Registration day for every Munich primary school has been set: Wednesday, 3 March 2027. Your local school will say what time. If you have a child turning six in 2027 and are new to the Bavarian system, it is worth sorting out now what needs doing beforehand, because some of it takes lead time.
Who has to register, and who can wait?
Under Article 37 of the Bavarian education act (BayEUG), children who turn six by 30 June must start school. Children born between 1 July and 30 September are registered too, but parents may defer the start by one year, once only. According to the city, that written declaration must reach the school by 10 April. For 2027 this covers children born up to 30 September 2021.
Younger children can start early on application; if a child turns six only after 31 December, a school-psychologist report is needed. In every case the head teacher decides.
You register at the catchment school (Sprengelschule) for your home address, which you can look up on muenchen.de. A different state school requires a Gastschulantrag and compelling personal reasons. If you choose a state-recognised private primary school, you must still inform your catchment school.
German is the real hurdle
For families who arrived recently, one provision of Article 37 matters most. Bavaria assesses language skills in the second-to-last year of Kindergarten. If a child’s German is not sufficient, they must attend a Vorkurs Deutsch at a publicly funded Kindergarten, booked for more than three hours a day. If the school finds at registration that a child lacks the German needed and has not attended a Vorkurs, the law provides for deferral by a year and a Vorkurs in the following year. The city points to the same possibility.
Our assessment: for children who came from Ukraine only recently, an early conversation with the Kindergarten head and the school is sensible. Deferral is no stigma, but it shifts parents’ plans for childcare and work by a year.
Documents and after-school care
Bring the “Übergabebogen”, the hand-over sheet from the Kindergarten. The school medical examination must be done by the start of school in September, not necessarily by 3 March. Care is arranged through several routes: Ganztagsklasse and Kooperative Ganztagsbildung on registration day at the school, Tagesheim on that day or via kitafinder+, Hort only via kitafinder+, and Mittagsbetreuung directly with the school. Places are usually limited, so do not leave care until the summer.
For context: Bavarian primary school covers grades 1 to 4, after which pupils move to a Mittelschule, Realschule or Gymnasium. In Ukraine all pupils learn together up to grade 9, as the Bavarian education ministry explains. The course is set earlier here, which is one more reason to take German seriously from day one.
Questions go to the city’s Department of Education and Sport on 089 233-96779 or a4.rbs@muenchen.de. The city’s information sheets are available in English and Russian, among other languages.
Sources: City of Munich, Art. 37 BayEUG, Bavarian Ministry of Education
