← Back to the rankingSächsisches Landesgymnasium Sankt Afra zu Meißen
Meissen, Germany · est. 2001 · State
Illustration · Meissen
Sankt Afra in Meißen is a state boarding Gymnasium of the Free State of Saxony for multi-gifted teenagers in grades 7-12. It continues the tradition of the princely state school that Elector Moritz of Saxony founded in 1543 in a former monastery; its pupils included Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and Christian Fürchtegott Gellert. The school was closed in 1942, in the GDR the building housed a party school and an agricultural college, and the present state Gymnasium reopened in 2001. About 280 students attend, with 60 educators; all students live in the boarding school, boys and girls in separate houses. Learning is organised differently: lessons last 75 minutes, there are no bells, and in grades 7-10 regular lessons on the Saxon curriculum (fundamentum) are complemented by project work with mentors and experts (profundum), self-directed study time (otium), crafts in the workshops and community service in local institutions. Every student has two mentors: an academic mentor chosen by the student and a boarding mentor. In grades 11-12 students take three advanced courses instead of the usual two, write their own research paper over two years and sit the Saxon Abitur; if they wish, they also take the IB Diploma Programme in parallel, with six subjects taught in English. The school cooperates with the universities of Leipzig, Dresden and Freiberg and research institutes, and students can begin university courses while still at school.
Key facts
Programmes
IB · DP · National programme
Languages of instruction
German, English
About the fees Tuition is free: the school says the Free State of Saxony, as the school's owner, covers tuition. Parents pay a little over 600 EUR for board and lodging (school year 2026-2027) - as the site puts it, without saying whether this is per month or another period. Students from Saxony get part of it refunded: the admissions page names 200 EUR, the FAQ an additional subsidy of 195 EUR; they can also receive a social scholarship. Scholarships from foundations and the school's friends' association are available. The IB programme is included; only the IB exams are paid separately.
Admissions The school admits new students every year into grades 7 and 9, and lateral entry into grades 8 and 10 is also possible. The application requires a one-page motivation letter on what attracts the applicant and what worries them, a CV, copies of the last two school reports, a photo, a teacher's recommendation and a parents' questionnaire. After reviewing the documents, candidates are invited to a two-day selection process (Schüler-Assessment-Center) in late February or early March: conversations, games and small tasks. Above-average ability matters, but so do creativity, motivation and commitment; the school says good grades are not essential because potential can be hidden. The open day is in mid-January. Living in the boarding school is compulsory. Students come mainly from Saxony, but also from all over Germany, other European countries and other continents. Language requirements are not stated on the site; teaching is in German.
Stages and year groups Grades 7-12. A Gymnasium for grades 7-12. In grades 7-10 teaching follows the Saxon curriculum with additional content for gifted students, in 75-minute lessons. In grades 11-12 (Oberstufe) students take the Saxon Abitur with three advanced courses instead of two and a two-year research paper (Besondere Lernleistung) which they defend before the school; at the end they receive the Abitur and a school certificate listing their achievements. Optionally, in grades 11-12 students take the IB Diploma Programme in parallel with the Abitur: six subjects in English, Theory of Knowledge, an Extended Essay in English, extracurricular engagement and exams in English; this is about six extra hours a week, and individual subject certificates are also possible. The school calls itself an IB World School, and the programme is run by an IB coordinator.
Address Freiheit 13, 01662 Meißen
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 hall
✓Laboratories
✓Theatre or assembly hall
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
✓Boarding
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Art studio · Makerspace
Clubs and activities: Profilsport Handball (handball) · Profilsport Fußball (football) · Profilsport Tischtennis (table tennis) · Profilsport Yoga (yoga) · Profilsport Volleyball (volleyball) · Holzwerkstatt (woodworking workshop) · Metallwerkstatt (metalworking workshop) · Keramikwerkstatt (ceramics workshop) · Druckwerkstatt (printmaking workshop) · Fotowerkstatt (photography workshop) · GreenTeam · Schulrat (school council) · Schulsanitätsdienst (school first aid service) · Bundeswettbewerb Fremdsprachen (national foreign languages competition) · plus-MINT-Forschercamp (STEM research camp)
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
✓Number of teachers60
·Students per teacher or class sizenot stated
The school names 60 educators for 280 students. Instead of form teachers every student has an academic mentor (Gymnasialmentor), chosen by the student, and a boarding mentor; boarding educators are on duty around the clock. The leadership listed by name includes the head, the deputy head, the heads of mathematics and sciences, social sciences and foreign languages, the upper school adviser and the IB coordinator.
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 policynot stated on the website
The school employs a school psychologist familiar with the challenges of gifted teenagers and boarding life, a counselling teacher, a learning coach and an inclusion officer. In the boarding village the educators' duty house is staffed around the clock: they take sick reports, visit sick students, accompany them to the doctor and inform parents. Students use phones only in their houses.
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 data60 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data70 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data85 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