The journeyman's exam on office education

The office education ends with a trade exam — the exam that is colloquially called the journeyman exam. This is where you really show what you can do and it is decisive whether you get your degree. The trade exam is not a surprise that pops up at the end: it is based on a project that you are involved in shaping well before the oral exam takes place.

§The project grows out of your internship

According to the ordinance on office training, you carry out the journeyman's test as a project in your apprenticeship company within the last six months of the training. You choose the form and content of the project together with the company — but within the framework set by the school. In practice, this means you should choose a task that is close to your specialisation and your daily work: something you already have hands-on experience with, and which shows the breadth of what you can do.

§Documentation in the final school period

In the final school period you work under guidance from the school to document the project in a relevant medium. It can be a written report, a presentation, a spreadsheet, a portfolio of documents, or a combination — the point is that the documentation should show the process behind the project, not just the finished result. Use the guidance actively: an experienced teacher can point out gaps in the documentation before it becomes a problem at the actual exam.

• 01Choose a project that shows the breadth of your competencies
• 02Describe not only what you did but why you chose that solution
• 03Use the school's guidance actively during documentation
• 04Save intermediate calculations, drafts and decisions — they show your working process

§The trade test itself: 30 minutes that count

The verbal exam lasts 30 minutes including deliberation. The school decides itself how to divide the time between your presentation of the project and the subsequent examination, where assessor and examiner ask questions based on your documentation. The assessment is an overall evaluation of your performance, but the main emphasis is on the project presentation itself — so it's worth practising the presentation at least as much as polishing the written part.

§What is required to pass?

To get your qualification certificate you need a passing grade in both your specialisation subjects and in the actual trade exam. The two things are weighted separately — a strong trade exam cannot make up for a failed school exam, and vice versa. Talk to your contact teacher well in advance if you are unsure where you stand academically, so together you can make a plan for the final months.

§How you help a person who hears voices

Start early. The sooner you and your company find a project, the better time you have to gather good material as you go instead of reconstructing it at the last moment. Ask yourself which task best shows what you can within your specialty – and practice answering the why questions the censor will likely ask: why did you choose this solution, and what would you do differently today?

“The trade exam rewards not the perfect project — it rewards the student who can clearly explain their choices.”