Taking into account that excerpting texts is a major task for university students of all disciplines, in this study we will investigate pupils' abilities to excerpt texts at the end of their schooling. For that purpose we have analyzed 31 excerpts made by pupils who were currently in their last two years of secondary school. Furthermore we analyzed 33 questionnaires which allowed us to assess pupils' subjective appraisal of the specific excerpting task given to them as well as of their general skills to make excerpts. Most importantly, our findings show that the majority of pupils lack the ability to excerpt texts in a way allowing them to use excerpting as an efficient tool during their university career. It seems that pupils' problems are not primarily rooted in difficulties understanding primary texts but are rather the result of a lack of awareness of what constitutes a good excerpt. We therefore conclude that it is mandatory for universities to teach excerpting texts to their students.