Hauptschule, grades 5 to 10, is compulsory.

Realschule (sometimes called intermediate school) covers grades 5 through 10 and is halfway in difficulty between a Hauptschule and a Gymnasium. The children learn an additional foreign language, shorthand, word processing, and book-keeping, and acquire some computer skills. Graduates earn a Mittlere Reife certificate. Some proceed to a Fachoberschule (a higher technical school) or a Fachgymnasium (a specialized high school or grammar school) for the next stage of secondary education.

Gymnasium (sometimes called high school or grammar school), comprising both the lower and upper secondary level, covers grades 5 to 13. The standard Gymnasium provides an intensive general education. As a rule, students switch to a Gymnasium after attending four years of primary school, and attend grades 5 through grades 12 or 13. Upon graduation they receive a certificate (Abitur) which allows entry to all higher level academic studies (Allgemeine Hochschulreife).
In the upper level of the Gymnasium, the Gymnasiale Oberstufe, students are no longer taught in fixed class units. In grades 12 and 13, pupils follow courses in their elected subjects instead of being taught in the class unit. The range of courses offered is, as a rule, divided into basic courses (Grundkurse) and intensive courses (Leistungskurse, comparable to British A-level courses).

Depending on its educational policy, an individual state may also offer education in Gesamtschulen (comprehensive schools), which provide a broader range of educational opportunities for students than the traditional Gymnasium. The Gesamtschule features an all-inclusive curriculum for students aged ten to eighteen, including significant freedom to choose coursework. Some Gesamtschulen have been established as all-day schools, unlike the Gymnasium, which is a part-day school with extensive homework assignments. All children of compulsory school age are taught in parallel classes ("streams"), depending on their particular abilities. Children can easily advance from one stream to another as they improve.