Press release

dated 11.08.2025, No. 128

District introduces reformed school entry examination

Children are examined one year earlier before starting school

Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen district. Before children start school, they undergo an initial school check-up. This is to ensure that the children are optimally prepared for the start of school. It has been revised on the basis of new findings in recent years. In the district, the so-called reformed school entry examination will begin this fall. The aim is to provide early support where necessary in order to promote a successful transition to school. The date and age of school entry will not change.

In recent years, there has been a change in the understanding of how school entry can be organized. The question of whether a child is "ready for school" is less important than whether the child needs help to make a successful transition from kindergarten to school. The concept of the school entry examination was therefore revised and successfully tested as part of a pilot project "Health and Development Screening at Kindergarten Age" (GESiK). In July 2018, the Bavarian Council of Ministers decided to introduce the revised school entry screening across the board by 2027. In the district of Bad Tölz Wolfratshausen, this new concept will be introduced from fall 2025 under the name "reformed school entry screening" (rSEU).

Currently, the time of the school entry examination in Bavaria is between 12 and three months before the start of school. However, this is often not enough time for children with developmental delays to catch up by the time they start school. Disorders of vision or hearing are also particularly critical and there is a sensitive phase in early childhood for their treatment. Reading, writing and arithmetic are key cultural skills. However, around one in eight schoolchildren in Germany meets the criteria for a school-relevant partial performance disorder such as dyslexia or dyscalculia. These disorders often take a chronic course and can be accompanied by the development of behavioral disorders. The precursor skills of reading, writing and arithmetic are acquired at kindergarten age and can be assessed at this age. There are many child-friendly ways to practise these precursor skills.

What has been reformed in the school entry examination?

The concept comprises two key aspects: firstly, the range of tests is extended to include the examination of precursor arithmetic skills (the ability to acquire arithmetic techniques), visual perception (the ability to process what is seen correctly) and gross motor skills (large movement sequences such as walking or hopping), and secondly, the time of the examination is brought forward by one year. The children are between four and five years old at the time of the school entry examination. All test areas are adapted to the younger age of the children, but they start school at the usual time and age.

Objectives of the reformed initial examination

The aim of the rSEU is to identify developmental delays or physical limitations as early as possible, to encourage family or professional support and, if necessary, to help initiate diagnostic and supportive measures. If the examination results are conspicuous, the children can be given targeted support earlier before they start school, making it easier for them and their families to start school. The rSEU is therefore about mobilizing help when needed and not about "passing a test". The nationwide introduction is intended to give all children in Bavaria as good a chance as possible of starting school successfully.

Which children are covered by the rSEU?

During the changeover phase, not all children in the penultimate year of kindergarten will be able to be examined. However, the examination schedule will be the same for all children. From fall 2025, children born between October 1, 2019 and September 30, 2020 in the district of Bad Tölz Wolfratshausen will initially be invited to the reformed school entry examination. Parents will receive the corresponding invitation with further information on the rSEU from the public health department in good time. The changeover to the earlier examination date is expected to take place over a longer period of time.

Marlis Peischer
Press Officer / Head of the Press Office
Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen District Office