What is the Fachgespräch (technical discussion) in the IHK exam?

The Fachgespräch is an oral exam component used in many German IHK (Chamber of Industry and Commerce) apprenticeship trades, and it builds directly on documentation the candidate submitted earlier – in most staged final exams this is a workplace project report (betrieblicher Auftrag), while in commercial trades it is often a written report or presentation instead. The examination board asks questions about the starting situation, the chosen approach, and the technical background of the completed project. Unlike a free-form oral exam, the technical drawings, test protocols or other practice-related documents from the submission are explicitly the basis for the conversation. The goal is to check whether the candidate genuinely understands their own work rather than having memorised it. Candidates who want to prepare in a structured way can practise typical question patterns with an oral exam simulator or review typical IHK technical-discussion questions.

How long does the Fachgespräch last?

Exact timing depends on the training regulation for each specific trade, but in practice it usually falls between 15 and 20 minutes. IHK Regensburg, for example, specifies a maximum of 10 minutes for the presentation and a maximum of 20 minutes for the technical discussion in the case of the workplace project. Other trades often allow a combined time of roughly 30 minutes for presentation and discussion together. The binding figure is always the training regulation of the specific occupation, not a single nationwide standard.

What does the Fachgespräch actually assess?

Three things are typically evaluated: command of the technical background relevant to the task, the ability to explain relationships clearly and correctly, and how well the candidate can assess their own results. An official IHK scoring rubric for the technical discussion in the wholesale/retail trade clerk occupation lists exactly these three criteria on a 0-to-100-point scale. In other words, it is not rote factual knowledge that counts, but applied competence: candidates must present job-related problems and their solutions, explain the relevant technical background, and convincingly justify their own approach to completing the project. Understanding how an oral exam generally works makes it easier to meet this expectation.

How is the Fachgespräch weighted?

Weighting differs by trade, but a common pattern emerges: the technical discussion usually counts for more than the preceding presentation. Some training regulations weight it twice as heavily as the presentation; others assign it roughly 60 percent of the relevant exam area, with documentation and presentation each contributing smaller shares. Depending on the trade, the exam area containing the technical discussion can carry substantial weight in the overall final grade – a weak technical discussion is then hard to offset with other exam parts. The exact formula is always set out in the training regulation for the specific occupation.

Technical discussion vs. oral supplementary exam: what is the difference?

The two terms are often confused but refer to different things. The Fachgespräch is a regular, fixed part of the final exam, usually tied to the practical project work. The oral supplementary exam (mündliche Ergänzungsprüfung), by contrast, is an additional chance: it only applies when a written exam area was graded below "sufficient" and the candidate requests it. In that case, the prior written result and the oral result are combined at a 2:1 ratio, meaning the written performance counts twice as much. The Fachgespräch cannot be requested after the fact – it is built into the exam process from the start.

How should you prepare for a Fachgespräch?

Because the technical discussion builds on your own documentation, the most important step is to genuinely understand your project rather than simply having written it: why was this particular solution chosen and not another? What alternatives existed, and why were they rejected? What technical fundamentals underpin the decisions you made? It helps to practise explaining out loud, to define technical terms precisely, and to anticipate likely follow-up questions from the examination board. None of this guarantees a pass, but it noticeably improves the odds of answering with confidence. LearnCastAI can help turn the material from your own project documentation into a podcast for review on the go – though that is no substitute for actually thinking the content through.

Technical Discussion