← Back to the rankingGoethe-Gymnasium Frankfurt
Frankfurt, Germany · est. 1520 · State
Illustration · Frankfurt
The Goethe-Gymnasium is a state Gymnasium of Hesse in the centre of Frankfurt am Main, opposite the exhibition centre. It traces its history to the city's Latin grammar school founded in 1520; at the end of the 19th century the old school split into the humanist Lessing-Gymnasium and the modern-language reform school Goethe-Gymnasium. In 1969 it became the first school in Hesse to teach bilingually in German and English, and today, the school says, it has the only fully developed bilingual stream in the state with the option of the International Baccalaureate. It has been an IB World School since 1 January 1972 and offers only the Diploma Programme, which is taken solely in addition to the Hessian Abitur. More than 1000 students attend. Almost all lessons are in German; from grade 7 the bilingual stream adds science, history and social studies lessons in English, and in grades 11-13 history and biology are taught in English instead of German. The school's second profile is music: an annual music class from grade 5 to 10, two choirs, two orchestras, a brass band and a school band. Languages include French, Latin, Japanese and Russian; the school hosts Advanced Placement exams and prepares students for DELF and Cambridge English certificates.
Key facts
Programmes
IB · DP · National programme
Languages of instruction
German, English
Languages taught
French, Latin, Japanese, Russian
About the fees Tuition is free: it is a state Gymnasium of Hesse whose Schulträger is the city of Frankfurt am Main. Only exams and extras are paid: the IB exam fee is 89 EUR per subject and 534 EUR for the full diploma covering six subjects and the core (according to the 2024 IB programme information).
Admissions Grade 5 admission follows Frankfurt's general transfer procedure from primary school: the primary school issues and collects the registration form, and selection is regulated by the state school authority in Frankfurt; the school may select by its recognised profile, music. The music class is chosen by an internal procedure after enrolment. The bilingual stream (about 30 places) is selected at the end of grade 6: usually a 1 in English, no grade 3 or worse in other subjects and an overall average of at least 2.0, plus an English test and general attitude to work. Only bilingual stream students may join the IB programme; applications are due by the last school day before the Christmas holidays in grade 11. For students from other schools entering the upper grades, Hessian rules apply; German at level B2 at least is required, as are at least five years of English and four years of French or Latin, otherwise admission is not possible; the bilingual stream accepts newcomers with very good English and good grades if places are available. As the school is run by the city of Frankfurt, applicants from elsewhere cannot always be considered.
Stages and year groups Grades 5-13. A Gymnasium following the Hessian curriculum (G9): grades 5-10, then the introductory phase E (grade 11) and the qualification phase Q (grades 12-13), final exam the Hessian Abitur (Allgemeine Hochschulreife). Bilingual stream from grade 7: additional lessons in English (science in grade 7, history in grade 8, social studies in grade 9, science and biology in grade 10), and in the upper grades the bilingual advanced English course with history and biology taught in English. The IB Diploma Programme is taken only in addition to the Abitur, over two years: from the second half of grade 11 to November of grades 12-13 (the Q3 semester), with exams in November. The IB subjects are fixed: German A Language and Literature HL, English B HL, History (Europe) HL, Biology SL, Mathematics Analysis and Approaches SL, and as the sixth Music or French, Japanese or Russian (SL). Individual IB subject certificates are possible. The school does not teach Cambridge International or Pearson courses: it only prepares students for the Cambridge English Advanced and Proficiency exams; it hosts College Board Advanced Placement exams on site and offers CertiLingua and DELF.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · DP · authorised programmeThe school is listed in the IB register and runs the Diploma Programme. The IB track runs inside a German Gymnasium: in the upper grades students take the IB Diploma alongside the Abitur.
school is in an official registryconfirmed by a school document, by membership or by taking part in a networkclaimed by the school, no confirmation, not counted in the scoreGuide to all organisations → What stands behind each entry
IBInternational Baccalaureate
A Swiss non-profit, working since 1968. Its programmes are among the most widely recognised school programmes in the world. Authorisation is granted stage by stage, so a school with the final stage does not necessarily run the younger ones; which stages this school holds is set out in the line below.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run this programme and to award its certificate. This is a confirmation of the programme, not a judgement on the school as a whole. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. At this school: DP (ages 16-19). DP is the final stage, ages 16 to 19: six subjects plus a compulsory core of theory of knowledge, an extended essay and CAS. The diploma is accepted by universities all over the world, and in a number of countries it counts for admission on the same footing as the local leaving certificate.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →National programme
The state school programme of the country the school stands in: it is set by that country's ministry of education, which also licenses the school and awards the leaving certificate. That certificate is used for entry to local universities, and abroad it is matched to the local one.
What this means for this school. This entry does not count towards the score, and that is deliberate. Every lawful school in a country works to the national programme, so on its own it tells one school apart from no other - unlike the French, German or Russian programmes, which are carried abroad and confirmed by the register of their organisation. We show it because a parent needs to know what programme their child is taught and what certificate the child will get. Counting it would lift the whole ranking at once and still tell nobody apart.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
The school publishes nothing about where its leavers go: no share going on to university, no exam results, no list of universities.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
·Sports hallnot stated on the website
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Clubs and activities: Chor der Klassen 5-7 (choir for grades 5-7) · Chor der Klassen 8-13 (choir for grades 8-13) · Brassband · Schulband (school band) · Junges Orchester (junior orchestra) · Sinfonieorchester (symphony orchestra) · Conversation and more · Flag Football · Theater-AG (theatre club) · PULS! Schülerzeitung (school newspaper) · MINT-Wettbewerbe (STEM competitions)
Teaching staff
The school publishes neither the number of its teachers nor their qualifications.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
·CCTVnot stated on the website
·Security staffnot stated on the website
·Access controlnot stated on the website
·Nurse or medical roomnot stated on the website
✓Counsellor
✓Child protection policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
The school has a child protection team of four groups by level (5-6, 7-8, 9-10 and upper grades), a direct contact for students, parents and colleagues; teachers are obliged to act on serious signs of risk to a child. Since 2019 there has been free, confidential social-pedagogical counselling (a qualified educator and systemic counsellor). There are student peer mediators, a social learning programme and grade 10 mentors for new grade 5 students; the school holds the title Schule ohne Rassismus - Schule mit Courage (school without racism, school with courage).
Reviews
No reviews yet. The community rating counts towards the score once a school has five verified reviews - until then we do not show a zero, so as not to mislead.
Criteria breakdown criterion weight in brackets
Academics and programmes (16%)82 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data55 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data70 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data65 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data78 "Scored on disclosed data" stands where we count only what the school has written about itself on its own site: exams and destinations, safety and wellbeing, teaching staff, facilities, clubs and activities. A low score here means the school does not write about this, not that the school does not have it: a school with good security and a sparse site will score low. A school can fill in its profile, and the score will be counted again.
The score is counted from 8 of the 9 criteria.Only those with checkable data count: programmes and accreditations from official registers, the fee from a published price list. Where it says "scored on the median", the school has no data and the middle of the list is put in its place, so that a gap gives no advantage. Admissions, teaching staff and reviews come in as their data arrives.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country