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Key Facts: BY Abitur Ethics (gA) Exam

1 of 4 tasks

Candidate's choice in the written Abitur (four proposed tasks; Teilaufgaben with/without text, erörternde and gestalterische elements)

ISB Übersicht Illustrierende Prüfungsaufgaben Ethik (Stand Juli 2025); GSO Anlage (Ethik)

210 min / 100 BE

Working time and maximum Bewertungseinheiten at grundlegendes Anforderungsniveau (eA: 270 min / 120 BE)

ISB Übersicht Illustrierende Prüfungsaufgaben Ethik; GSO Anlage (Ethik)

11 May 2026

Written gA block date for 'alle weiteren Abiturprüfungsfächer' including Ethik (KM Bayern Terminübersicht 2026)

KM Bayern, Aktuelles zur Abiturprüfung 2026

LehrplanPLUS Jgst. 12/13

Curriculum basis of the first G9 Abitur 2026 (Profil- und Leistungsstufe, grundlegend)

lehrplanplus.bayern.de, Gymnasium Ethik 12/13 (grundlegend)

300 / 900

Maximum Abitur points from the five Prüfungsfächer; at least 300 of 900 points required for the Allgemeine Hochschulreife

KM Bayern, Aktuelles zur Abiturprüfung 2026

2 × 15 min

Kolloquium structure in Ethik after 30 minutes of preparation

ISB Übersicht Illustrierende Prüfungsaufgaben Ethik

100

Original English MCQ study items in this bank (not official format)

OpenExamPrep

Bavaria Abitur Ethik (gA) is a 210-minute constructed-response exam: one task chosen from four, max. 100 BE — not MCQ. Content follows LehrplanPLUS Gymnasium Jgst. 12/13: action theory and normative ethics, freedom/determinism, justice and political philosophy, meaning/worldview. This free English MCQ bank is a study adaptation only.

Sample BY Abitur Ethics (gA) Practice Questions

Try these sample questions to review concepts for the BY Abitur Ethics (gA) exam. Each question includes a detailed explanation. Start the interactive quiz above for the full 100+ question experience with AI tutoring.

1In philosophical action theory, what turns a bodily event into an 'action' (Handlung) in the ethically relevant sense?

A.It is intentionally brought about by an agent who can give reasons for it

B.It is caused by a measurable physiological process in the brain

C.It produces consequences that affect other people

D.It is performed while the person is awake rather than asleep

Explanation: Action theory reserves the term Handlung for behavior attributable to a will: the agent acts intentionally, guided by reasons, and can therefore be held responsible. Reflexes, twitches, and sleepwalking fail this test even though they involve the body. This distinction is the basis for all later questions of responsibility in the LehrplanPLUS Lernbereich 'Theorie und Praxis des Handelns'.

2In action theory, the intention (Absicht) of an action refers to...

A.what the agent wants to bring about or achieve with the action

B.the objective circumstances under which the action takes place

C.the side effects of the action that the agent did not foresee

D.the moral rule that society applies to this type of action

Explanation: Absicht names the agent's own orientation toward a goal: what the person wants to realize through the action. It belongs to the inner side of the action, together with motive and will, and is central when we judge whether someone acted deliberately. Circumstances, unforeseen effects, and social rules are separate action-theoretical categories.

3A passerby deliberately pushes a child out of the path of an approaching car; the child falls and breaks an arm. In action-theoretical terms, the broken arm is best described as...

A.a foreseen but unintended consequence the agent accepts while pursuing the goal

B.the goal (Ziel) of the action

C.the means (Mittel) chosen to realize the intention

D.part of the action's circumstances, beyond the agent's influence

Explanation: The goal is saving the child from the car; the means is pushing the child aside. The broken arm is a foreseeable side effect that the rescuer accepts (in Kauf nimmt) without aiming at it — the classic distinction between intended goal and accepted consequence. This distinction matters morally and legally, for example when weighing proportionality of means.

4Why does the moral assessment of an action usually include its circumstances (Umstände)?

A.Because the same type of act can be judged differently depending on who acts, when, and in what situation

B.Because circumstances always excuse the agent from all responsibility

C.Because only the circumstances, not the intention, determine an action's moral worth

D.Because circumstances show whether the action was legally permitted

Explanation: Circumstances specify the concrete situation — who is involved, what alternatives existed, what pressures applied. Taking a wallet to return it to its owner and taking it to keep it are the same physical act judged differently by context and intention. Circumstances can mitigate or aggravate responsibility, but they do not automatically erase it.

5In Plato's Politeia, the 'Idea of the Good' is best described as...

A.the highest idea, which makes knowledge and being possible and toward which the soul should be oriented

B.the strongest sensual pleasure available to human beings

C.the sum of all laws a just polis has enacted

D.an innate moral feeling every human possesses from birth

Explanation: In the sun analogy of the Politeia, the Idea of the Good stands above the other ideas as the sun stands above visible things: it enables both knowledge and the knowability of being. True orientation of the soul means turning toward this idea, which is why the philosopher-rulers must contemplate it. Plato explicitly rejects pleasure and mere convention as the highest good.

6In Plato's doctrine of the soul in the Politeia, the three parts of the soul are...

A.reason (logistikon), spirit or courage (thymoeides), and desire (epithymetikon)

B.intellect, memory, and imagination

C.ego, superego, and id

D.sensation, emotion, and will

Explanation: Plato divides the soul into the reasoning part (logistikon), the spirited part (thymoeides, seat of courage and righteous anger), and the desiring part (epithymetikon, seat of appetites). This tripartition mirrors the three estates of the ideal state and grounds the four cardinal virtues. The chariot image in the Phaidros illustrates the same structure.

7For Plato, justice (dikaiosyne) in the soul and in the state consists primarily in...

A.each part fulfilling its own task under the guidance of reason, producing inner and social harmony

B.everyone receiving exactly equal shares of goods and honors

C.citizens obeying whatever the strongest decide

D.maximizing the total welfare of all citizens

Explanation: Justice is the fourth cardinal virtue and the ordering principle of the other three: when reason rules, spirit supports it, and desires obey, the soul is just — just as the state is just when rulers, guardians, and producers each do their own work. Plato defines justice as this harmonious 'doing one's own', not as arithmetic equality. The later tradition (e.g., Thomas Aquinas) continued this scheme of cardinal virtues.

8Plato's Socratic thesis that 'no one does wrong willingly' implies that...

A.wrongdoing ultimately stems from ignorance of what is truly good, so virtue is a form of knowledge

B.people who do wrong are always excused from responsibility

C.the will can freely choose evil while fully knowing the good

D.punishment is pointless because offenders could not act otherwise

Explanation: Socratic intellectualism holds that everyone necessarily pursues what they take to be good; evil action therefore rests on a mistaken judgment about the good. If genuine knowledge of the Good were present, right action would follow — virtue is teachable insight. Aristotle later challenged this picture with his analysis of akrasia, where knowledge and desire conflict.

9Aristotle's approach in the Nicomachean Ethics is called virtue ethics because it primarily asks...

A.what kind of character and excellences (aretai) a person should develop in order to live well

B.which rules of duty must be followed without exception

C.which action produces the greatest total happiness

D.what social contract rational individuals would agree to

Explanation: Aristotle starts from the telos of human life — eudaimonia — and asks which stable character dispositions (virtues) realize it. The focus is on the agent's character and practical wisdom rather than on rules or outcomes alone. This makes his ethics the classical model of virtue ethics, in contrast to Kant's duty ethics and utilitarian consequentialism.

10According to Aristotle's doctrine of the mean (Mesoteslehre), courage is...

A.the right mean between cowardice and recklessness

B.the complete absence of fear in dangerous situations

C.the willingness to accept any risk for a good cause

D.a habit of avoiding all avoidable danger

Explanation: Each ethical virtue lies as a mean between two vices: courage stands between cowardice (defect of confidence, excess of fear) and recklessness (excess of confidence). The courageous person fears the right things, at the right time, in the right way. The mean is not mediocrity but the fitting response determined by practical reason.

About the BY Abitur Ethics (gA) Exam

Ethik is a written Abitur subject of the gesellschaftswissenschaftliches Aufgabenfeld in Bavaria, examined from 2026 under LehrplanPLUS Gymnasium for the new nine-year Gymnasium (G9). At grundlegendes Anforderungsniveau the candidate selects one of four tasks in 210 minutes for a maximum of 100 Bewertungseinheiten (GSO Anlage; ISB IlluPA). Content spans the four Lernbereich blocks of Jgst. 12/13: Theorie und Praxis des Handelns (action theory plus normative positions from Plato and Aristotle through Kant, utilitarianism, Diskursethik, and Jonas Verantwortungsethik, with applied judgment in Umwelt-/Bio-/Technik-/Medizinethik); Freiheit und Determination; Recht und Gerechtigkeit (Rawls, Naturrecht/Rechtspositivismus, Strafzwecke, Menschenrechte); and Sinnorientierung und Lebensgestaltung (Eudaimonie models, Frankl Sinn und Glaube, Camus, empirical Glücksforschung). The tasks are Bavaria-specific, since the IQB common pools do not include Ethik. This free bank offers 100 original English MCQs for concept and knowledge practice only; it is not an official translation, not a simulation of the German-medium constructed-response exam, and not a substitute for official writing or Kolloquium preparation.

Exam sponsor: Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Unterricht und Kultus (KM Bayern); Staatsinstitut für Schulqualität und Bildungsforschung (ISB) for LehrplanPLUS and illustrierende Prüfungsaufgaben. The requirements and fees below concern the certification or admission exam, separate from our free practice resources.

Assessment

Written Abitur at grundlegendes Anforderungsniveau: the candidate chooses one of four proposed tasks (GSO Anlage; ISB Übersicht Ethik, Stand Juli 2025). Tasks may include Teilaufgaben with and without text reference, erörternde parts (neu: partly materialgestützt), Gestaltungsanteil, and — under the erweiterter Textbegriff — literary texts, graphic novels, statistics, or song lyrics; lernbereichsübergreifende complexes can draw on several Lernbereiche of LehrplanPLUS Jgst. 12/13 (Theorie und Praxis des Handelns, Freiheit und Determination, Recht und Gerechtigkeit, Sinnorientierung und Lebensgestaltung). Maximum 100 Bewertungseinheiten. Content basis is Bavaria-specific (ISB) — the IQB common task pools do not cover Ethik. This OpenExamPrep bank is an English-language MCQ study adaptation — not an official translation, not a format simulation — and cannot replace German-language constructed-response or Kolloquium practice.

Time Limit

210 minutes at grundlegendes Anforderungsniveau and 270 minutes at erhöhtes Anforderungsniveau, per GSO Anlage (Ethik) and the ISB Übersicht Illustrierende Prüfungsaufgaben Ethik. In 2026, written gA subjects beyond the named core subjects were scheduled on 11 May 2026 (KM Bayern Terminübersicht: 'alle weiteren Abiturprüfungsfächer – grundlegendes Anforderungsniveau'); oral Kolloquium weeks: 18–22 May and 8–12 June 2026.

Passing Score

Results are scored in Bewertungseinheiten (max. 100 at gA) and converted to Notenpunkte (0–15). Up to 300 of the 900 Abitur points come from the five Prüfungsfächer; the Allgemeine Hochschulreife requires a Gesamtqualifikation of at least 300 of 900 points (KM Bayern).

Exam / Certification Fees

No separate per-subject fee is published for regular school candidates; administration runs through the public Gymnasium pathway.

Exam sponsor website

Fees, eligibility, and exam policies can change. Confirm them with the exam sponsor before applying or paying.

Official sources

Our practice resources: topics covered

We aim to reflect publicly available exam outlines and topic information in our study resources. Coverage, format, and difficulty may differ from the actual exam, and we cannot guarantee that every detail is accurate or current. Confirm exam requirements, fees, and policies with the official exam sponsor.

28%

Action Theory and Normative Ethics

Handlung/Absicht/Ziel/Mittel/Umstände/Folgen; Plato, Aristotle, Kant, utilitarianism, Habermas Diskursethik, and Jonas Verantwortungsethik as the core toolkit for moral judgment.

26%

Freedom and Determinism

Voluntary action and Willensschwäche, Kantian autonomy, Sartre and Bieri on freedom, social-psychological influence (Milgram, Bystander), and neurobiological challenges (Libet) with philosophical critique.

25%

Justice and Political Philosophy

Rawlsian fairness and the Differenzprinzip, Naturrecht vs. Rechtspositivismus, Strafzwecke and Strafvollzug, human-rights universality, and global justice questions.

12%

Meaning, Life Design, Religion & Worldview

Ancient Eudaimonie models (Aristotle, Epicurus, Stoa), Frankl Sinnsetzung and Glaube, Camus on absurdity, and Flow/PERMA findings for personal Lebensgestaltung.

Applied Ethics Judgment

Transfer of normative models to Umwelt-, Bio-, Technik-, and Medizinethik cases and to unfair digital argumentation — the applied strand woven through Eth12/13 tasks.

Exam Literacy

One-of-four task choice, 210 minutes and 100 BE at gA, erweiterter Textbegriff, lernbereichsübergreifende tasks, and Kolloquium structure.

Preparing for the BY Abitur Ethics (gA) Exam

What You Need to Know

Passing score: Results are scored in Bewertungseinheiten (max. 100 at gA) and converted to Notenpunkte (0–15). Up to 300 of the 900 Abitur points come from the five Prüfungsfächer; the Allgemeine Hochschulreife requires a Gesamtqualifikation of at least 300 of 900 points (KM Bayern).
Assessment: Written Abitur at grundlegendes Anforderungsniveau: the candidate chooses one of four proposed tasks (GSO Anlage; ISB Übersicht Ethik, Stand Juli 2025). Tasks may include Teilaufgaben with and without text reference, erörternde parts (neu: partly materialgestützt), Gestaltungsanteil, and — under the erweiterter Textbegriff — literary texts, graphic novels, statistics, or song lyrics; lernbereichsübergreifende complexes can draw on several Lernbereiche of LehrplanPLUS Jgst. 12/13 (Theorie und Praxis des Handelns, Freiheit und Determination, Recht und Gerechtigkeit, Sinnorientierung und Lebensgestaltung). Maximum 100 Bewertungseinheiten. Content basis is Bavaria-specific (ISB) — the IQB common task pools do not cover Ethik. This OpenExamPrep bank is an English-language MCQ study adaptation — not an official translation, not a format simulation — and cannot replace German-language constructed-response or Kolloquium practice.
Time limit: 210 minutes at grundlegendes Anforderungsniveau and 270 minutes at erhöhtes Anforderungsniveau, per GSO Anlage (Ethik) and the ISB Übersicht Illustrierende Prüfungsaufgaben Ethik. In 2026, written gA subjects beyond the named core subjects were scheduled on 11 May 2026 (KM Bayern Terminübersicht: 'alle weiteren Abiturprüfungsfächer – grundlegendes Anforderungsniveau'); oral Kolloquium weeks: 18–22 May and 8–12 June 2026.
Exam / certification fees: No separate per-subject fee is published for regular school candidates; administration runs through the public Gymnasium pathway. Official sources

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BY Abitur Ethics (gA): Suggested Study Strategy

1Map the four Lernbereich blocks of Jgst. 12/13 first: Handlungstheorie/Normative Ethik, Freiheit/Determination, Recht/Gerechtigkeit, Sinnorientierung — Abitur tasks can deliberately cross several of them.

2For normative ethics, practise pairing positions (Kant vs. utilitarianism; Diskursethik vs. Verantwortungsethik) and stating strengths and limits rather than declaring winners.

3Drill the action-theory vocabulary (Handlung, Absicht, Ziel, Mittel, Umstände, Folgen) until you can classify cases quickly — it underpins every responsibility judgment.

4For Recht und Gerechtigkeit, memorize Rawls (Schleier, Grundsätze, Differenzprinzip), Radbruch, and the classic Strafzwecke with one concrete case each.

5For Sinnorientierung, compare Aristotle/Epicurus/Stoa on Eudaimonie with Frankl (Sinn und Glaube) and Camus (absurdity) so you can argue across religious and secular worldviews.

6Use the official ISB illustrierende Prüfungsaufgaben (gA Beispielaufgaben with Lösungsvorschläge) for full German-language rehearsal; use this MCQ bank only for concept checks.

7In the real exam, skim all four proposed tasks before choosing, and budget your 210 minutes roughly by the Bewertungseinheiten of the sub-tasks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the official Bavarian Abitur in Ethik a multiple-choice test?

No. The official exam is German-medium constructed response: candidates choose one of four proposed tasks (GSO Anlage; ISB Illustrierende Prüfungsaufgaben). This bank is a free English-language MCQ study adaptation — not an official translation or format simulation — and cannot replace official writing or oral practice.

How long is the written exam at grundlegendes Anforderungsniveau?

According to GSO Anlage (Ethik) and the ISB Übersicht Illustrierende Prüfungsaufgaben Ethik: 210 minutes at gA (270 minutes at eA), with a maximum of 100 Bewertungseinheiten (120 at eA).

Which curriculum applies from 2026?

LehrplanPLUS Gymnasium, Profil- und Leistungsstufe (Jgst. 12/13): in Jgst. 12 Theorie und Praxis des Handelns (action theory and normative ethics) plus Freiheit und Determination; in Jgst. 13 Recht und Gerechtigkeit plus Sinnorientierung und Lebensgestaltung.

Do the IQB common task pools apply to this subject?

No. In Bavaria the IQB pools cover only Deutsch, Mathematik, Englisch, Französisch (since 2017) and Biologie, Chemie, Physik (since 2025). Ethik tasks are Bavaria-specific, developed in the KM Bayern/ISB framework.

How is the oral Kolloquium in Ethik structured?

Per the ISB Übersicht: 30 minutes of preparation, then two parts of about 15 minutes each. Part I is a roughly 10-minute Kurzreferat from a chosen Themenbereich of the Schwerpunkthalbjahr plus a short discussion; Part II covers Lerninhalte from two further Ausbildungsabschnitte. One Kurshalbjahr of Jgst. 12 is excluded as Prüfungsgegenstand.

How does this subject count toward the Abitur result?

The written result (max. 100 BE at gA) is converted to Notenpunkte. The five Prüfungsfächer contribute up to 300 of 900 Abitur points; the Allgemeine Hochschulreife requires a Gesamtqualifikation of at least 300 of 900 points (KM Bayern).

Free Practice Questions for BY Abitur Ethics (gA)

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