Ronja is studying to become a maths teacher at German Realschule

Hi,
I'm Ronja, I'm 24 years old and I completed my teaching degree for German Realschule in Würzburg in March 2025. My subjects are maths and protestant theology.

That's a good question. I knew relatively soon, towards the end of my time at school, that I wanted to be a teacher one day. I've always enjoyed going to school. I was also good - not in all subjects, of course. And I enjoyed helping my classmates, especially in maths, when they didn't understand the material. Over the years, I've also given private tuition and I think I'm quite good at explaining things. During my time at the FOS, I was in the social branch, and then I thought about studying to become a special education teacher. That's how I came to Würzburg. In the end, I was considering a teaching degree for German Realschule with maths and biology. But you can't study this combination in Bavaria. To be honest, I ended up working my way through the list of possible maths combinations by process of elimination - and finally ended up with religion. Because one thing was always clear to me: if I became a teacher, I wanted to teach maths.

Because of the different school systems, I wanted to study in my home state of Bavaria right from the start. In Bavaria, you can only study to become a school teacher for pupils with special educational needs in Würzburg and Munich. That's why I wanted to have a look at the university in Würzburg. Thanks to the wonderful offer of tandem days and studylive, I was able to accompany students from different degree programmes for a day in their everyday university life.

I really liked the university and the city of Würzburg at the time. In addition, I couldn't do a similar programme at any other university because there wasn't one. So I couldn't see and experience any other university as well as Würzburg. And that's why I went to Würzburg.

Würzburg is a green city with a lot of history and many young people. The fact that it is a campus city (the university buildings are spread across the entire city) means that students studying to become teachers in particular have a lot of travelling to do. There is usually half an hour between two lectures - because of the academic quarter before and after the lectures. This half hour can be a bit tight to get from one lecture venue to the next. However, the bus connections are quite good and the bus ticket is included in the semester fee, which is why we students are automatically provided with tickets for public transport in and around Würzburg.

I started at JMU in October 2020. Finding a flat wasn't that easy, but in the end I was successful and thanks to corona I spent all my time in this flat. It took until the third semester for me to make contact with other students and finally get to know my fellow students.

There was a buddy programme that I had signed up for, which was supposed to make it easier for us to start studying. But you were very much on your own. It was difficult to create your own timetable, find suitable courses and find your way around the many university platforms.

But even if it is normal to feel a little overwhelmed at the beginning, you will be well received in Würzburg. Our student service can help you organise your timetable. You can also get daily help from the Student Advisory Service telephone service or arrange personal counselling appointments.

There is also a wide-ranging first-year programme. This largely depends on the subjects you choose, as many things are organised by the student unions of the different subjects. I helped with the Fresher's Programme in the mathematics and computer science student union. The "first week" for first-year students is usually before the official start of the semester. It's a full week, but a great opportunity to get to know new people and familiarise yourself with the university. A preliminary course is offered in some subjects (highly recommended) and is even compulsory in others. The preliminary course is designed to make it easier for you to start your studies. There are also lots of activities to get to know each other, from city rallies and games evenings to barbecues and pub crawls. I've also had the honour of leading a few campus tours. This involves showing you around the university grounds at Hubland. We help the first-year students to validate their student ID, load money onto it and go to the dining hall together for the first time. I really enjoyed introducing new students to our university and the campus and helping them with everything we had to figure out on our own (due to corona).

In maths, as in most natural sciences, it is usual to have an accompanying exercise to the lectures. This is where the theoretical content from the lecture is deepened in practice. In addition, there is usually an exercise sheet for a period of one week, which is the equivalent of homework. Usually you work on these in small groups. There is usually a written exam at the end of the semester. You are allowed to write your own formulae for this - a kind of personal cheat sheet on which you can write everything.

Things are very different in protestant religion. There are lectures or seminars but no exercises and tutorials. At the end of the semester, you usually finish with a term paper, which you write over the semester break.

I loved the variety of my subjects and enjoyed dealing with such different working methods and content. However, it is rather typical to stay in one "category". For example, most combine two natural sciences or humanities and languages.

Incidentally, attendance is not compulsory in most courses - you decide for yourself whether you want to come. I thought this freedom was great, even though I was almost always there anyway. It's usually worth it simply because you understand the content much better through the lecture and it's really no fun to work through everything on your own later.

The teaching degree programme for German Realschule offers a wide range of subjects that can be combined with each other. However, you (unfortunately) cannot combine everything as you wish. Find out more about the structure of the degree programme and the possible subject combinations here: https://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/studium/angebot/abschluss/stex/la-rs/. At JMU, in most subjects lectures are offered that are specific to the teaching profession. You study your subjects "not in depth" and only attend lectures for teaching degree students.

For each subject, you take subject-specific courses and courses in the respective didactics. In addition, you attend seven courses from the educational science fields of psychology, school pedagogy and general pedagogy. There are also some compulsory internships, even if they are not enough in my opinion..If you want even more variety, you can always take up a third or extension subject. Here you are completely free to choose.

The standard period of study is seven semesters. Instead of a Bachelor's thesis, we write an admission thesis (Zulassungsarbeit, Zula). You can choose between your subjects and educational sciences, and you can also select the supervisor. After writing the ZuLa and completing a few courses, you can apply for a Bachelor's degree in teaching. This entitles you to study a Master's degree programme and differs in title depending on the subject in which you have written the ZuLa.

In Bavaria, you complete a teacher degree programme with the state examination. You can then expect two subject-specific examinations and a didactics examination for each subject, which are usually all written (but there are exceptions). There is also a state examination in educational sciences (EWS). Here you can choose whether you want to take the state examination in education, school education or psychology. The EWS state exam is the only one that can be written separately from the other six state exams. Many people therefore do the EWS exam one or two semesters earlier to avoid having to write all seven exams in the same semester. I also did this and would recommend it. If you choose a third subject, you can write the associated three state exams separately from the other six subject-specific exams.

Most lectures conveniently do not start before 10 am. This gives you enough time in the morning to start the day in peace, get an overview of the lecture notes or check whether you have completed the compulsory preparation. It's always worth downloading or printing out the lecturer's slides before the lecture - it's a much more relaxed and focused way of taking notes.

As a rule, you have about two to three courses per day: a mixture of lectures, exercises or seminars. In lectures, you usually sit in, listen and ideally take notes. Sometimes it all happens so quickly that you're glad at the end if you've managed to write everything down by the end. The seminars are usually more interactive. The lecturers often ask you to participate. And then there are exercises, where you are usually challenged to work independently most of the time. And yes, sometimes there's a day when there's only one course in the timetable - or it's even completely free. You shouldn't pack your timetable too full, because you definitely need time to prepare, do follow up work or homework.

This can be particularly demanding in maths - you should plan around five hours for one exercise sheet. However, you usually meet up with your study group directly at the university. Personally, I like to look at the exercises on my own beforehand: That way, you can compare whether you've arrived at the same results later on and continue right away where you're still stuck. This saves time and you can see in advance what you can already do.

A real classic: lunch in the Mensa - preferably with friends almost every day. But preferably not at 12 o'clock, when it's at its busiest.

In addition to studying, there is also time for other things: the university sports programme offers many courses - perfect for working out in the evening or simply clearing your head. On sunny afternoons, you can meet up with fellow students on campus or in the neighbouring grounds of the former state garden show at Hubland. It's a great place to relax, lie in the sun or just chat.

Most exams are written in the last week of lectures - and in the two to three weeks after that. Many people prepare in the university libraries in the weeks beforehand. But beware, it gets so full quickly that you often can't find a place at half past nine.

And what about the semester break? They are rarely quite as free as you might imagine. There's often a term paper to write. My personal rhythm: concentrated writing in the library in the morning, dining hall at lunchtime - and then free time. This mixture of productivity and relaxation has always worked well for me.

• Self-discipline
• The ability to organise yourself
• Independence
• Enjoy working with people, especially children and teenagers
• Patience
• You should enjoy explaining and communicating
• A certain assertiveness
• Openness to approach people
• Interest and expertise in the subjects of your choice
• Stamina