Last update: 19 January 2026

Parents are responsible for their children’s education. If you have children, it is good to pay attention to this topic. The education system consists of several stages: pre-school education, primary education and secondary education. In the following chapters you will learn basic information about each of these stages.

• Pre-School Education
• Primary Education
• Secondary Education
• Entrance Exams
• Secondary School Leaving Exam (“Maturita”)

A list of all schools, regardless of the founder, which are registered in the Register of Schools and School Facilities is available on the website of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. All these schools are overseen by the Czech School Inspectorate, which monitors the quality of education and the services provided. When searching, enter the required parameters – kindergartens, primary schools or secondary schools – and the location (e.g. Prague 1, Prague 2, etc.).

• Register of Schools and School Facilities (Czech)

Pre-School Education

Children attend kindergarten during the school year, which in the Czech Republic starts on 1^st September and ends on 31^st August of the following calendar year.

Before attending primary school, children may attend creche and then kindergarten. They usually start kindergarten at the age of 3–4 but not before the age of 2. There is no legal entitlement to a kindergarten place for children under the age of 3. Kindergartens provide basic preparation for primary school. For a long time, kindergarten was a non-compulsory part of the education system. However, an amendment to the Education Act made the final year of kindergarten before entering primary school compulsory from the 2020/2021 school year, usually for children aged 5–6.

There are state kindergartens (organised by city districts) and private kindergartens (organised by private individuals and companies). The main difference lies in the fees paid by parents. Demand for kindergarten places often exceeds capacity, especially in state kindergartens, which are significantly cheaper than private ones.

A list of kindergartens in Prague is available here or on the websites of the individual city districts. Further information can also be obtained from individual kindergartens.

Kindergarten enrolment, during which a decision on admission or non-admission is made, takes place between 2 May and 16 May. Parents of 5-year-old children are obliged to enrol their children (see above). Kindergartens use various criteria when deciding which children to accept. Catchment kindergartens (assigned according to the address of your registered place of residence) give priority to children living in their catchment area.

If you need help choosing a kindergarten or with the formal requirements related to your child’s enrolment in a kindergarten, do not hesitate to contact the Integration Centre Prague or NGOs which provide educational support for migrants.

Primary Education

Pupils attend school during the school year, which in the Czech Republic starts on 1 September and ends on 31 August of the following calendar year. Summer holidays last from 1 July to 31 August.

Children usually start primary school at the age of 6–7. From this age, they are subject to compulsory school attendance, which means that parents are legally obliged to enrol their children in primary school. Compulsory school attendance lasts for nine years and applies to all children, including those who arrive in the Czech Republic between the ages of 6 and 17 and have not yet completed nine years of schooling.

Your child has a legal entitlement to a place in a primary school. In practice, this means that the primary school in your catchment area (i.e. the school associated with the address of your registered place of residence) must admit your child, unless it lacks sufficient capacity (which is the only reason for a refusal). If the catchment school cannot accept your child due to capacity reasons, you should contact the education department of the city district in which you reside. The department is then obliged to find a place for your child in another primary school close to your home.

You may also enrol your child in a school outside your city district, provided that the school has sufficient capacity and agrees to admit the child.

Compulsory school attendance begins at the start of the school year following the child’s sixth birthday, unless a postponement is granted. Children whose sixth birthday falls between September and the end of June of the given school year may be admitted earlier if they are sufficiently physically and mentally mature and their legal guardians apply for enrolment. Legal guardians are required to enrol their children for compulsory school attendance in the calendar year in which the child is due to start school. During the enrolment, teachers assess the child’s school readiness. In 2026, enrolments take place between 15 January and 15 February – each school sets its own date. For more information, consult the websites of individual schools or the municipal authority that operates the school. You can also contact the school by phone.

Most primary schools in Prague are organised by city districts. Out of the 57 city districts in the Capital City of Prague, 49 act as organising bodies for primary schools.

A list of primary schools in Prague is available here and on the websites of individual city districts. Further information can also be obtained directly from the schools.

A list of private schools is available here.

A lack of knowledge of the language of instruction (Czech) must not be an obstacle to a child’s education. Schools should make every effort to provide adequate language support, such as Czech as a second language lessons or language courses. An individual education plan may be created to facilitate the child’s gradual integration into all subjects. To supplement language support provided by schools, you can use, for example, the e-learning programme developed by META, o. p. s., available here.

Some Prague schools pay special attention to pupils with a migration background and organise Czech language courses or after-school lessons. These schools participate in development projects of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports. A list of such schools is available here.

The Capital City of Prague also funds additional Czech language courses. In each city district, one primary school offers an afternoon course. Pupils from other districts may also attend these courses, but prior agreement with the school director is required. A list of schools offering these courses is available here.

Postponement of compulsory school attendance (updated for 2026)

If, for serious reasons, a child is not sufficiently physically or mentally mature to begin compulsory school attendance, the child’s legal guardian may apply for a postponement of compulsory school attendance for one school year. An application for postponement is submitted in connection with enrolment in the first year of primary school. The decision is made by the director of the primary school on the basis of a written application submitted by the child’s legal guardian.

The application must include two supporting assessments:

• A recommendation issued by a pedagogical-psychological counselling centre or a special educational support centre;
• A recommendation issued by a specialist doctor or a clinical psychologist
  (depending on the child’s specific situation; in some cases, a general practitioner for children and adolescents is not authorised to issue such an assessment).

Based on the new requirements, applications for postponement of compulsory school attendance must be submitted no later than 31 May of the calendar year in which the child is due to begin compulsory schooling. After this deadline, postponement can no longer be granted through the standard procedure.

For this reason, legal guardians are encouraged to begin the process early, as appointments at pedagogical-psychological counselling centres or special educational support centres may involve long waiting times.

Education of a child after the postponement is granted

If a postponement is granted, compulsory preschool education is extended by an additional school year. The child may continue to:

• Attend kindergarten,
• Be enrolled in a preparatory class at a primary school, or
• be enrolled in a preparatory-level class at a special primary school.

The school director decides whether a child is placed in a preparatory class or a preparatory-level class based on a request from the legal guardian and a recommendation from an educational counselling facility. The legal guardian must inform the director of the designated catchment-area kindergarten of this decision.

Secondary Education

Will your children complete primary education soon, or did they complete it before arriving in the Czech Republic? Support them in continuing their education. Today, secondary education is considered the minimum standard of educational attainment, and employment opportunities are very limited for people with only primary education.

Secondary education includes a wide range of schools. The main types are:

• Secondary general schools (“gymnázia”) – secondary schools focused on providing a good educational foundation for university studies. These schools offer 4-year, 6-year and 8-year programmes. Secondary general school studies are completed by a secondary school leaving exam (see below).

• Secondary technical schools – secondary schools that prepare students for working in specific fields (e.g. business academies, secondary technical schools – transport, electrotechnical, chemical, construction schools, secondary teacher’s colleges, art and graphic schools and others). Most secondary technical schools are completed by a secondary school leaving exam. Conservatoires represent a specialised type of higher secondary school offering studies in music, singing, or dance. Programmes at conservatories typically last six years and result in a higher professional qualification.

• Secondary vocational training schools – they provide secondary education in the form of apprenticeships, which prepare students for various professions, such as car mechanics, carpenters, cooks, waiters, electricians, gardeners, confectioners, agricultural machinery operators and many others. These programmes are completed by a final exam and the graduates get a certificate of apprenticeship. At these schools it is also possible to study 4-year programmes which are completed by the secondary school leaving exam.

When choosing a school, it is advisable to review school websites and visit open days, which allow prospective students and their parents to see the school environment, learn about study programmes, meet teachers, and ask questions.

Links:

An overview of secondary schools can be found for example on the following websites:

• Stredniskoly.cz
• Atlas školství

A list of schools operated by the Capital City of Prague is available here.

Entrance Exams

Admission to secondary schools requires successful completion of an admission procedure. To enter programmes ending with a school-leaving exam, applicants must pass entrance exams, typically consisting of didactic tests in Czech language and mathematics. Some schools may also require additional tests or interviews.

For apprenticeship programmes, admission is usually based on the transcript of records from primary school.

After taking entrance exams, schools will notify applicants of the results, often by publishing a list of accepted students. Since applicants may apply to multiple schools, they must confirm their choice (online or in writing). Only after confirmation is the student officially admitted. The confirmation form is available at primary schools or the Department of Education and Youth of Prague City Hall.

For more information, see the article New Electronic Secondary School Registration Process.

Secondary School Leaving Exam (“Maturita”) for Foreigners in the CR

Secondary education usually concludes with the secondary school leaving exam, known as the “maturita”. Passing this exam is required to graduate from secondary school and is a prerequisite for admission to university. For students whose mother tongue is not Czech, preparation for the school leaving exam is particularly demanding. Czech is generally not taught as a second language at secondary schools, and the exam is designed for native speakers. For detailed information on the current form of the school-leaving exam, see here.