Austria to pilot six-year primary school model

Austrian Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr has announced a pilot project to extend primary school from four to six years, starting in the 2027/2028 school year. The initiative aims to reduce social selectivity and the pressure placed on children who are currently required to choose their secondary school paths at age ten.

The proposed six-year model consists of three stages. The first two years will follow the traditional primary school format. Starting in the third year, teachers from secondary schools (AHS or Mittelschule) will begin participating in instruction. In the fifth and sixth years, subject-specific teachers will follow the secondary level I curriculum.

To support this transition, primary school teachers will remain as class instructors for a portion of the week and will introduce a new mandatory subject, ‘personality development,’ designed to strengthen students' psychological resilience. At the end of the sixth year, students will receive secondary school certificates rather than primary school reports. The project is expected to launch in at least five schools across three federal states.