Over the past few decades, Germany, like other industrialised nations, has become a knowledge-based society, in which education and educational institutions are of central importance to all phases of life. More than before, education may be considered a lifelong process taking place in formal, non-formal and informal learning environments. It is of core interest to investigate how individual educational careers and competencies are developing over a lifetime and to examine the influence of families, educational institutions, work environments and private circumstances. The National Educational Panel Study, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for an initial phase of five years, aims to gather data regarding the development of individual education and competence development and their interaction with learning environments, social inequality, migration and educational outcomes over the course of a lifetime. 

To analyse these topics, the Educational Panel will survey approximately 60.000 children, adolescents and adults per year, who are distributed across eight educational stages: 1) early childhood Education, 2) kindergarten, 3) elementary school, 4) lower secondary school, 5) upper secondary school, 6) vocational training, 7) higher education and 8) adult education. The Educational Panel is chaired by Prof. Dr. Cordula Artelt of Universität Bamberg. The Research Group Educational Panel at the Social Science Research Centre (WZB) is involved in Stage 6 (Vocational Training and Transition to the Labour Market, under the direction of Prof. Dr. Heike Solga) and Stage 8 (Adult Education and Lifelong Learning, under the direction of Prof. Jutta Allmendinger, PhD). The Stage 6 group will carry out a survey with approximately 10.500 9th grade students, starting in 2010. The Stage 8 group will survey 13.000 persons aged between 23 to 64 years, starting in 2009. The core aim of the research group is to collect data for these two stages using a theoretically and methodologically sound research design. In addition, it seeks to analyse professional and vocational training processes and labour market processes during the early adult years. The Social Science Research Centre is co-operating with the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) in Nuremberg for Stage 8.

Website of the National Educational Panel Study at Universität Bamberg