National German Exam

The National German Exam is administered each year to nearly 22,000 high school students in the second, third and fourth level of German. The Exam, now in its 53rd year, provides individual diagnostic feedback, rewards students through an extensive prize program, and creates a sense of accomplishment. Exam results provide a means of comparing students in all regions of the country, as well as programmatic data. Exam results are among the criteria used in selecting the recipients of chapter awards and the national AATG/PAD Study Trip Awards, a four-week study trip program in Germany.

The 2013 Exam period was December 3, 2012 to February 1, 2013.

No one method, textbook, or approach is given preference over any other in designing the Exam. Exam materials are selected with great care to be accessible to a large, general student population. They are varied in character and focus of interest. While the Exam is challenging, it is based on knowledge and abilities well within the reach of all students.

The Exam is designed using materials that are accessible, interesting, and engaging for high school students. Although listening stimuli are played only once, longer listening selections are designed with extensive redundancy so that important information is provided more than once.

The NGE is comprised of 100 multiple choice questions divided into two sections:

Section I consists of 40 questions with three parts.

Part A consists of a series of spoken questions or statements
Part B consists of several brief conversations
Part C consists of two longer dialogues

Section II consists of 60 questions divided into three parts.

Part A assesses reading and conversational skills
Part B assesses structure and idiomatic forms in context
Part C assesses comprehension of reading passages approximately 200 words in length

Honor Students
We have free downloadable certificates in recognition of student performance on the National German Exam. Medals and Certificate Seals are available in our Store.

Samples of the past exams

The National Association of Secondary School Principals has placed this program on the NASSP National Advisory List of Contests and Activities for 2012-13.