austrian German support classes aim to reduce grade repetition and administrative effort through autonomous school models.

Austria is reforming its German support classes, originally introduced in the 2018/19 school year. Currently, 22 percent of students in these classes repeat one year, while 3 percent repeat two. In 2022/23, 22,800 students gained extraordinary status, joining over 48,000 children receiving up to 20 hours of weekly support. While students currently attend joint lessons in subjects like music or physical education, major changes begin in 2023/24, allowing status changes based on MIKA-D test results. By autumn 2026, half of schools will adopt autonomous models within regular classes, and the obligation to form separate classes for eight or more students will be removed. Furthermore, starting in 2026/27, students with positive grades and performance forecasts can advance despite deficient MIKA-D results, though insufficient results still require repetition. To support this, summer school becomes mandatory in 2026 for those with support needs. These measures address rising over-age student rates, which reached 5.8 percent in primary schools and 9.1 percent in secondary schools by 2023.