Depending on which German state you live in, at either ten or twelve you go on to either Gymnasium (academic track) Hauptschule (least academic, graduate at end of 9th)) or Realschule (middle path with exam at end,graduate at end of 10th) After Realschule or if you go from Hauptschule to a realschule, and do you exam.. you can enter an apprenticeship and attend Berufschule twice a week while working. Teachers can make recommendations, but no one tells you what you should do later. There are aptitude tests you can take to figure out what you might be good at.
It is very difficult to switch tracks, and most students are put off because they don’t want to finish high school as a 20 plus year old. Because they make you go back and begin the gymnasium from the start.. there is no transferring into the same grade. If you finish your Abitur, and sit for the exams... similar to the Bac, depending on your Numerus Clausus and what you concentrated in .. you can decide what University track you will enter. The problem of course is, what if you did a humantiies track and yet you would like to do social science at University this becomes very difficult as you need to choose what your Abitur exams will be in and concentration ahead of time. Even with the introduction of the Bachelors/Masters degree at the University level now, it’s not a flexible system.
Thank you Katya, very informative.