Yes, Waldorf schools prepare students for state-recognised school-leaving qualifications such as the A-levels or the Baccalauréate. At the Waldorf School Luxembourg, students have the opportunity to take the two-year Baccalauréate International after the 11th grade (more information here). Not all students do the IB, some transfer to vocational schools or do the Luxembourg Abitur (BAC) at state lycées. German-speaking students sometimes also transfer to the Waldorf School in Trier and complete their schooling there with the German Abitur (A-levels).

No! Teaching staff must be pedagogically trained in order to work at a Waldorf school. The Waldorf School Luxembourg requires that all teaching staff have a valid training (class teacher, subject teacher, educator) and have also completed the Waldorf teacher or Waldorf educator seminars or are prepared to do so on a part-time basis.

Statistics of staff qualifications at the Waldorf School Luxembourg (March 2025)

*plus Waldorf-teacher and / or Waldorf-educator training qualification 

No, Waldorf education supports all children - regardless of their talents. In addition to artistic subjects such as painting, music or eurythmy, there is also a focus on crafts, science and language.

No, the lessons are demanding. In addition to subject content, great emphasis is placed on social and emotional skills. Personal responsibility and lifelong learning are central goals of Waldorf education.

This is a misunderstanding. Digital media are introduced in an age-appropriate way - deliberately only after the children have developed other important skills such as creative thinking and independent problem solving. In the upper school, the use of digital technologies is a matter of course.

No. Waldorf schools are open to all children - regardless of religion, world view or social background. Anthroposophy serves as a source of inspiration for the pedagogy, but is not taught as curriculum content.

No, Waldorf schools are not sects. They are free, state-recognised schools with a special educational concept. Waldorf education was developed by Rudolf Steiner, who also founded anthroposophy. This is incorporated into the education as background knowledge, but is not taught as a world view. Waldorf schools are ideologically open and independent.

- Shared leadership: Leadership is distributed among teachers, administrators and parents rather than centred on a single leader or authority figure.

- Democratic decision-making: Important decisions are made with the participation of teachers, parents and staff, often in school councils or committees, and not dictated by a single person.

- Parent involvement: Parents play an active role in decision-making and school governance, ensuring that the values and needs of the community are reflected in the school's practices.

- Transparency and accountability: There is no secrecy; information is shared openly with all members and those responsible are accountable to the community.

- Autonomie und Verantwortung der Lehrkräfte: Die Lehrer haben zwar Flexibilität, aber keine absolute, unkontrollierte Macht. Sie sind nach wie vor der Schulgemeinschaft gegenüber verantwortlich und folgen einem Rahmen, der kreatives, individuelles Wachstum fördert, anstatt absolute Kontrolle auszuüben.

- Teacher autonomy and responsibility: Teachers have flexibility, but not absolute, uncontrolled power. They are still accountable to the school community and follow a framework that encourages creative, individual growth rather than exercising absolute control.

- Openness and respect for diversity: Waldorf schools welcome the cultural, religious, intellectual diversity of their student, teacher and parent body as well as gender diversity within the school community. Students are encouraged to form their own opinions rather than follow a single ideology.

- Fear free exit: There is no coercion to join the school community and no punishment for leaving; families are free to withdraw their child(ren) from school at any time and are free to make educational decisions for their children without fear of reprisals.

- No marginalisation: Waldorf schools are not closed or isolated from the outside world. They do not demand total separation from society or the wider education system. Waldorf schools (including the Waldorf School Luxembourg) show themselves publicly through open days or through exhibitions, lectures, performances or concerts in public spaces.

Waldorf schools issue written reports. Pupils receive individual, detailed learning development reports instead of grades. These describe the children's strengths, progress and development potential in detail. The aim is not just to measure learning by numbers, but to provide holistic feedback.

Grade reports can be issued to students when they leave the school. At the Waldorf School Luxembourg, grade reports are issued from the 11th grade onwards. After the 11th grade, students have the opportunity to take the two-year Baccalaureate International (more info here). As part of the International Baccalaureate programme, students receive numerical certificates.

No. Waldorf schools are not elite schools, but are open to all children - regardless of their social or financial background. Funding is provided by state subsidies and income-related parental contributions so that no child is excluded for financial reasons.

Yes, of course! Waldorf pupils learn to write right from the start - often using creative and movement-based methods. Initially, they write with individually designed letters before moving on to Latin cursive. Many Waldorf pupils develop particularly fluent and expressive handwriting.

Yes, maths is an integral part of the curriculum. Waldorf schools place particular emphasis on children understanding maths - not just learning it by heart. This means that maths concepts are often taught through practical applications, movement and artistic methods.

No, that is a misconception! Natural sciences such as biology, physics and chemistry have a high priority in the Waldorf curriculum. The lessons begin with illustrative experiments and encourage independent thinking in order to develop a deep understanding of scientific relationships. Many Waldorf pupils later choose technical or scientific careers.

No, Waldorf schools are not special needs schools, but regular general education schools with a special educational approach. They are open to all children - regardless of ability level or special needs. Some Waldorf schools have inclusive classes or special support programmes to help children with special needs.

No, that's a cliché. In eurythmy - a form of movement - language and music are visualised through movement. However, it is not a prerequisite for school education.

The following 21 questions were published by the Association of Waldorf Schools in Germany as a brochure entitled ‘Blickpunkt’ (February 2024).*

1. Which children are admitted to Waldorf schools?
Waldorf schools (also known as Rudolf Steiner schools) are basically open to all children – irrespective of religion, ethnic origin, world view, or income of the parents. After detailed informational parents' even-ings, an individual admission interview is conducted at the school for each registered child. The admissions committee consisting of teachers puts together a class that is as balanced as possible. Since there are usually more applications than places, a school place is unfortunately not guaranteed. Pupils can also be transferred in from other schools in the upper grades.

2. How are Waldorf schools different from other schools?
Waldorf schools aim to develop intellectual, creative, artistic, practical and social skills in children and adolescents in equal measure. From the first year of school, Waldorf pupils generally learn two foreign languages. Boys and girls knit, sew and tailor together in needlework classes, and later use saws, hammers and files together in woodwork classes. In every eighth and twelfth grade, the entire class rehears- es a demanding theatre piece and all students choose a topic of their choice as a major annual project to work on, both in theory and practice. The subjects of horticulture and eurythmy, unknown in other schools, are fixed components of the curriculum.

3. Who was Rudolf Steiner and what does he have to do with Waldorf education?
Rudolf Steiner was the founder of Waldorf education. Emil Molt, owner of the Waldorf Astoria cigarette factory at the time, founded the first Waldorf school in Stuttgart together with him in 1919. The content and method of Waldorf education build on Rudolf Steiner's insights into the principles of child and adolescent development. Today the Pedagogical Research Center at the Association of Independent Waldorf Schools is responsible for the constant updating and further development of the framework curriculum. In addition to education, Rudolf Steiner's spiritual scientific research−he called it anthroposophy−also found its way into biodynamic agriculture, anthroposophical medicine, and art.

4. Does a child have to be artistically gifted to be a good fit for attending a Waldorf school?
No, the Waldorf school is a school for all kinds of young people. However, recent brain research has impressively proven that children and adolescents acquire many competencies through artistic practice that extend far beyond the immediate activity. Therefore, when Waldorf pupils paint, draw, sculpt or make music, the primary goal is to train differentiated perceptions and develop their creative potential; the particular talents of individual pupils are, of course, taken into account. Waldorf teachers strive to develop their students' intellect, creativity and independent personality in equal measure.

5. Isn't it the case that mainly children with learning difficulties go to a Waldorf school?
No. Explicitly and definitely no. At Waldorf schools, children of all abilities learn just as they do at regular public schools, except that here, in addition to intellectual abilities, equal weight is given to social and artistic abilities. The individual support of children with special needs is an important pillar of Waldorf education, which is implemented either in schools with an in-clusive concept or in special curative schools.

6. Is it true that at Waldorf schools no grades or scores are given and no pupil has to repeat a school year?
Even though Waldorf schools refrain from issuing grades in the lower and middle school, student work is of course honoured; instead of standardised scores, teachers write individual assessments which devote equal attention to the pupils‘ personal development and learning progress as well as their classwork. Thus, it is not only the level of knowledge that counts, but the overall development over a given period of time. Beginning at the end of middle school, grades are also given, but in parallel with the individual assessments described above. Waldorf students learn in a stable class community from the first to the twelfth grade, regardless of the school-leaving certificate they are aiming for. No one is left behind along the way.

7. Without grades and without the possibility of having to repeat a school year: are the children then motivated to learn at all?
Since Waldorf lessons are very activity-oriented and tailored to the respective developmental stage of the pupils, this question rarely arises. The children and adolescents develop self-initiative not because of external pressure to perform, but out of lively interest and personal enthusiasm for the diverse lesson content. The teachers design these lessons creatively and realistically, so that the contents are oriented to the children's personal world and convey their own varied experiences. Waldorf teachers prepare for this demanding pedagogical activity at their own seminars and colleges.

8. Isn't Waldorf education something like the illusion of an ideal world? Can the pupils cope with the "harsh reality" later on in their lives?
Practical experience shows that Waldorf students in particular are especially valued by instructors of all kinds. In a school that addresses not only intellectual abilities, key skills such as the ability to work in a team, creativity, and the capacity to think in terms of processes are developed and encouraged from the very first day of school. Extensive graduate studies show that Waldorf students are highly successful in all fields of study and occupations.

9. What leaving certificates can be attained at a Waldorf school?
All. Since the individual federal states each have their own school laws, there are differences, but the basic rule is that the usual state qualifications can be acquired at a German Waldorf school: Hauptschulabschluss (basic secondary school leaving certificate) and Realschulabschluss (intermediate school leaving certificate) as well as the Abitur (university education entrance qualification) and usually also the Fachhochschulreife (qualification for technical college). At the end of the twelfth school year (at some schools at the end of the eleventh grade), many Waldorf schools offer their own Waldorf School Leaving Certificate, which gives their students the opportunity to present their individually acquired competencies alongside the examination subjects of the state certificates. The thirteenth school year is usually used for targeted preparation for Abitur/Fachhochschulreife.

10. Is the Waldorf School actually expensive?
It is a principle of Waldorf schools not to reject any child for financial reasons. However, since the subsidies to independent schools in all federal states are lower than those received by public schools, Waldorf schools have to charge tuition fees to parents–even though they have proven to be more efficiently run than public schools. In order to make it possible for all children to attend school, however, the teachers and parents form solidarity groups, structured somewhat differently at each school, that strive to balance out the different financial possibilities of the various families.

11. The Waldorf schools call themselves “free schools”. Does that mean that the children there are educated in an anti- authoritarian way?
The term “free schools” does not mean that there are no rules there, but that they are so-called “schools in free sponsorship” and enjoy extensive autonomy in shaping their pedagogical programme. Waldorf teachers build a relationship with their pupils in the lower grades that is characterised by “loving authority”. Children seek their boundaries. Only when they experience boundaries from adults do they feel secure enough to experience and explore their own personality. As the grades progress, the teacher-pupil relationship increasingly transforms into a more comprehensive learning partnership.

12. Why do children have one and the same class teacher in the first eight years of school, if possible?
It is now well-researched scientific finding that a trusting relationship is the most important basis for learning. In this way, children can develop well and healthily in a community that is charac- terised by consistency and rhythm. In order to be a reliable support for them, a Waldorf class teacher accompanies his or her class for six to eight years, if possible, and teaches at least the first two hours of a school day every morning. In alternating “blocks” the class teacher holds lessons on material of different subject areas for several weeks at a time. In the process, they get to know the pupils intimately and can respond individually to their strengths and weaknesses.

13. What is meant by a “block lesson”?
During the first two hours of each school day, the class works intensively on one subject area at a time for several consecutive weeks. For example, pupils have two hours of math, geography, German, history, or another major subject every morning for three weeks. After a few weeks, the content of the block changes to a different subject. Pupils have the opportunity of connecting with each block intensively. Basic skills, such as arithmetic and writing, are reinforced in on-going practice sessions that extend beyond the period classes. Following the block lessons, subject teachers take over classes in sports, foreign languages, eurythmy, religion, music, and handcraft and artistic subjects.

14. Can a teacher actually be qualified in all subjects?
Class teachers actually cover a wide range of subjects at a Waldorf school. They are specifically prepared for this by special training, which they undergo in a full course of study or postgraduate courses following scientific or pedagogical training at one of the seminars in the Federation of Independent Waldorf Schools or at a university with Waldorf qualifications. Class, subject, and upper school teachers are required to complete training that is at least equivalent to teacher training for public schools. In the lower and middle school, the focus of all learning is not only on imparting pure subject knowledge, but also on enabling the students to have a lively, experience-saturated relationship with the learning content. In this way, learning can be enjoyable for an entire lifetime.

15. Doesn't the necessary preparation for graduation come up short when there are so many internships, theatre plays, and craft projects?
It is true that these activities, together with the learning workload, mean a double burden for the students in some school years. However, experience shows that test performance does not suffer as a result. The average final scores in standard exams conducted in the higher grades at Waldorf schools are at least on a par with those of graduates of public schools.

16. How are adolescents in the upper grades prepared for the world of professional or vocational work?
In the upper grades, academically or technically trained teachers work with adolescents in all subjects. The practical skills that the students have acquired throughout their schooling are supplemented from the eighth grade onward by various practical internships: in agricultural and forestry internships, field measurement (surveying) internship, industrial and social internships, adolescents receive a distinctly real-life training basis. The real purpose of these internships is not to find a particular career, but above all to practice important social skills. Some Waldorf schools also prepare students for a trade certificate parallel to their school leaving certificate, others document all practical and cognitive learning experiences in the upper school (from grade 9) in a so-called Waldorf graduation portfolio, which can be presented when applying for a job.

17. Are the children taught a specific ideology at the Waldorf school?
The anthroposophy developed by Rudolf Steiner is an aid to knowledge for the teachers, but at no time is it the subject of class lessons. Since the Waldorf school is an interdenominational school, it is initially the parents who decide which religious instruction their child should attend. Later, the adolescents decide this question for themselves.

18. What is the subject of eurythmy all about?
Eurythmy (literally: good, beautiful rhythm) is an art of movement taught in all classes at Waldorf schools. In contrast to gymnastic, pantomimic or dance movements, which can be designed completely freely, in eurythmy there is a very specific gesture for each spoken sound and tone–it is therefore speech and music made visible. In speech eurythmy, for example, the students represent the sounds that live in a poem, and in tone eurythmy what lives in the tone intervals of a musical composition. In the process, skills such as co-ordination, locating oneself in space, moving in an ensemble, a movement to music or recitation are trained, very much as an individual, but within a community.

19. What role do the natural sciences play at the Waldorf School?
Between the fourth and eighth grades, science instruction is based on the precise observation of biological, physical and chemical phenomena and on the independent discovery of respective scientific laws. From the ninth grade onward, abstract model concepts and the conceptualization of modern natural sciences come to the fore, with the teaching continuing to be an open-ended, exploratory process based on the students' own perceptions and conclusions. A PISA study on the natural sciences conducted in Austria attested that Waldorf students had far above-average competencies in the natural sciences and explicitly attributed this to the phenomenological teaching methods, which were described as exemplary.

20. What role do digital media play at the Waldorf school?
Media education is an integral part of the Waldorf school curriculum. It begins initially as an "indirect media education" in which the younger children experience the world with all their senses and engage with it creatively and imaginatively using a variety of materials. In the process, they develop their ability to make judgments, which is a necessary prerequisite for independent use of digital media. These are introduced step by step in the classroom after extensive experience with analogue media. In addition to practical handling, a real understanding of the technological foundations and functioning of the internet becomes important, which in the upper school extends to reflection on the worldwide social effects of these technologies, leading to a mature use of digital media.

21. What if my family moves?
In Germany there is a Waldorf school within reach almost everywhere–currently (June 2022) there are 255, but new schools are founded every year. On our homepage (waldorfschule.de) you can find the schools nearest you. Each Waldorf school will make every effort to accept Waldorf students after they move. Moving to and from regular public schools does mean a change, but it is possible and not uncommon. If you plan to move abroad, there are over 1,200 Waldorf schools worldwide - and the trend is clearly on the rise. This makes Waldorf schools the largest non-denominational and non-public educational movement in the world.

*PDF of the brochure available for download via https://www.waldorfschule.de