Can children start school in Austria without speaking German in 2026?

Register the child at the flat where you live, then contact the Sprengel-Schule (catchment school) or the provincial Bildungsdirektion for your city. Vienna uses city education routes once residence is proven; Graz and other Länder follow their own school-authority calendars. Bring passports, Meldebestätigung, vaccination records where asked, and previous school reports. Translations help older pupils land in the right year.

Schools use MIKA-D (Messinstrument zur Kompetenzanalyse – Deutsch, Austria's standardised German competence test) to decide whether a child enters as an ordinary pupil or as an außerordentliche Schülerin or Schüler (extraordinary pupil) because the Unterrichtssprache (language of instruction) is still too weak. That status is about German access to lessons, not a judgment of ability.

Family location choices that shape school streets sit in Best places for families, Living in Vienna, and Living in Graz. Address paperwork: Register address.

Under the national Deutschförderung model used since 2018/19, children with ungenügende (insufficient) German on MIKA-D typically join a Deutschförderklasse: intensive German hours each week, with remaining time in selected regular subjects such as sport or music when the school can organise it. Children with mangelhafte (deficient but stronger) German often join a Deutschförderkurs: support hours alongside more of the regular timetable. Primary tracks commonly schedule about 15 intensive German hours; secondary tracks often schedule about 20, inside the school's total weekly hours.

Schools with few newcomers may run support inside the regular class instead of a full separate group. From school year 2026/27, BMBWF (Federal Ministry of Education) lets schools choose a more autonomous local language-support plan or keep the Deutschförderklasse and Deutschförderkurs model. Ask your school which path it uses and when MIKA-D reviews happen.

International schools are a separate paid track clustered mainly around Vienna: International school costs. Most families still use German-medium public schools, so adult German progress still helps parent chats: Learn German in Austria and Austrian German vs Standard German. Kindergarten language and fees sit near Childcare costs.