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The massive download glitch during the Abitur exams caused a lot of upheaval this year: high school graduates were unsettled and frustrated, teachers were angry and School Minister Dorothee Feller ( CDU ) was under a lot of pressure. In the end, the exams were able to be written and the minister survived the political chaos.
Looking for a new service provider
Nevertheless, work is being done to ensure that such a breakdown does not happen again. There will be a completely new system from 2025. The education ministry confirmed to the German Press Agency on Thursday that it was looking across Europe for a service provider for a “ redevelopment of the entire system ”.
After the incident, School Minister Feller had already announced that the process for the Central Abitur in 2024 would be “optimized” through technical changes. Among other things, the download process should no longer be started at such short notice.
No information on costs yet
In 2025, a completely new system will be available for schools. According to the tender, it should run for at least five years. The Ministry of Education did not provide any information on the costs “ in view of the current award procedure and the desired competitiveness of the offers ”. The scope of the tender states: “ Development, hosting, operation, service and maintenance of a web-based distribution platform for central examination procedures in North Rhine-Westphalia ”.
The download glitch disrupted the Abitur exams across the country in April. Because there were problems downloading the exam tasks, the planned start of the Abitur exams in six exam subjects was postponed.
Despite the IT breakdown, high school graduates in North Rhine-Westphalia achieved similar grades this year as in previous years. On average, the students graduated with a grade of 2.37 – and were therefore in line with the long-term average level. Around 80,000 young people took the central Abitur examinations.
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