"In theory it might seem brilliant. Sad truth is, that kids with rich/academic families go to Gymnasium, the aspiring ones are on Realschule, and those that are poor or where the parents don't care end up in the Hauptschule. As a result, best teachers work mostly at Gymnasium, while those who can't find a good teaching job end up in Hauptschule. Diversity is much lower in Gymnasium than in Hauptschule, too.For all these reasons there are many attempts at moving to the new system of having a Gesamtschule, where all three are learning together with specialized courses based on individual preferences, and only at a later stage students have to decide whether to go for this or that track. Also you can switch much easier from one track to another, without losing your whole social network. I think it's a much better system."