← Back to the rankingGymnasium Paulinum Münster
Munster, Germany · est. 797 · State
Illustration · Munster
The Gymnasium Paulinum in Münster is a municipal state Gymnasium of North Rhine-Westphalia and, the school says, one of the two oldest schools in Germany: teaching has taken place here since 797 at the latest, when the schola paulina arose at the monastery founded by Saint Liudger. For centuries the school was run by the church, then by the state; since 1974 it has been run by the city of Münster, and since 1978 girls have also attended. Today about 900 students from more than 30 countries and about 80 teachers make up the school. The main language is German; from grade 5 there is a bilingual stream with politics and biology partly in English, and in grades 12-13 the school, as an IB World School, prepares students for the International Baccalaureate Diploma alongside the Abitur, with the additional IB courses taught in English. A city council decision in 2011 secured the IB programme permanently. The school is a Europaschule, admits students from all over the world, including those with almost no German, and teaches them German as a second language in small groups; an international parents' group, PAOLO, supports families. Music (music classes focusing on choir or wind instruments) and science are strong, and in the upper grades students can earn a bilingual Abitur and the CertiLingua label.
Key facts
Programmes
IB · DP · National programme
Languages of instruction
German, English
Languages taught
French, Latin, Spanish
About the fees Tuition is free: it is a municipal state Gymnasium of Münster. For the IB programme students pay only their own examination fees, about 600 EUR for the whole programme, due on entering the qualification phase.
Admissions Grade 5 registration follows the Münster procedure: the school holds an information evening and an open day and advises families by appointment through the office; at the start of grade 5 students choose a music class (choir or wind) or regular music. Entry to the upper grades is possible mainly at the start of the introductory phase (grade 11). The IB programme admits motivated students able to organise their own work; the bilingual stream helps but is not required, and a year in an English-speaking country in grade 11 counts as equivalent to the preparatory course. Students from other schools are advised on their chances before the introductory phase; the final decision on IB admission is made by the head together with the head of upper school and the IB coordinator. The school admits international students directly: they join regular classes and take German as a second language in small groups until they can learn and be graded on equal terms; the school offers a personal visit as a first contact.
Stages and year groups Grades 5-13. A Gymnasium following the North Rhine-Westphalia curriculum: orientation stage in grades 5-6, middle grades, and upper grades with the introductory phase EF and the qualification phase Q1-Q2, final exam the Abitur (Allgemeine Hochschulreife). Bilingual stream from grade 5 (extra English in grades 5-6, politics in English in grades 7, 9 and 10, biology in English in grades 8 and 10), with an optional bilingual Abitur in the upper grades. IB Diploma Programme in Q1-Q2 alongside the Abitur: six courses (three HL and three SL), Theory of Knowledge, the Extended Essay and CAS; the first Abitur advanced course for IB students is usually English, there are additional IB courses in English for history, biology, physics and mathematics, and the language subjects are German and English as first languages and English, German, French and Spanish as foreign languages; individual subject certificates are possible. A preparatory IB course runs in the second half of grade 11. The school does not teach Cambridge International or Pearson courses: only preparation for the C1 Advanced language exam, plus DELF, DELE and CertiLingua.
Address Am Stadtgraben 30, 48143 Münster
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
Where leavers go: University College London · Maastricht University
The school does not publish a full list of destinations; IB graduate testimonials mention studying at University College London on a dual German and English law programme with a DAAD scholarship and admission to Maastricht University for international business.
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
·Librarynot stated on the website
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Clubs and activities: Kunst (art) · Chöre (choirs) · Blasorchester (wind orchestra) · Physik (physics) · Lego-Mindstorms · Golf · Segeln (sailing) · Chess · Naturgarten (nature garden) · Schülerzeitung (school newspaper)
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
✓Number of teachers80
·Students per teacher or class sizenot stated
The school describes an open, motivated staff of about 80 teachers (elsewhere on the site about 70). The level and IB coordinators are named with their subjects and office hours. Afternoon care is run by a permanent team of four student teachers. Each year the school takes up to 5 students for an orientation internship.
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 policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
A school social worker offers free, voluntary and confidential counselling for students and parents, mediation in conflicts and referral to advice services. There are counselling teachers, individual learning coaching, student peer mediators, the Lions Quest social skills programme, grade 10 mentors for new grade 5 students and a peer tutoring scheme.
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 data70 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data65 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data70 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data60 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