Vienna leads Austria in demand for German support

Vienna has Austria’s highest proportion of pupils needing additional German support, with almost one in five primary school children affected, ORF reports, citing a factsheet from the Austrian Integration Fund.

Across Austria, 4.4 percent of all pupils needed additional German support in the 2024/25 school year, down slightly from the previous year. The figure was almost 11 percent in primary schools.

The need was highest among pupils from Syria, at 35 percent. Among children and young people with Ukrainian citizenship, 27 percent were classified as “extraordinary pupils” in the MIKA-D German-language assessment.

The proportion was 17 percent among pupils from Romania, 16 percent among those from Turkey and 15 percent among those from Afghanistan. One in 10 pupils from Iraq, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia needed additional German support.

Four out of five pupils classified as “extraordinary” attend primary school. If only this group were considered, the proportion needing German support would be correspondingly higher.

Cities face particular challenge

Vienna has by far the highest number of pupils with significant difficulties in the language used in everyday life, according to the MIKA-D assessment. Almost one in five primary school children in the capital needs German support, compared with one in 10 in Upper Austria and Vorarlberg. The lowest proportions are in Carinthia, at 6 percent, and Burgenland, at 5 percent.

German support is also a significant issue in larger cities elsewhere in Austria. The proportion of extraordinary pupils is 25 percent in Wels and 22 percent in Linz, higher than in Vienna. Steyr, Graz and the city of Salzburg record between 18 and 19 percent, while St Pölten and Innsbruck each record 16 percent.

In 2024/25, 26 percent of pupils said that German was not the first language they used in everyday life, also a slight decline. Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian, as well as Turkish, were the most common first languages. Romanian and Arabic were also clearly represented across all types of school, although to a lesser extent, according to the Austrian Integration Fund.

In Vienna, almost 49 percent of pupils do not use German as their everyday language. The proportion exceeds two-thirds in some districts, reaching 74 percent in Favoriten and also standing particularly high in Ottakring and Simmering. Vorarlberg recorded 25 percent, while Tyrol and Carinthia had the lowest shares, at around 17 percent.

Vienna’s Freedom Party criticised the figures. FPÖ parliamentary group leader Maximilian Krauss said the city’s education system was endangered by heavy migration pressure. He called for children to have sufficient German skills when they start school and for schools to be able to fulfil their educational responsibilities. Krauss also demanded sanctions against parents whose children do not meet these requirements.