I spent time during my undergrad degree studying in germany, and in my opinion the students there were no "better" than those in the UK. If anything, their theoretical knowledge was somewhat lacking - maybe cos teaching is spread over so many years. Main difference i noticed though was they do get a more practical experience, and have to do a compulsory research project for a year full time once they finish their degree before moving on to PhD.Like DanB, I'd be interested to know what academics think about this too though?!