The Oskar-von-Miller-Schule in Kassel is the best vocational school for the automotive trade in 2013. It won the industry award of the training magazines "Autofachmann" and "Autokaufmann" ahead of the Berufskolleg Hilden (Mettmann district) and the Gewerbliche Schule Nagold. The trophies were awarded on Friday, September 20, as part of the "Auto und Ausbildung - Das Forum" congress at the Vogel Convention Center in Würzburg.



With the "Best Vocational School" award, the trade media from Vogel Business Media honor the commitment of the dual partners in the German vocational training system every year. The competition is held under the patronage of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (ZDK) and is supported by the sponsors LN Lucas-Nülle, Exponentia and Volkswagen Service Deutschland. The award is open to schools with vocational school classes for automotive mechatronics technicians, automotive salespeople and other vehicle-related professions.



This year, the focus was on promoting individual performance and motivation. Specifically, the expert jury wanted to know how exactly the vocational schools support both high-performing and low-performing trainees. To this end, the education experts from schools, the association and the editorial team first examined the submitted application documents and made a pre-selection. They then took a closer look at the best candidates on site.



The Oskar-von-Miller School in Kassel impressed the jury with its flexible content lessons: Pupils there can organize some of their lessons themselves. To this end, the teachers have combined some training content into learning modules that run in addition to the regular lessons. 20 hours in a four-week teaching block are set aside for these modules. This has two advantages: The modules are always up-to-date and the level of training in high-tech topics is independent of the teachers' level of knowledge in regular lessons.



The second-placed vocational college in Hilden focuses on the holistic qualification and support of trainees. The school therefore introduced the "all-day vocational school in a healthy school" in the 2011/2012 school year in consultation with the motor vehicle guild. Special features of this type of school include a vocational school day of nine hours and a special exercise and nutrition concept. In order to meet the required timetable, the school also runs a 40-hour project week twice a year. During these blocks, the teachers can support the trainees with special focuses and offer additional content.



The Gewerbliche Schule Nagold is oriented towards the services of a medium-sized car dealership when teaching the course content. The teachers cover the entire service process in a practice-oriented manner: from order acceptance to the final handover of the vehicle to the customer. Practical and theoretical lessons are closely linked. Teachers also address the specific requirements of the automotive trade in subjects such as German or business and social skills.



The winners of the "Best Vocational School" award 2013:

1st place: Oskar-von-Miller-Schule, Kassel

2nd place: Hilden Vocational College, Mettmann district

3rd place: Nagold school, Calw district



"autoFACHMANN" and "autoKAUFMANN" are the official training journals for industrial and commercial training respectively. Adapted to the framework curricula of the vocational schools and the company training plans, these publications offer the entire examination knowledge (including training and knowledge certificates) for young professionals and trainers in over 25,000 German automotive companies. With a total monthly circulation of more than 65,000 copies, "autoFACHMANN" is the largest specialist training magazine in Europe. The parent company Vogel Business Media is one of the leading German providers of specialist information with 100+ trade journals, 100+ web portals, 100+ business events as well as numerous mobile offerings and international activities. Its headquarters are in Würzburg. The company celebrated its 120th birthday in 2011.