Information for teachers
from outside Germany

The teaching profession is regulated in the Free State of Saxony. This means you need to be recognised in order to be able to teach at a state school or an approved and recognised independent school in the Free State of Saxony on a permanent basis.

You have a legal right to have your foreign teaching qualifications assessed for recognition in the Free State of Saxony. To do this, you must submit an application to the Certificate Recognition Office (Zeugnisanerkennungsstelle) of the State Office for Schools and Education (Landesamt für Schule und Bildung). 

The State Office will then check whether your vocational training qualifies you to work as a teacher at primary schools, secondary schools, grammar schools, special needs schools or vocational schools in the Free State of Saxony. Further information (in German) on how to apply can be found at: www.schule.sachsen.de/zast. 

Yes. The processing fee is between 205.00 euros and 475.00 euros, depending on the work involved. Payment by instalments can be agreed. For those entitled under the Federal Expellees Act (BVFG), the fee is waived if the application for recognition is submitted within three years of the date on which the eligible person takes up permanent residence in Germany. 

If you are interested in working as a teacher in Saxony, the first step is to seek advice from the recognition advisory service of the information and advisory centre for the recognition of foreign qualifications in Saxony, IBAS. 

IBAS can also help you find suitable language courses. Consultations with IBAS are free of charge and are conducted either at the information and advisory centre or by telephone. Appointments are allocated centrally at anerkennung@exis.de. 

You can find important information (in German) on recognition of your foreign teacher training qualification on the website of the Certificate Recognition Office (Zeugnisanerkennungsstelle). 

A language certificate is not required for the recognition procedure. A C1 certificate may be required when you are appointed as a teacher in Saxony.

In Chemnitz: 

• SprachUnion 

In Dresden: 

• Goethe-Institut 
• Deutsche Sprachschule Dresden 
• TUDIAS 

In Görlitz: 

• Volkshochschule 

In Leipzig: 

• Volkshochschule 
• Sprachschatz 
• Sprachenzentrum Leipzig 
• interDaF 

In Zwickau: 

• Volkshochschule 

You can apply for a teaching post in Saxony with a recognition notice (notice with requirements) – in German: Anerkennungsbescheid (Bescheid mit Auflagen) – or a notice of equivalence (notice without requirements) – in German: Gleichstellungsbescheid (Bescheid ohne Auflagen) – from the Certificate Recognition Office (Zeugnisanerkennungsstelle). 

Your application in 3 steps 

You can submit your application to become a teacher in Saxony quickly and easily through the online portal for the teaching profession in Saxony. To do so, you will need to register once and then submit your application in three steps: 

1. Select the appropriate application procedure
2. Enter your application details and upload documents
3. Save your application temporarily or submit it directly 

You can find further information (in German) on the procedure for applying for a teaching post in Saxony directly on the application portal. 

Your salary will depend on whether you have partial recognition as a teacher and still have requirements to fulfil (e.g. studying a second subject) or whether you have full recognition and have the same status as a teacher who qualified in Saxony. 

If you have partial recognition as a teacher with requirements to fulfil, you will be placed in pay group E 10 level 1 to E 12 level 6. 

If you have full recognition and the same status as a teacher who qualified in Saxony, you will be graded at E 13 or A 13. 

Further information on salaries (in German) can be found on the website of the Saxon State Office for Taxes and Finance and on the website of the Public Service Collective Agreement for the Public Service of the Federal States. 

The demand for teachers is currently very high throughout Saxony. This trend will continue for at least the next eight years. 

From a regional perspective, recruitment opportunities are particularly good outside the metropolitan centres of Dresden and Leipzig. 

In terms of school types, demand is currently focussed on secondary schools, vocational schools and special needs schools. The school type you apply for must be based on the school type applied for in the equivalence procedure. 

In terms of specific subjects, there is a particularly high demand for teachers in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and foreign languages at all secondary schools. For vocational schools, there is a particular need for recruitment in the industrial and technical fields, such as metal and mechanical engineering as well as electrical engineering and information technology. 

You can find more information on demand here (in German). The best way to find out about current recruitment opportunities in Saxony’s schools is to go directly to the application portal. 

You can become a civil servant if… 

… you are a German citizen or a citizen of another EU member state, 
… you agree to defend the free democratic basic order of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany at all times, 
… you have a prescribed professional qualification (in the sense of a required teaching qualification) and you are medically fit, as determined by a medical examination, 
… you have not yet reached the age of 42. 

Teachers who qualified professionally outside Germany must provide proof of a recognised professional qualification. You can find more information about this on the Amt24 service portal. 

Download this map (in German) to see which regions belong to the individual branches of the State Office for Schools and Education (Bautzen, Chemnitz, Dresden, Leipzig, Zwickau).