School Registration Process
Thank you for your interest in a school place at our bilingual primary and secondary school.
You can register your child for a school place or waiting list place below! Please note the admission criteria and read the questions and answers about the application and admission process below.
In principle, we also allow admission during the current school year if the student has the necessary linguistic and academic aptitude. If we have places available, high-achieving and motivated students are welcome in all grades.
Our Admission Criteria
Academic requirements
As bilingual learning poses an additional challenge, all students are required to perform well in our main subjects (German, English, mathematics, science), and we also pay attention to work and social behaviour and, at secondary level, to the fulfilment of language requirements. The last 3 school reports are always decisive for our pre-selection. The following additional requirements also apply:
- A Gymnasium recommendation is required for admission to Year 7 (not required for students coming to Berlin directly from abroad)
- Admission to Year 11 is subject to the condition that the entitlement to transfer to the gymnasiale Oberstufe is achieved, which is regulated in the current version of the Berlin School Act and in the regulations on secondary level I (Sek I-VO § 48) and on the gymnasiale Oberstufe (VO-GO §§ 4 -6): Passing the examinations for the Mittlerer Schulabschluss (MSA) and an average grade of at least 3.0 in Year 10 (= MSA plus). We also pay attention to work and social behaviour and fulfilment of the foreign language requirements for the Abitur.
- We also offer free school places for Year 12 if the student has previously attended a Gymnasium or the 11th Year of an Integrierte Sekundarschule/Gemeinschaftsschule or a secondary school abroad.
Due to our focus areas, a willingness to learn languages – especially English and German – and an interest in STEM subjects (maths and natural sciences) are important.
Language requirements
All students must be able to speak German or English at a native level for admission to our school. In addition, the following applies to
– German-speaking students
- In Years 1 and 2: English language skills are not required.
- In Years 3 to 10: English was taught as the first foreign language at school.
- From Year 11: English was taught as a first foreign language at ER level at school and the performance was assessed with at least 11 grade points (= grade 2) (B2 level).
– English-speaking students
- In Years 1 and 2: German language skills are not required.
- In Years 3 and 4: previous German language skills increase the chances of admission.
- In Years 5 and 6: German language skills of at least B1 level are required.
- In Years 7 to 10: German language skills of at least B2 level are required.
- In Years 11 to 13: German language skills of at least C1 level are required.
Regulations regarding the 2nd foreign language from year 7 onwards
From Year 7, we teach Spanish as a second foreign language for all students. Spanish is continued from Year 11 and French is offered as a beginners’ course.
One of the following requirements must be met for admission to our secondary school:
- The students have learnt Spanish from Year 7 and continue to do so with us.
OR
- The students have learnt another foreign language (other than French) from Year 7 and take compulsory French from Year 11 to Year 13. OR
- If another language of origin has been recognised in Germany (must be neither German nor English), there is no obligation to take a second foreign language in order to be admitted to the Abitur.
Questions and answers regarding enrolment
Please fill out the online application here.
The enrolment period for the new school year always begins on the 1st of August of the preceding year.
There are only a few places left in individual years for the current school year. Please open our online application first. If we have places available, you can submit your application directly. If there are no places available, you can put your child on the waiting list when you submit the application.
As we regularly receive more applications than we have places available, we ask for your understanding that we cannot invite all applicants to an interview. After receiving the complete application documents, we carry out a pre-selection. If your child meets our criteria, we will invite her/him to get to know each other through an appointment, several trial days, or a trial week – depending on the grade level. In all cases, a meeting with the parents will also take place. A decision on admission will be made afterwards.
At the start of the 2026/27 school year, we will offer a total of 50 places in two Grade 1 classes. The preliminary selection from all submitted applications will take place after our Open Day. All applications received by October 17, 2025 will be considered. Applications submitted after this date can only be placed on the waiting list.
The introductory meetings will be held in November 2025, and the allocation of school places will take place shortly afterwards.
Admission to Year 7 is limited to high-achieving students with a recommendation for the Gymnasium(Grammar or High School); final decisions will be communicated by June 2026, in line with the timelines of public schools.
Admission to the upper secondary level (Years 11–13) is only possible if all official requirements of the Berlin school authority are met. More information can be found here.
For applications in all current grades and available school places, we will contact you immediately and as quickly as possible to let you know whether we can invite your child to trial days. If you have applied for a place on the waiting list, we ask for your patience (see below ‘What does a place on the waiting list mean’). You will receive feedback on your application in any case.
As we regularly receive more applications than available places, we kindly ask for your understanding that not all applicants can be invited for an in-person meeting.
If we are able to offer your child a place, you will receive an email with all necessary contract documents. You will then need to schedule an appointment with our school office to sign the enrollment agreement.
A personal meeting with your child, along with a parent interview, is an important part of our admission process at Platanus Schule. It gives us the chance to get a well-rounded impression of your child’s personality, learning and language development, and social behavior – and at the same time, your child can get to know us. In the parent interview, we take the opportunity to get to know you, answer any questions, and talk openly about expectations on both sides.
For our future first graders
For our “Firsties”, we organise an introductory visit in the autumn prior to the school year in which they are due to start.
Your child will spend a morning at our school with a small group of around 11 children, together with teachers and educators from our team. In a safe and supportive atmosphere, we carry out a range of playful individual and group activities. During this process, we focus especially on:
physical and cognitive development,
social interaction within a group,
your child’s language development.
Of course, our team is well aware that some children may feel shy or reserved in unfamiliar surroundings. With patience, care, and sensitivity, we create an environment where each child can feel safe and welcome.
For students applying for all Years (current grades 1 to 13)
For students wishing to transfer into an already existing class, we usually offer several trial days or a full trial week.During this time, your child takes part in regular lessons, experiences everyday school life, and gets to know our school community. The trial period typically includes:
short written assessments in German, Mathematics, and English,
a personal interview in German or English,
participation in lessons and, where applicable, other school activities.
At the end of the trial period, we collect feedback from the teaching staff – regarding both academic performance and your child’s work habits and social behaviour.
We charge a fee of 30 euros per trial day. Your child is insured through the school during this time and is, of course, welcome to join us for lunch. Absence from their current school during the trial period is officially excused.
What happens next?
Following the introductory visit or trial days, the responsible head of school will decide whether your child can be offered a place.
If we are able to offer you a school place, you will receive all necessary contract documents by email. You will then be asked to schedule an appointment with our school office to sign the enrollment contract.
If we are currently unable to offer your child a school place, their application will be placed on our waiting list. This means your child will still be considered for admission if a spot becomes available – for example, due to a family moving away or a student changing schools.
A place on the waiting list is not a rejection, but also not a guarantee of admission. Whether and when we are able to offer a place depends on several factors – especially the balance within the class (e.g. girls/boys, language profile: German, English or bilingual) and the available capacity in the respective year group.
If a place becomes available, we will proactively contact you by email or phone.
Please understand that we cannot provide any binding information about whether or when a place might open up.
If you are no longer interested in a school place, we would appreciate a brief message to vasb@cyngnahf-fpuhyr.qr so we can remove your application from the waiting list.
Families from our Platanus Kindergarten as well as from our cooperation partner, Lara Kindergarten, apply – just like all other families – via our website starting on August 1st for entry into Grade 1 in the following school year. The same application deadlines apply.
Children from these two institutions have the advantage that they are generally considered in the pre-selection and invited to a getting-to-know-you session. However, the same admission criteria apply as for all applicants.
Please note: Attending Platanus Kindergarten or Lara Kindergarten does not guarantee automatic admission. The decisive factor in our admission decision is the personal impression during the getting-to-know-you session at our school.
The costs for the primary school (Years 1 to 6) consist of the tuition fee, the costs for the full-day care (only for Years 4 to 6), the annual joint fund, teaching materials and other costs such as school trips.
The costs for the secondary level I and II (Year 7 to 13) are made up of the school fees, the lunch costs (optional), the annual joint fund, teaching materials and other costs such as school trips.
Further information as well as a tuition calculator can be found here: Costs for the Gemeinschaftsschule.
We look forward to your online registration and are happy to answer any further questions you may have:
Platanus Schule Berlin
Frau Nadin Prüske-Strutz / Frau Miriam Schwalenberg
Berliner Straße 12
13187 Berlin
Tel. +49 (0)30 / 49 00 48 80
Fax. +49 (0)30 / 49 00 48 829
E-Mail: vasb@cyngnahf-fpuhyr.qr