School Registration in Berlin: A Guide for Newcomer Families

Moving to Berlin with a school-age child creates an urgent practical question: where and how do you register your child for school?

The answer depends on your child’s age, whether they already speak German, whether you arrived during the school year, and whether they are starting first grade through the normal annual enrollment process.

For many newly arrived families, the first contact is not a school chosen from an online list. It is the school authority or coordination office in the district where the family lives. That office reviews the child’s situation and helps identify the appropriate school or class.

This guide explains the main routes, the documents commonly requested, how Berlin’s welcome classes work, and what to do after a school place is assigned.

Important scope: This article provides general administrative information, not legal advice. SettlyGo can help you organize visible requirements, prepare questions, make ordinary German phone calls, communicate with a school or district office, and attend an appointment for practical support. SettlyGo does not determine school entitlement, choose a school on behalf of an authority, certify translations, access government accounts, enroll a child as an official representative, or guarantee a specific school, class, start date or outcome.

The direct answer

If your child is newly arrived in Berlin and is already school age, contact the coordination office for newly arrived pupils or welcome classes in your residential district.

Berlin’s official guidance says newly arrived children and young people between 6 and 18 are generally subject to compulsory schooling even when they speak little or no German. The district coordination office advises the family, assesses the appropriate educational route, and arranges the next steps toward a school place.

The usual process is:

Contact the responsible coordination office in your district.
Provide the child’s identity, address and previous school information when available.
Attend any requested language assessment or school medical examination.
Receive information about the assigned school and class.
Register the child directly at that school.

Berlin’s Family Portal guide to welcome classes lists the district coordination offices and explains this process.

Which registration route applies to your child?

There are two main situations.

Your child is newly arriving during the school year

This route commonly applies when a family moves to Berlin from another country and the child should join school as soon as possible.

Contact the coordination office for newly arrived pupils in the district where you live. The district usually considers:

The child’s age
Previous school attendance
Available school reports
German-language ability
Literacy and educational background
Available school places
Any support needs identified during the process

Do not wait for the next annual first-grade registration window if your child is already school age and has moved to Berlin during the year.

Your child is approaching normal first-grade enrollment

Berlin runs a defined registration period for children who will start school the following year.

For the 2027 school year, Berlin currently states that children born between 1 October 2020 and 30 September 2021 become subject to compulsory schooling on 1 August 2027. The registration period is 5 October to 16 October 2026.

Families normally register at the responsible public primary school identified by the district school office. Berlin explains the annual process on its official school-start registration page.

Dates and birth-year ranges change each year. Always check the current Berlin page for the relevant school year.

What are welcome classes?

Berlin uses Willkommensklassen, or welcome classes, for many newly arrived pupils who do not yet have enough German to participate fully in a regular class.

The purpose is to help children:

Build German-language skills
Understand everyday school routines
Join selected regular lessons where appropriate
Prepare for transition into a regular class

Berlin’s Family Portal says children aged 6 and 7 usually enter the school-entry phase directly, while newly arrived pupils without German skills generally attend welcome classes from around age 8. Individual placement depends on the district’s assessment and the child’s situation.

A welcome class is not intended to isolate the child permanently. Berlin states that pupils should participate in suitable regular subjects such as sport, music or art where possible, and transition toward regular instruction.

The district coordination office decides which school and class the child will attend. Parents cannot assume that the nearest school or a preferred school will have the appropriate place.

Which authority should you contact?

For a newly arrived child with little or no German, contact the coordination office in your Wohnbezirk—the Berlin district where you live.

Berlin maintains a current overview of district coordination offices through its school integration information and its Family Portal page for welcome classes.

Berlin has 12 districts, and each district may use slightly different appointment, email or document-submission procedures. The correct office depends on your registered or actual residential address, not the location of a school you prefer.

When contacting the office, include only the information it requests. A useful initial message usually contains:

Parent or guardian’s full name
Child’s full name and date of birth
Current Berlin address
Date of arrival in Berlin
Child’s last completed school year
Languages spoken
Whether the child currently speaks German
A phone number and email address
A request for the next registration step

Do not send passports, certificates or other sensitive files to an unverified address. Confirm the contact details through an official Berlin page first.

Documents commonly requested

Berlin’s official guidance asks families to bring documents when available. The exact list may vary by district and case.

Prepare:

Parent or guardian identity documents
Child’s passport or identity document
Child’s birth certificate
Current registration certificate or proof of address, when available
Previous school reports or certificates
Vaccination or medical information requested for the school medical examination
Any documents relevant to educational or support needs

For welcome-class placement, Berlin specifically mentions identity documents, a Meldebescheinigung when available, and previous school reports.

At the assigned school, families may again be asked for the parents’ identity documents, the child’s birth certificate, other child identity documents and school reports.

Bring originals when requested and keep copies for your records. Do not alter, recreate or translate official documents yourself.

If documents are not in German, ask the responsible office whether a translation is required and what type it accepts. SettlyGo does not provide certified translation or decide whether a foreign document is sufficient.

What if some documents are missing?

Newcomer families do not always arrive with a complete school file.

Do not delay the first contact simply because a report card, registration certificate or translated document is missing. Berlin’s guidance repeatedly uses wording such as “if available” for several documents.

Explain clearly:

Which document is missing
Whether you can request it from the previous school
Which language the existing document uses
Whether you expect to receive it later
What evidence of the child’s previous schooling you currently have

The district office decides how to proceed. It may request additional information, an assessment or later submission.

Never invent grades, dates or school records to fill a gap.

What happens at the coordination appointment?

The process can differ by district, but Berlin describes several common steps.

Educational counseling

The office discusses the child’s previous schooling and recommends an educational route.

Language assessment

The coordination office may assess the child’s German skills. This helps determine whether a welcome class or regular class is appropriate.

This is a placement step, not a test a family should try to coach or manipulate.

School medical examination

Berlin may arrange a school medical examination through the district’s child and youth health service.

The examination supports school-entry planning. Ask the office which health documents and vaccination records to bring.

School assignment

The office informs the family which school the child should attend. The decision may consider age, language assessment, prior education, support needs and capacity.

Direct enrollment at the school

After receiving the assignment, the parent normally goes with the child to the named school and completes registration there.

A coordination-office appointment alone does not necessarily complete school enrollment.

Children aged 6 and 7

Berlin says newly arrived children aged 6 and 7 generally attend the Schulanfangsphase, the flexible school-entry phase covering the first and second grades, rather than a separate welcome class.

The exact decision remains individual.

Families should tell the coordination office:

Whether the child has attended school before
Which grade or school year was completed
Whether the child can read or write
Which writing system the child uses
Whether the child attended preschool or Kita
What German exposure the child has had

Do not try to determine the German grade independently from age alone. School systems and school-start ages differ between countries.

Children and teenagers aged 8 to 15

Newly arrived pupils in this age group who have little or no German may be placed in a welcome class through the district coordination office.

Previous schooling matters. Bring school reports even if the grading scale differs from Germany’s.

For a teenager, also prepare information about:

Subjects studied
Years of schooling completed
Foreign languages learned
Literacy in the first language
Career or educational interests
Any interruption in schooling

This information helps the office understand the child’s educational path. It does not guarantee placement at a particular school type.

Young people aged 16 and over

Berlin uses a separate route for many newly arrived young people aged 16 or older who need German-language preparation before continuing education or vocational training.

The Klärungsstelle Berufliche Schulen advises applicants and arranges welcome-class placements at vocational schools or upper-secondary vocational centres, known as OSZ.

Berlin provides current information and an online registration route on its welcome classes for vocational schools page.

Because age, completed schooling and residence status can affect the available educational route, families should contact the official advisory service rather than assuming that the process is identical to registration for a younger child.

Can you choose a different school?

For normal first-grade registration, Berlin says parents must first register at the responsible school even when they prefer another public school, a private school or a school with a particular educational focus.

A request for a different public school can be submitted and must include reasons. Approval depends on available capacity and the applicable allocation rules.

For a newly arrived pupil placed through a district coordination office, school assignment also depends on the appropriate class and available places.

Practical preferences can still be explained, such as:

Siblings already attending a school
Accessibility requirements
A specific support need
Travel constraints
Existing educational continuity

But do not present a preference as an entitlement or assume that contacting schools individually will bypass the district process.

What happens after a school is assigned?

Contact the school promptly and confirm:

The enrollment appointment
Whether the child must attend the appointment
Required original documents
The first school day
Class and teacher information
School-day start and end times
Lunch arrangements
Required materials
Language-support arrangements
After-school care, if needed

For younger children, ask whether you also need ergänzende Förderung und Betreuung, often still called Hort or eFöB.

School enrollment and after-school care are related but separate administrative steps. Do not assume that a school place automatically includes every care period you need.

Common mistakes to avoid

Contacting only individual schools

A preferred school may tell you to contact the district coordination office first.

Waiting for every document before asking for help

Start the process and explain what is missing.

Using the annual first-grade dates for a child arriving mid-year

A newly arrived school-age child generally needs the newcomer-placement route, not the next annual registration window.

Assuming a welcome class is required for every child

Placement depends on age, German skills and individual assessment.

Assuming the voucher or Kita process applies to school

Kita enrollment and compulsory-school registration are different systems.

Sending sensitive documents to unverified contacts

Use official Berlin contact pages and confirm the recipient.

Treating a preferred school as guaranteed

The district and school authorities decide placement based on rules and capacity.

Missing the second enrollment step

After the coordination office assigns a school, complete registration directly with that school.

A practical checklist

Before contacting the district office:

Confirm the Berlin district responsible for your residential address.
Find the official coordination-office contact details.
Prepare the child’s full name, birth date and arrival date.
Collect identity documents and proof of address when available.
Collect previous school reports and certificates.
Write down the last school year and subjects completed.
Note the child’s German level and other languages.
Explain any missing documents honestly.
Ask whether translations or originals are required.
Ask whether the child must attend the first appointment.

After receiving a school assignment:

Contact the school immediately.
Confirm the enrollment appointment and first school day.
Bring the requested original documents.
Ask about the school medical examination if it is still pending.
Confirm class, timetable, meals and required supplies.
Ask about eFöB or other after-school care if needed.
Keep copies of all letters and appointment confirmations.

How SettlyGo can support your family

A SettlyGo helper can provide practical support with tasks such as:

Finding the correct official district contact page
Organizing a school-registration checklist
Preparing a concise German email or phone-call outline
Making an ordinary German phone call with you
Contacting the assigned school to clarify appointment details
Accompanying you to an administrative or school appointment for communication support

SettlyGo does not make school-placement decisions, assess the child’s language or academic level, provide educational or legal advice, certify translations, access accounts, sign forms for a parent, or guarantee admission to a preferred school.

Final takeaway

For most newly arrived school-age children in Berlin, the safest first step is to contact the coordination office in the family’s residential district.

Prepare identity, address and previous-school information when available. Attend any language assessment or medical examination requested. Then complete enrollment directly at the school assigned by the district.

Start early, but do not wait for a perfect document file before making contact. Clear information about the child’s age, previous education, languages and current address helps the authority identify the right next step.

For practical help organizing the process, preparing questions or communicating with the district office or school, book SettlyGo support.