Before 1774, education in Austria was a task of the Catholic Church. Under the rule of the Habsburg Monarchs Maria Theresa and Joseph II, priests took on the role of educators and were eventually considered civil servants under law. Duty of parish priests included the promotion of modern religious views of tolerance, morality and ethics, agriculture, hygiene, medical improvements, civic virtues and obedience to the state. For example, in 1804 priests were obligated to preach about the beneficial effects of vaccinations. In attempts to control the teachings of parish priests, in February 4, 1783, the state banned speaking against the state laws, regulations, and unnecessary doctrinal controversies. Furthermore, sermons should improve the hearts of citizens by sowing and promoting virtue. Despite the teachings of priests having regulations placed by the state, this new role was important in reaching a more diverse ran. Mandatory primary education was introduced by Empress
Maria Theresa of Austria (1740–1780), mandating in 1774 that all children of both sexes from the ages of six to twelve had to attend school. While this attendance policy was not strictly enforced, it established the statewide precedent that all children should attend school. To achieve this, Maria Theresa's regulations required that schools exist in all areas — even rural ones, which were required to have a one- or two-class elementary school (known as a
Volksschule). Furthermore, textbooks were unified and teacher education was regulated. While these reforms handed educational authority from the church to the state to some extent, religious and moral education was still a large part of the curriculum; at this time, schools also taught reading, writing, and arithmetic. The first secondary school for girls was opened in 1868, whilst the first
gymnasium for girls was founded in 1892. From 1872 girls were also allowed to graduate, yet remained excluded from universities. Women were admitted to the Philosophical Faculty in 1897. In 1900 they were also admitted to the Faculty of Medicine. In 1919, women were admitted to the Faculty of Law, in 1923 to the Faculty of Protestant Theology, and 1946 to the Faculty of Catholic Theology. In 1910 girls were admitted to boys‘ gymnasiums, but they were neither allowed to participate actively in class nor to take part in exams. The history of the Austrian education system after
World War II may be characterized as an attempt to transform higher education from a traditional entitlement of the upper social classes to more equal access for all social classes. Before the School Act of 1962, Austria had a “two-track” education system. After four years of compulsory primary education from the ages of six to ten in the elementary school, or
Volksschule (pl., Volksschulen), children and their parents had to choose between the compulsory secondary level for eleven- to fourteen-year-olds called the middle school, or
Hauptschule (pl., Hauptschulen), or the first four years of an eight-year university preparatory track at higher schools of general education (Allgemeinbildende Höhere Schulen, or AHS). An AHS, also known as a
gymnasium, is an institution providing different fields of specialization that grant the
diploma (Reifeprüfung or
Matura) needed to enter university. (Other than
Berufsbildende Höhere Schulen, which also allows access to university, they do not provide graduates with any specific skill immediately useful on the labor market, but concentrate on general education in the humanities, science, and languages). Before the 1962 reform, the great majority of children, more than 90%, attended the compulsory Hauptschule, where they were divided according to their performance in elementary school into two groups: an “A group,” which was directed toward two- to four-year vocational-technical training schools after graduation from the Hauptschule; and a “B group,” which was required to complete one additional year of compulsory education before entrance into apprenticeship programs or the workforce. The remaining elementary-school graduates—less than 10%—enrolled in the AHS at age eleven. Children attending these university-track schools also had to choose a specific course of study. The rigidity of the two-track system required that the most important educational decision in a child’s life—with all of the implications it had for the future—be made at the age of ten. The decision depended to a great extent on the parents’ background, income, and social status. Children from agricultural backgrounds or of urban working-class parents generally attended the Volkschule and the Hauptschule and then entered the workforce. Children having lower-middle-class backgrounds frequently received vocational-technical training after the Hauptschule, while children from the upper-middle and upper classes, boys, in particular, attended the AHS, which gave them access to university-level education. The early selection process meant that children of the largest segment of the population, farmers, and workers, were grossly under-represented at higher schools and universities, whereas the children of a relatively small segment of the population, those who had attended higher schools or the universities, were over-represented. Consequently, the education system tended to reproduce or reinforce traditional social structures instead of being a vehicle of opportunity or social mobility. The Act of 1962 and subsequent amendments require that all state-funded schools be open to children regardless of birth, gender, race, status, class, language, or religion. The law also attempts to introduce more flexibility into the traditional two-track system and provide students with a greater degree of latitude within it. Hence, educational (and hence career) decisions can be made at an older age. Although the primary and secondary school system continues to be fundamentally based on the two-track idea, after a series of reforms in the 1970s and 1980s, ten- to fourteen-year-olds are no longer streamed into A and B groups in the Hauptschule. Graduates of this kind of school also have the opportunity to cross over into certain branches of the AHS track at the age of fourteen or to attend a series of different “higher vocational-technical schools” (
Berufsbildende Höhere Schulen and
Höhere Technische Lehranstalten), which have five-year programs of specialization in various branches of technology (HTL =
Höhere Technische Lehranstalt) and business and commerce (HAK =
Handelsakademie). Other than the less prestigious three-year
Berufsbildende Mittlere Schulen, those schools allow graduates to move on to university. Shifts in enrolment patterns reflect these changes in the school system. In the mid-1960s, less than 10% of all students finished the university preparatory AHS track, and more than 66% of them were male. By the early 1990s, more than 30% of all students finished the AHS track and just above 50% of them were female. Furthermore, a second educational path was developed that permitted some students without a diploma from the university-track AHS to enroll in a university. As a general rule, the quality of Hauptschule education is high, especially in rural areas and small communities, where the schools have maintained their traditional social importance and where attendance at an AHS involves commuting considerable distances, or, for the inhabitants of more remote areas,
boarding. In urban centers with a full spectrum of educational opportunities, the Hauptschule has become less popular, and parents who would not necessarily have enrolled their children in an AHS a few years ago have begun doing so. The increased enrolments have overburdened the AHS and created a shortage of students at the Hauptschulen and vocational-technical schools. In some areas, this trend has been strengthened by the number of children of foreign workers in compulsory schools. In 1991, for example, almost 30% of all school-age children in
Vienna were children of foreign-born workers, whose mother tongue was not German. In some districts of the city, these children exceeded 70%. Although the children of long-term foreign workers frequently speak
German well, the numbers of classes in which students with inadequate mastery of German are over-represented has overburdened the Hauptschule system and made it a less desirable alternative than it used to in the past. Therefore, special remedial and intercultural programs are being developed so that the compulsory school system in Austria can continue to fulfill its educational and social roles. The
SPÖ has continued to press for further reforms of the school system. It argued for abolishing the two-track system for ten- to fourteen-year-olds and combining the Hauptschule and the first four years of the AHS into a new comprehensive middle school. , however, this alternative has been limited to some experimental schools. Other political parties, the
Austrian People's Party in particular, remain firmly in favor of the current system, claiming that a comprehensive middle school could not accommodate for different levels of capability and talent. They fear a general "
dumbing down" of secondary education as a result. Owing to the particular nature of Austria's educational laws (a two-thirds majority is required, see above) a multi-party consensus is needed to change the status quo. Headscarves were banned in 2019 from primary schools, but
Kippas worn by
Jewish boys and the
turban worn by
Sikh boys were exempted in the legislature. The Austrian legislators said their motivation was promoting equality between men and women and improving social integration with respect to local customs, and parents who send their child to school with a headscarf would be fined €440 ($427 or £386 ). In 2020 however, the law was overturned by the constitutional court after it was found to be unconstitutional. The court said the legislature was required to treat various religious convictions equally, because the ban did not apply to the Jewish Kippa or to the turban worn by Sikh males. But in 2025 Austria banned girls under the age of fourteen from wearing headscarves at recess and lessons in school, with the law taking effect in September 2026. ==Matura==