Vienna Bilingual Schooling

Vienna Bilingual Schooling (VBS) started in 1992. The system developed in the light of Austria's EU membership and one of the EU's guiding principles that its citizens know "one modern language in addition to one's mother tongue in depth" (1984). In 1996 a White paper on Education stated that citizens ought to be proficient in two EU languages in addition to their mother tongue and English has been taught as one of those foreign languages.

With the fall of the Iron Curtain Vienna became an important geopolitical area within Europe, leading many multi-national companies to open offices in the city. These factors in turn led to a need for bilingual schools. The VBS opened its first primary school (Volkschule) in the 10th District in 1992 and today there are seven primary, eight middle, and five upper bilingual schools in Vienna.

The Austrian School System
Compulsory education lasts from 6-15 years of age. The school system is divided into primary schools (grades 1-4), middle school (grades 5-8) and upper school (grades 9-12). Certain specialist/technical schools have a 5-year upper school.

Language Skills
The VBS is not a language school. Children entering the system must have prior English (and ideally German) skills.

How and when should I enroll my child in primary school?
All the schools hold an "Open House" morning (Tag der offenen Tur) in Oct/Nov and anyone can visit, even if your child is too young to attend school the following year. At the "Open House" you sign up for an appointment for an "Orientation Talk" which will take place in late November. You can of course make an appointment directly with your desired school throughout the year.

What does an "Orientation Talk" entail?
The "Orientation Talk" is to assess a child's readiness to attend school (schulreif). For the bilingual system that means that the child's level of language skills will be assessed by means of a playful conversation with a native English speaker. The process lasts about 30 minutes and the parents may be present.

Which school can I apply to?
Parents can apply to any school, but legally children living in the same District as the school have preference over those from other Districts. However in practice, as there are only seven VBS primary schools in the city, there are numerous examples of children attending VBS schools outside of the District where they live.

What size are the classes?
The maximun class size is 25, ideally 50:50 mother tongue English/German.

How much English/German are the children exposed to?
For the first two years of primary school the children learn language and literacy in their dominant language, then in the subsequent two years they learn language and literacy in their second langauge. All other subjects are taught in German or bilingually, there is a German-speaking class teacher and a native-English speaking teacher.

What happens if my child was born after 1 September?
In Austria children are required to be age 6 by the 1st of September in the year they enter school. Children are normally held back a year in Kindergarten if they were born between September and December. However, a child born between September and December can be accepted if the Director of the school considers that the child is ready to attend school (schulreif), despite his/her young age, and there is a place available.

What is GEPS?
GEPS is the abbreviation for Global Education Primary School of which there are currently 8 in Vienna. A GEPS school is a normal primary school for German-speaking children, however one hour of the curriculum per day is taught in English by a native speaker (this is more English than offered at a regular Austrian primary school).

What is a Hort?
The Austrian primary school day usually ends around 12 pm. A Hort is an establishment that offers after-school care and can be state-run or private. There are many Kindergartens that also provide a Hort. You will find children from a cross section of schools at one Hort. Transport or a walking assistant from the different schools to the Hort is provided in the first few months. The primary school can help you find a Hort for your child.

Top

VBS School Websites

10th District
Selma-Lagerloef-Gasse 20

10th District
Keplerplatz 7

16th District
Herbstrasse 86

18th District
Scheibenbergstrasse 63

19th District
Grinzingerstrasse 88

22nd District
Meissnergasse 1

22nd District
Leonard Bernstein Str. 2

GEPS School Websites

8th District
Zeltgasse 7

9th District
Marktgasse 31

11th District
Braunhubergasse 3

13th District
Auhofstrasse 49

14th District
Linzer Strasse 419

21st District
Brunnerstrasse 139

22nd District
Schuttaustrasse 42

23rd District
Anton-Baumgartner Strasse 44