NEPS is a longitudinal, multi-cohort study investigating the development of competencies and educational trajectories of individuals in Germany. NEPS SC2 Kindergarten focuses on educational participation and educational processes in preschool age and in the first years of school, including the transitions from kindergarten to elementary school and from elementary school to the tracked system of secondary school. Between 2010 and 2012, the study recruited approximately 3,000 children aged four to five years who attended kindergarten in Germany in 2010/2011, as well as 2,000 parents, 800 kindergarten educators, and 200 kindergarten principals. In wave 3, between 2012 and 2013, a refreshment sample of over 6,000 children in grade 1 of elementary schools was recruited. Participants were followed up annually until 2022. NEPS will continue under the new title NEPS next, with data collection planned approximately every five years.