Berlin Cosmopolitan School receives seal of quality for excellent career guidance
On 23 September 2025, Berlin Cosmopolitan School (BCS) had reason to celebrate: the school was awarded the seal of quality for excellent career guidance – the only secondary school in Berlin to receive recertification this year. Only two schools in the capital were able to achieve this special recognition, which underlines the uniqueness of BCS’s commitment to career guidance.
A formal ceremony honours outstanding achievements
BCS students from grades 8 to 10 travelled to the festive award ceremony at the OSZ Ästhetik und Körperpflege (Vocational School for Aesthetics and Personal Care) in Berlin-Charlottenburg together with school principal Kathrin Röschel and project manager Nataliya Karl to receive the award. The C.O.M.B.O. Band from the Goethe Gymnasium, conducted by Christian Fischer, provided the musical accompaniment and took the enthusiastic audience on a rousing musical journey.
In her welcoming address, Christina Henke, Berlin’s State Secretary for Education, emphasised the central importance of mutual exchange between teachers, pupils, partners and institutions. Only through this cooperation can structures be created that offer young people sound career guidance and enable them to discover their individual paths at an early stage. It is precisely this extraordinary commitment that the award aims to highlight and honour.
“Beacon of modern career guidance”
In his laudatory speech, Sven Weickert, Managing Director of Unternehmensverbände Berlin-Brandenburg e.V., described BCS as a “beacon of modern career guidance” that consistently focuses on the individual strengths of its students. Headmistress Kathrin Röschel highlighted the challenge of our time: “Today, it is important to prepare young people for careers that in some cases do not even exist yet. Early and comprehensive career guidance is therefore particularly valuable.”
Practical experience, such as internships starting in sixth grade, helps young people identify their interests and make informed decisions about their future studies or careers. Henri Bauckhage, a Year 12 student, gave an impressive presentation to the audience about how an internship at a hospital motivated him to pursue a career in medicine and how the BCS Career Day helped him to better assess his own strengths.
Innovative concepts win over the jury
The jury particularly praised the school for its Career Day, its consistent promotion of individual potential, its teaching of flexible thinking in academic and professional fields, and its realistic implementation of career guidance in everyday school life. Since 2017, nature and outdoor learning have also been added to the programme, enabling pupils to gain practical experience while enjoying sustainable education. This not only trains professional skills, but also promotes social skills, team spirit, perseverance, and critical and creative thinking.
Sustainability and future prospects
There is a particular focus on the long-term impact of the career orientation programme. BCS pursues a holistic approach that not only offers short-term internship experiences, but also fosters long-term partnerships with companies and universities. These collaborations enable students to continuously explore different career paths and make decisions based on a broad range of experiences.
With this award, Berlin Cosmopolitan School impressively demonstrates that career guidance at secondary school level can be of the highest standard – and that there are many paths to success, some of which may involve detours.
About the Berlin Cosmopolitan School, Preschool and Kindergarten
The Berlin Cosmopolitan School is changing the traditional way schools and kindergartens work with different approaches to learning in the areas of nature and environmental protection, sports, new work, culture, dance, music and art and much more. The aim of the independent school, preschool and kindergarten is to bring all students along according to their abilities.
“When school motivates, everyone learns more” is the conviction of the Berlin Cosmopolitan School. Regular outdoor learning, sports activities and competitions, digital projects such as robotics, internships from grade 6, music-making from kindergarten age, dance clubs, bilingual education and much more help the children to discover and develop their own preferences and abilities.
Important concerns of the Berlin Cosmopolitan School, Kindergarten and Preschool are social justice, equal opportunities in education and a balanced community. The school regularly awards scholarships to students and accepts refugees. Through its established network and internationally trained staff, the educational institution has the opportunity to explore new educational paths for every age group.
The Berlin Cosmopolitan School was founded in 2003 as a non-profit organisation by Yvonne Wende. In 2004, the first bilingual (English-German) kindergarten and preschool opened for Berlin-Mitte with 18 children. Shortly after, the primary school started and most recently, in 2009, the accredited bilingual Gymnasium of Berlin Cosmopolitan School 01P22. Since then, the number of students has steadily increased. Approximately 1,000 students from all over the world are now being taught on the Rückerstraße and Invalidenstraße campuses. The kindergarten has grown to a number of more than 300 children between the ages of 1 and 6.
In 2013, Berlin Cosmopolitan School was accredited as an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School, first for primary school and also for the Gymnasium. The IB Learner Profile is about developing children and young people into lifelong learners. The school and kindergarten use primary experiences to design lessons.
