The National Report on Education is drafted by independent researchers led by the German Institute for International Educational Research (DIPF), and published every two years.
The report is a joint responsibility of the Federal Government and the Länder in accordance with Article 91b Paragraph 2 of the Basic Law, drawn up in a process which ensures the authors’ independence in matters of research.
The report takes a look at education from a societal and economic perspective and includes relevant output. It describes the situation in the individual educational sectors, points to possibilities for improvement and identifies potential ways for development. Furthermore, the report highlights general problems which need to be solved in a cross-sectoral approach. Such problems include, for example, the strong links between educational success and social origin or migrant background, gender-specific differences and regional disparities.
Every report has a different thematic focus and addresses topical issues that cannot fully be covered by indicators and describes them on the basis of available data. The focus of the 2014 report is on people with disabilities.