This booklet provides a brief description of secondary education in Austria. The publication is part of a series that seeks to make the public aware of the education systems and traditions in all signatory states to the European Cultural Convention and to outline the essential problems these systems presently are facing. This short booklet contains twelve sections. Part 1, "The Societal and Political Context," contains: (1) "What is Secondary Education?" (2) "Administrative Organisation"; (3) "Recent Developments"; and (4) "Diagram of the Educational System." Part 2, "The Process of Policy-making and Innovation," includes: (1) "Decision-makers"; and (2) "Support Services." Part 3, "Financing and Budgeting," focuses on: (1) "Funding Bodies"; (2) "Costs Incurred by Parents"; and (3) "Statistical Data." Part 4, "School and Society," examines: (1) "The World at Large"; and (2) "Parents." Part 5, "Administration and Organisation," contains: (1) "Streams and Options"; (2) "University Access"; (3) "Grade-to-Grade Promotion"; and (4) "Special Groups." Part 6, "The School as an Organisation and as a Community," examines: (1) "School Rules"; (2) "Deviant Behaviour, Absenteeism and Truancy; (3) "Extracurricular Activities, Social Relations"; and (4) Work by Pupils." Part 7, "The Curriculum," focuses on: (1) "Formal Parameters"; (2) "Sample Timetables"; (3) "Syllabuses"; (4) "Religion"; and (5) "Curricular Trends." Part 8, "Evaluation and Assessment," examines: (1) "Pupil Assessment"; (2) "System Evaluation and the Inspectorate"; and (3) "Assessment of Teachers." Part 9,"School Staff," includes: (1) "Senior Staff"; (2) "Teacher Training and Recruitment"; (3) "Stages in a Teacher's Career"; (4) "Teachers' Duties"; (5) "Teachers' Salaries"; and (6) "Other Staff." Part 10, "The European Dimension," includes: (1) "Curricular Provisions"; and (2) "Extracurricular Activities." Part 11, "Efficiency and Performance Statistics," contains: (1) "Enrollment"; (2) "Graduates with the Right to University Access"; (3) "Percentages of Repeaters/Drop-outs"; (4) "Admissions to Higher Education"; (5) "Proportion of 15-Year-Olds Neither in Full-Time Schools Nor in the Dual System"; and (6) "Unemployment Rates." Part 12 examines "Challenges, Problems, and Prospects." (EH)