German Teens Are Making Freedom Of Information Requests To See Their Exams Before They Take Them

These kids will go far.

Abitur exams (abis) are the equivalent of 'A' Levels in the UK.

christopher @chris_onmars

wieso mach ich abi? #abi2015

04:34 PM - 14 Mar 2015

And of course, it's hell. (This tweet reads: "Why do I abi?").

But this kid called Phillip Langen has come up with a pretty genius ruse. He's put in a Freedom of Information request to the German Ministry of Culture to see the exam papers before they're released.

fragdenstaat.de

He made the request through this "Ask The State" website. According to German law, the Government should, in theory, be obliged to release the papers.

So far though, he's just got an automatic response.

fragdenstaat.de

And it turns out he's not the only one.

instagram.com

According to the Guardian, another kid, Simon Schräder, 17, from Münster, has asked the education ministry of North Rhine-Westphalia for “the tasks of the centrally-made Abitur examinations in the senior classes of high school in the current school year”.

The paper reported the ministry's deadline falls on 21 April, but his first exam is on 16 April. He told the paper: "I did think beforehand that they probably wouldn’t send me the exams. I’m already revising, and I’m not relying on them to get back to me. I thought it was worth a try; I just wanted to see what they would say.”

So far the ministry has simply confirmed that it's processing the request.

Even if this doesn't come off, fair to say these kids have shown quite some initiative.