The film was generally well received by critics. Based on 76 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, it has an overall approval rating of 70 percent from critics and an average score of 6.49 out of 10. According to the website's consensus, ""The Edukators" engagingly plays out the clash between youthful idealism and older pragmaticism." Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating from 100 top reviews by mainstream critics, calculated a score of 68 based on 28 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Stephanie Bunbury of "The Age" wrote that in Germany it was a "huge hit ... Abroad, however, it has been the butt of plenty of criticism. It is too earnest, too naive, too Teutonic and sincere."