Welcome Schools in Bremen – From Ad Hoc Measure to Standard School Model?
In 2022, as growing numbers of refugees from Ukraine arrived in Bremen, the city set up so-called "welcome schools" as an ad hoc measure. In 2025, these schools were given temporary status under Bremen's school law. A new University of Bremen study offers the first overview of how these schools have developed.
When large numbers of refugees arrived in Bremen following the start of the war in Ukraine, the city's school system faced major organizational challenges. To give Ukrainian children rapid access to education, Bremen set up "welcome schools" as an ad hoc measure, often in makeshift facilities. These schools now serve as support institutions for 10 to 15-year-old German-language learners from a range of nationalities. They were given temporary status under the school law and are scheduled for evaluation starting in 2028.
A new study, funded through the University of Bremen's own resources, provides the first detailed look at how these schools and their students have developed over time. For the study, Dita Vogel, senior researcher in the Intercultural Education research group, analyzed documents, media coverage, interviews, and school data.
The study has found that the schools gradually gained better facilities and staffing over time, though they never reached the standards typical of secondary schools. Within a school system that officially aims for inclusion, students at welcome schools nonetheless remained largely separated from students who grew up in Bremen over the longer term. Statistics show that among students enrolled in a welcome school in October 2024, 70 percent were still there a year later, or in specialized German-language courses within the vocational education system. Data on school-leaving qualifications raise questions about whether newly arrived, school-age migrants are receiving the high-quality education they are entitled to – not just in welcome schools, but also in preparatory courses for mainstream classes. Vogel points to a need for further research here, so that education policy can move forward on solid scientific ground.
Wissenschaftlicher Ansprechpartner:
Dr. Dita Vogel
Senior Researcher
Intercultural Education Research Group
Faculty 12: Pedagogy and Educational Sciences
University of Bremen
Phone: +49 (0)421 218-69122
Email: dvogel@uni-bremen.de
Originalpublikation:
Dr. Dita Vogel: Willkommensschulen in Bremen – ein Überblick über die Entwicklung einer parallelen Beschulungsform für Neuzugewanderte (ABiM-Arbeitspapier 3/2026)
https://media.suub.uni-bremen.de/entities/publication/ea63d868-04b3-40dc-bc66-2f32433c7385
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