A Private School in Köln Does Not Exempt Your Child From the School Entry Exam, NRW Law Names Ersatzschulen Explicitly

The Official Rule

If part of the appeal of a private, international, or alternative school in Köln is stepping outside the standard school bureaucracy, it helps to know early that the Schuleingangsuntersuchung is not one of the things you step out of. North Rhine-Westphalia’s school law says so explicitly.

The duty to attend is written for pupils in general. Paragraph 54, Absatz 4 SchulG NRW obliges Schülerinnen und Schüler to undergo school medical and school dental screening examinations, especially at school entry. The same paragraph sets up the machinery: the local health authority appoints a Schularzt for each school and runs the screenings with the school and the parents, and the Schuleingangsuntersuchung is one of those screenings. The wording names no school type.

Absatz 7 settles the private-school question directly. It says that Absätze 1 to 4 also apply to Ersatzschulen (the same sentence adds that Absätze 5 and 6 apply to Ersatzschulen and Ergänzungsschulen). The wording is on the official BASS NRW portal. According to Bildungsportal NRW, Ersatzschulen are the private schools that correspond to the public school types, they need approval from the responsible Bezirksregierung, and whoever attends one fulfills compulsory schooling. In plain terms: for a child at a private school of that kind, the screening duty applies exactly as it does at a public school.

The duty also reaches children who are not in a school yet. In its FAQ on school medical exams at enrollment, written for newly arrived children, NRW’s school ministry states that the obligation also applies to future pupils, meaning children who are schulpflichtig but not yet admitted to a school. That matters for private schools, because the exam happens before the first day, when your child is not yet anyone’s pupil.

Where the “Legal Gap” Story Comes From

You may come across the claim that NRW has a gap for private schools. The source usually behind it is a 2006 research review by the Wissenschaftliche Dienste des Deutschen Bundestages, completed in January 2006, which compared school entry exam rules across the German states. Read closely, its NRW section is about something else. It says the statute of that time obliged only “Schülerinnen und Schüler” to attend, that a child who is merely registered and not yet admitted to a public school is strictly speaking not yet a pupil, and that on this strict reading there might be no duty to attend at all. The ministry, asked by phone, described that as an unintended Regelungslücke in the school law. The NRW section does not mention private schools or Ersatzschulen.

So the question the paper raises is whether not-yet-enrolled children are covered, not whether private-school children are. Today the ministry’s FAQ answers the first question with yes, and Absatz 7 answers the second one explicitly.

What Stays Open

Two points are not settled by the sources used here, and it is better to know that than to guess.

Ergänzungsschulen. Absatz 7 extends Absätze 1 to 4 to Ersatzschulen and names Ergänzungsschulen only for Absätze 5 and 6. Per Bildungsportal NRW, Ergänzungsschulen offer content that public schools and Ersatzschulen do not, they need no approval, they cannot award state-recognized diplomas, and recognized foreign or international Ergänzungsschulen can fulfill compulsory schooling without an exemption. Some international schools are of this type. We found no official statement on how the Gesundheitsamt handles a child heading to such a school. The ministry’s FAQ describes the duty as covering schulpflichtige children who are not yet in a school, which points toward the exam applying, but ask the Kinder- und Jugendärztlicher Dienst instead of relying on an inference.

How your appointment reaches you. Stadt Köln’s service page calls the exam gesetzlich vorgeschrieben, says it can only be done by a physician acting for the Gesundheitsamt, and says it takes place in the Grundschulen, at the Gesundheitsamt at Neumarkt, or at the Außenstelle Chorweiler. It adds that parents receive the appointment dates when they register their child at the Grundschule. The city’s pages do not describe the process for children registered at a private school.

Practical Notes

Do not treat a private or international school choice as a reason to skip the exam. The more useful question is how your appointment will be arranged. The 2026 invitation letter of the Kinder- und Jugendärztlicher Dienst lists Neumarkt 15-21, 50667 Köln, telephone 0221/221-24786 and the address kinderundjugendgesundheit@stadt-koeln.de. The letter says the exam takes about 60 minutes, a parent or guardian must attend, and the result goes to the parents and the school management, which decides on admission. Ask your private school early whether it forwards appointments or expects a confirmation, and keep the date once you have it.

Step by Step

1. Do not assume a private or international school exempts your child. For Ersatzschulen the statute says the screening duty applies, and the ministry covers children not yet admitted to a school.
2. Find out what kind of school it is. Ask the school whether it is an Ersatzschule or an Ergänzungsschule.
3. Ask the school whether it passes on exam appointments or expects you to arrange one yourself.
4. If nothing has reached you, contact the Kinder- und Jugendärztlicher Dienst of the Gesundheitsamt (0221/221-24786) and say which school your child will attend.
5. If your child will attend an Ergänzungsschule, ask the same office directly how it handles the exam in that case.
6. If you cannot make a date, ask for a new one before it passes. Our companion page on non-attendance explains what the law provides if an invitation is missed.

Compliance Note

This page explains the general legal framework around private and international schools and the Schuleingangsuntersuchung in North Rhine-Westphalia, based on the statute text and official guidance available when it was updated. It is not legal advice, and school law can change. For your specific situation, confirm directly with the Kinder- und Jugendärztlicher Dienst of the Gesundheitsamt Köln or with your child’s school.