Educational package

The Educational Package passed by the Council of Ministers in 2018 comprises five key reforms which introduce greater fairness and transparency into the education system at primary school and (new) secondary school levels, all lower academic secondary school cycles and in the upper secondary cycle and will step up competency-based education throughout Austria.

1. Clear school-readiness criteria for all

The new school-readiness screening is a developmental diagnostic tool which will, for the first time, accurately determine the skills that are relevant for school-age children to attend mainstream schools throughout Austria. It provides parents with greater reassurance that their child will start school on the same terms as their peers. It will be implemented at the start of the 2021/22 academic year.

2. Contemporary curricula in primary and lower secondary schools

Being competent means that you know something and can also apply it. The new curricula for primary schools, (new) secondary schools and the lower cycle of academic secondary schools form the basis for the transition from syllabus-based to competence-based learning. As a result of their rigorous refocus on specific skills, they assure acquisition of basic skills and create greater scope for a contemporary and forward-looking teaching framework. They will be implemented gradually from the start of the 2022/23 academic year.

3. The new Performance Evaluation Ordinance (Leistungsbeurteilungsverordnung – LBVO)

The new Performance Evaluation Ordinance (LBVO) provides the important (legal) framework for the interaction between curricula and performance evaluation: on the one hand it builds on the curricula and facilitates feedback on skills acquired, which is conducive to learning, whilst on the other it provides the basis for transparent performance assessment and evaluation. Staged implementation from the start of the 2021/22 academic year.

4. Individual competence and potential measurement (iKPM)

iKPM is used on the one hand to diagnose pupils’ competences and development, and on the other for school quality management and the Ministry of Education to monitor performance and develop the education system. It represents an enhancement of the existing education standard audit (BIST audits) and informal competence measurement (IKM) tools and will in future supersede and/or replace these. Staged implementation from the start of the 2021/22 academic year.

5. Compulsory education

Compulsory education builds on and supplements all the other measures. The aim is for no pupil to leave the education system without having basic skills, if possible. It is therefore an important and complimentary opportunity to acquire key skills and competences in a school setting, even after the end of compulsory education.

 It will be implemented from the start of the 2022/23 academic year.

You can find out more about the Educational Package and/or individual measures in the corresponding brochure.

Brochure (PDF, 876 KB) (in German only)