Education in the Czech Republic
Preschool
- Preschool education is mandatory for children who have reached the age of 5 by the beginning of the school year. Therefore, if your child has their 5th birthday in September, they must start preschool in the given school year.
- Mandatory vaccination is a prerequisite for admission into preschool. This does not apply for the mandatory preschool education from the age of 5.
- You must provide proof of legal residency in the Czech Republic no later than the day your child starts preschool.
- You can find the current dates for the admission of children into preschool here.
How to select a preschool?
- You can choose any preschool from the list of preschools in the South Moravian region.
- Children are primarily enrolled into preschools in the place of their residence (in Czech spádové školky). However, it is possible that some preschools will not accept new pupils due to capacity reasons even if it will be a preschool in your area of residence.
- You can find general information on the enrolment into primary school in this document PS enrollment.
Elementary School
- School attendance is compulsory for nine school years for those children aged 6 by the beginning of the school year.
- It applies to all citizens who are entitled to reside in the Czech Republic. School attendance in Ukraine will not be counted.
How to select an elementary school?
- You can choose whichever school from the list of elementary schools in the South Moravian region.
- Children are primarily enrolled into elementary schools in the place of their residence (in Czech spádová základní škola). However, it is possible that you will have to select a different school due to capacity reasons.
- You can find more information on enrollment in this document
Secondary education
In the Czech Republic, we generally divide secondary schools into:
- General secondary education (gymnázium (grammar schools)),
- Apprenticeship education (apprentice schools, secondary vocational school)
- Or professional schools (secondary school of specific vocation, e.g., secondary technical school).
They focus on the transfer of knowledge and developing skills and abilities that pupils acquired during primary education. They create the conditions for students’ autonomy in acquiring information and further learning throughout life.
In the Czech educational system there are multi-year secondary schools to which pupils transfer in the fifth or seventh grade (eight-year or six-year grammar schools and conservatories).
In the Czech Republic secondary education is divided into:
- Apprenticeship (1-2 years),
- Secondary education without the maturita exam (3 years),
- Secondary education with the maturita exam (usually 4 years).
The basic principle of the division of schools is that:
- Secondary schools that have maturita exams make it possible to continue to higher professional schools (ending with the DiS. title),or to university (generally Bc., Mgr., Ing., MgA. and other titles).
- It is not possible to continue education at higher professional schools (VOŠ) or Universities after completing schools with a certificate of apprenticeship or with final exams; the only option is to complete 2 more years of extended studies, pass the maturita exam and then continue to university. In this case, secondary education is 5 years long.
You can see various endings of secondary schools in the Czech Republic in the attached graph.
