Why Saxony Has Been the German Leader in Education for 18 Years

Since 2006, Saxony has defended first place in the annual comparison of the education systems of the German federal states in the INSM Education Monitor. Find out how Saxony scores.

INSM Education Monitor Beste Bedingungen für Bildung Germany's Forge of Skilled Workers

INSM Education Monitor

Which German federal state has the best education system? You can find out this and more in the Education Monitor 2023, a comparative study conducted by the Cologne Institute for Economic Research (IW) on behalf of the Initiative Neue Soziale Marktwirtschaft (INSM). The study, which has been compiled annually since 2004, includes 98 indicators. These range from the number of early school leavers per federal state to the number of doctors graduating from a university.

Graphic: Comparison of the education systems of the German federal states (source: INSM Education Monitor 2023)
Children at Dresden International School (Source: WFS / Michael Lange)

Best Conditions for Education

The INSM Education Monitor 2023 highlights the following strengths of Saxony's daycare and education system in particular:

  • 82.5 percent of children aged 3 - 6 are cared for all day in Saxony (national average: 47%)
  • 90.6 % - High all-day rates in daycare centers and elementary school (national average: 47.5 %)
  • 80.2 % - High proportion of pupils in all-day schools at lower secondary level (national average: 48.4 %)
  • Highest level of competence in mathematics among children in fourth grade.
  • Only a few young people do not reach the minimum standards in reading.

Saxony also focuses on international education:

  • International kindergartens in Dresden and Leipzig
  • International schools in Dresden, Leipzig and south-west Saxony

Germany's Forge of Skilled Workers

In the area of vocational and higher education, the INSM Education Monitor emphasizes the following strengths of Saxony:

  • 84 % - Above-average proportion of vocational school students with foreign language lessons (national average: 36.9 %)
  • 42.6% share of students in STEM subjects among all first-year students - top position among all federal states
  • 25.1 % (national average: 17 %) Proportion of engineering graduates among all graduates - top figure among all federal states
  • Highest replacement rate for engineers - around 8.7 new engineering graduates for every 100 engineers subject to social insurance contributions in Saxony (national average: 5.5 %)
  • 15.8 percent of students are so-called "Bildungsauslaender" - the third-highest figure in the federal state comparison (average: 12.3 percent)
  • High research orientation:
    • 270,900 euros in third-party funding raised per professor - highest value in Germany (national average: 161,800 euros).
    • Highest number of researchers at universities in relation to GDP