Lessing-Gymnasium is a state grammar school of the City of Cologne in Porz-Zündorf, following the North Rhine-Westphalia curriculum from grade 5 to grade 13 with the Abitur exam. From grade 7 students join one of two profile tracks: the bilingual track, where biology and geography, and from grade 8 politics and history, are taught in English, or the science and technology track (MINT). The main language of instruction is German. Since February 2007 the school has been an IB World School, and its first students received IB diplomas in 2009. Here the IB Diploma can only be taken together with the Abitur: in grades 12-13 IB students take six IB subjects, Theory of Knowledge and world literature, with up to 22 lessons a week in English. The school runs an international integration class for children who do not speak German.
Key facts
Programmes
IB · DP · National programme
Languages of instruction
German, English
Languages taught
French, Latin, Italian, Russian
About the fees The school is a state grammar school maintained by the City of Cologne; education at North Rhine-Westphalia state schools is free. For the IB track the city charges a contribution of 250 EUR per school year per student (as of May 2026), while the city covers the remaining programme costs, IB exam fees, teacher training and materials; students buy some books themselves. AWO after-school care cost 60 EUR per month, 30 EUR at the reduced rate (prices from August 2017), and canteen lunch is paid separately.
Admissions Registration for grade 5 is via forms on the school website, following the usual procedure for Cologne grammar schools; open days and trial lessons are held in November, with an extra session for late applicants in January. Registration for the upper school (EF and Q1) is online via the Schüler Online portal in February (for 2026-2027, from 2 to 27 February 2026), with copies of the birth certificate, the last two school reports, the application form and proof of two measles vaccinations; the decision is sent by post. The IB track is open to German and international students, but it runs only together with the Abitur, where many exams are in German, so German is required; for international students the right to enter the upper school is confirmed by the district authority Bezirksregierung Köln. The IB track takes students from the bilingual stream and those who spent a year in an English-speaking country, and on special request others with very good English; excellent grades are not required, but grades in the chosen IB subjects should be good and English above average. The decision on the IB track is taken in grade 11 (EF) together with the choice of advanced courses; a cohort runs with about ten participants.
Stages and year groups Grades 5-13. Grammar school following the NRW curriculum (G9): grades 5-6 are the orientation stage (Erprobungsstufe) with an extra English lesson, grades 7-10 the middle stage (Mittelstufe) with bilingual or MINT profile classes and electives from grade 9, grades 11-13 the upper stage (Oberstufe: EF, Q1, Q2) with the Abitur exam (Allgemeine Hochschulreife). Bilingual-stream students receive a bilingual certificate with the Abitur. The IB Diploma Programme is a separate track within the Oberstufe in grades 12-13 (Q1-Q2) alongside the Abitur: three higher level subjects (German A: Literature, English B and history or economics in English) and three standard level (mathematics partly in English, biology in English and an elective: Italian, French, economics, history or chemistry), plus Theory of Knowledge, the Extended Essay, CAS and a world literature course. IB exams take place at the end of April and in May of the final year. The school does not offer Cambridge International courses; students take Cambridge English language exams (PET, FCE, CAE) and the French 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
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Playground
Clubs and activities: English Drama Group · English Reading Club · Theater-AG (theatre club) · Film-AG (film club) · Video AG (video club) · Foto-Story AG (photo story club) · Unterstufenchor (lower school choir) · Mittelstufen-Chor (middle school choir) · Oberstufenchor (senior choir) · Orchestra · Poetry Slam · Forscher AG (young researchers club) · Robotik (robotics) · Klima-AG (climate club) · Mali AG (support for a partner school in Mali) · Erinnerungskultur-AG (remembrance culture club) · Diversity-AG (diversity club) · Schulbuch-AG (textbook club) · DELF-AG (French DELF exam preparation) · Schulsanitätsdienst (school first aid service) · Golf · Jonglieren (juggling) · Marathontraining (marathon training) · Tischtennis AG (table tennis club) · Chess · Zumba · Selbstverteidigung (self-defence) · Cajon und Gitarrenkurs (cajón and guitar course)
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
·Counsellornot stated on the website
·Child protection policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
The school has a teacher responsible for bullying and violence prevention, a teacher for addiction issues, student mediators, student media scouts who teach younger students safe online behaviour and protection from cyberbullying, and a school first aid service of trained grade 9 students. Personal counselling is offered by a team of four teachers; the school works with the school psychology service, the police and the youth welfare service, and the local police officer holds consultations for students. Grade 5 follows the Lions-Quest social skills programme. The school holds the School of Diversity label, and a Diversity-AG has run since 2021.
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 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
Cologne, Germany · State