Abitur English case studies
Abitur English · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The Abitur English examination is the English component of the German allgemeine Hochschulreife, the school-leaving qualification that opens the door to university study in Germany and is recognised abroad. It is taken by students in their final two years of Gymnasium or a comparable school and is delivered in the language of instruction of each Bundesland, with the tasks themselves set in English. The Abitur English case studies are 5 cases and about 3,981 words.
1Der 60-Sekunden-Pausenraum: Notizen vs. Wiederholung im Hörverstehen
Lena sits the Hörverstehen part of her Abitur mock. One interview, 3 minutes 20 seconds long, is played twice with a 60-second pause in between; rewinding is not possible.
849 words, about 4 min2Geräte ohne Funktion: Warum eine Stilmittelliste keine Analyse ist
Jonas writes the Leseverstehen und Textanalyse part of a 180-minute Klausur. The material is a 700-word comment piece from a British daily arguing that social media should be banned for under-16s.
809 words, about 4 min3Sprachliche Mittel: vier markierte Sätze und ein Inkonsequenzproblem
Nils writes the Sprachliche Mittel block of his Abitur Klausur: 45 minutes of short tasks, plus a separate language mark for his own text worth roughly a quarter of the total. Four of his sentences come back marked: (a) "Since three years the government tries to ban smartphones in schools." (b) "The author suggests to introduce a stricter age limit." (c) "If the government would act now, the problem would not be so serious." (d) "A lot of people think that the platforms are not doing enough, and it's obviously a big problem." The task booklet asks him to (i) correct the sentences and name the rule, and (ii) rewrite (d) in a register appropriate for an analysis.
753 words, about 4 min4Die Wahl der Schreibaufgabe: Operator, Zeitbudget und die eigene Stärke
Mia's Abitur Klausur offers three tasks and she must choose exactly one. All three are marked out of 100 and weighted equally.
803 words, about 4 min5Die einstudierte Prüfungsrede: Störung, Rückfrage und Wortlücke
Selin takes the mündliche Prüfung in English, 20 minutes in total. She has 15 minutes' preparation with a short article on volunteer quotas in sports clubs and a small table of membership figures for 2019 and 2024.
767 words, about 4 min