Germany found in 2001 that their 15-year-olds ranked well below the OECD average in maths and reading in the Programme for International Student Achievement (PISA) study. They also had one of the largest gaps between high and low performing students in the world.

This sent the Germans into ‘PISA shock’.

Much of the large difference in student achievement between low and high performers has been attributed to the class structure built into the German school system. In most German states, children go to primary school till the age of nine or 10, and are then separated into one of three types of school.

In the traditional system, kids who are deemed not-so-academically bright go to Hauptschule (secondary school), generally leading to blue-collar jobs.

The brighter kids go to Realschule (middle school), leading to white-collar positions.

The brightest kids of them all go to Gymnasium, a grammar school preparing them for university.

The 2000 PISA study found that a child whose parents went to Gymnasium, of equal ability to a child whose parents went to Hauptschule, is three times more likely to go to a Gymnasium. Children are "divided between those deemed to pursue careers of knowledge workers and those who would end up working for the knowledge workers, mainly along socio-economic lines,” says Andreas Schleicher, head of the PISA study at the OECD.

The good news is that following the two less academic forms of schooling, Hauptschule and Realschule, students from around age 15 can now enter the country’s vocational training scheme in Germany. This three-year programme sees young people spending three to four days per week doing an apprenticeship in one of 350 professions of their choice, and the remainder of their week studying theory in school.

Although Germany’s vocational training system is seen as one of its greatest educational successes, it’s still unfair for kids from poorer backgrounds. In many states, Hauptschule kids are less likely than Realschule kids to get apprenticeships. They are stigmatised because Hauptschule essentially serves the educational ‘leftovers’.

Recognising that the system is not fair for all, many states have combined Realschule and Hauptschule into one school type. This, and a raft of reforms introduced since the shocking PISA 2000 results, has resulted in improved performance, particularly among the low-performing groups.

Germany is a great example of a country reflecting on its performance and taking a serious look at its system. ‘PISA shock’ jolted the Germans to reform.