Admissions to secondary schools

Applications to high schools must be submitted during February. The deadlines are specified at https://www.prihlaskynastredni.cz/.

Admission requirements can be found in the admission procedure criteria published on schools’ websites and in the e-system DiPSy.cz. These contain important information, e.g., whether the school requires a medical certificate or a cover letter or whether it organizes an additional school part of the exam.

Applicants assign priority to schools according to their preferences.

How to apply:

  • electronically via the DiPSy.cz system (verified identity – Bank identity or e-Government Mobile Key) – Application acknowledgement
  • using the statement printed via the DiPSy.cz system – Print the statement, sign the document, and deliver it to each high school you’re applying to.
  • submitting a filled out and signed form, including all the attachments, to each high school – The priority order must be identical in all the applications.

Invitations to the unified entrance exam and the school part of the exam are sent out by the school principal no later than 14 days before the exam date via the e-system DiPSy.cz (for applications submitted electronically), or by post (for statements generated in DiPSy.cz and forms).

TIP: See Cesta do školy for structured information about the course of admission procedure.

TIP: Watch the recording of a workshop at Schola Pragensis Cesta na střední školu.

Adjustments to admission procedure for applicants with other mother tongues

Applicants who have completed previous education outside of the Czech Republic are entitled to submit a request and may be excused from sitting the Czech language exam (applicable to the unified entrance exam in the Czech language and literature). In such cases, the school verifies the applicant’s proficiency in the Czech language in an interview. Applicants whose mother tongue is not Czech are eligible for further adjustments to admission procedure if they supplement their application with a written recommendation to adjust entrance examination procured from a school counselling center (ŠPZ). This may include being granted more time for the written exam and/or the possibility to use compensation aids (e.g., bilingual dictionary). These adjustments can also be made to the school part of the entrance examination where applicable.

If an applicant submits a request to be excused from the Czech language unified entrance exam, they will be sent an invitation to interview from all high schools where the request was granted.

Ukrainian applicants covered by temporary protection are granted additional time (25%) and a bilingual dictionary without the need to present a recommendation from a school counselling center. They may choose to sit the unified entrance examination in mathematics in the Ukrainian language.

Unified entrance examination

All high schools with fields of study where a high school diploma (the Czech maturita certificate) is awarded upon completion (except for art schools with talent exams) require applicants to pass the written unified entrance exam (JPZ) in mathematics and the Czech language and literature. Applicants who have completed their compulsory education outside of the Czech Republic are entitled to submit a request and may be excused from sitting the Czech language exam by replacing it with an interview.

The unified entrance exam is not held at 3-year programs with an apprenticeship certificate, art schools (where it is replaced with a talent exam), and some other high schools, e.g., schools for students with special educational needs or students with disabilities. More information about the specific admission procedure can be found on every school’s website.

  • The written exam questions are prepared and the answers are assessed by CERMAT, an organization run by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MŠMT). All students applying to programs concluded by the maturita exam are required to pass an identical (“unified”) entrance exam held on a given date, no matter which schools they chose.
  • Schools do not assess the answers. They publish lists of admitted students based on the results provided by CERMAT. The lists are published in the schools’ facilities as well as in the DiPSy.cz e-system.
  • The unified entrance exam is held on a date fixed every year by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MŠMT).
  • For 4-year programs and other follow-up secondary studies, the 1st round is usually held during the 2nd week in April on two consecutive working days.
  • Applicants who have submitted at least one application to a school that requires the unified entrance exam will be informed where they will be passing the exam no later than 14 days before the date. Applicants must pass the exam twice, regardless of the number of study programs with the unified entrance exam they are applying to (1, 2, or 3). Invitations are sent via DiPSy.cz (for applications submitted electronically), or by post (for statements generated in DiPSy.cz and forms).
  • Entrance exams to 6-year (for students having completed the 7th grade of an elementary school) and 8-year (for students having completed the 5th grade of an elementary school) grammar schools are held on two consecutive days later in April.

The results are published on noticeboards in the schools’ facilities and in the e-system DiPSy.cz in May.

In May, there are also substitute exam dates for applicants who could not participate in the 1st round (e.g., due to medical reasons) and sent an excuse to the school principal.

School part of the entrance exam

  • School principals may also send out invitations to the school part of the entrance exam (if indicated in the admission criteria).
  • The school part is set out in the admission criteria (e.g., cover letter, foreign language test, student portfolio, physical aptitude test, interview, etc.).

TIP — preparation for the unified entrance exam:

TIP — inspection of the files and appeal:

  • Applicants and/or their legal guardians have the right to inspect the files pertaining to admission procedure until the publication of 1st round results. This way, parents may consult official documents related to the organization and course of admission procedure and the individual exams: admission criteria, assessment methodology, exam questions the applicant was given, and the number of points they were awarded.
  • If you suspect that a school has not been treating an applicant fairly, you are entitled to submit an appeal. The submission deadline is 3 working days upon publication of results within the given round.

Downloadable documents:

Appeal template (secondary school)

Talent exam

Talent exams constitute a part of the entrance exam to art and sports schools. The purpose of the exam is to test an applicant’s talent, skills, and interest in the field of study. For artistic fields of study, e.g., singing, the exam may include performing multiple songs from memory, doing voice exercises, and passing an interview. Fine art schools also require applicants to pass a culture background test and present their own work (student portfolio).

Talent exams to sports grammar schools include a physical aptitude test.

Always check the admission requirements for the specific field of study – schools might have different criteria.

PLEASE NOTE: Applications for schools with talent exams are now submitted at the same time as applications for schools with a unified entrance exam.

Each student can submit up to 2 applications to fields of study with a talent exam and up to 3 applications to other fields of study.

Attachments to a high school application

Applicants who have completed the last two years of elementary school education abroad must attach:

  • a copy of their report card for the last two years
  • a translation of the report cards into Czech

All applicants must attach a confirmation of previous studies.

  • Applicants who have completed the 9th grade of a Czech elementary school must attach the report cards from the 8th and 9th grades.
  • Applicants who finished an elementary school earlier must confirm the completion of compulsory school education (9 years) by providing their report card from the 9th grade stating the results for the 2nd term.
  • To confirm the completion of compulsory school education (9 years), document validation is not needed.

Applicants to multi-year grammar schools must also attach copies of their report cards from the previous 2 years:

  • 8-year grammar school – report cards from the 4th and 5th grades
  • 6-year grammar school – report cards from the 6th and 7th grades

All applicants should check the admission criteria to see if a medical certificate must be attached to the application.

  • A medical certificate constitutes a separate attachment (it is not stated in the application). Download as PDF
  • Please double check that the correct codes and titles of the selected fields of study are stated in the certificate.

In addition, applicants entitled to adjustments to admission procedure may attach:

TIP: You can use a smart Checklist to check off all the tasks that you need to get done for admission procedure.

How to find out whether you have been admitted to a school?

You can check the DiPSy.cz e-system or the school’s website to find out whether you have been admitted.

The names and other personal data of applicants are replaced by registration numbers generated by the DiPSy.cz e-system. If the application form is sent by post, the applicant will be assigned a registration number by the school.

It is important to check the information system on a regular basis, as schools use it for communication and may request additional information. A message is considered as delivered after 10 days.

Applicants will see their results in the system for all the fields of study to which they have applied. Decisions on admission or non-admission are not sent by post.

What to do if the student has not been admitted in the 1st round of admission procedure?

Applicants who have not been admitted in the 1st round, renounced their admission, or did not apply in the 1st round can submit their applications to the 2nd round.

Applying to the 2nd round:

  • Up to 3 applications to fields of study without talent exams (with or without the maturita exam).
  • Up to 2 applications to fields of study with talent exams.
  • Assigning priority to the selected schools as in the 1st round.
  • Please note: Applicants who did not apply to any programs concluded by the maturita exam in the 1st round can only apply to fields of study with an apprenticeship certificate in the 2nd round.
  • Applicants who replaced the unified entrance exam in the Czech language in the 1st round with an interview will receive a new invitation to interview for all programs with the unified entrance exam.
  • Please check regularly the prihlaskynastredni.cz website and schools’ websites to find information about exam dates and criteria.
  • Please keep in mind that the system evaluates the results based on the priority assigned to the selected schools.

Appeal

  • You may appeal against the decision within 3 days upon publication of the results. This action is meaningful only if there was a serious disruption of the exam, an incorrect assignment, or other serious reasons (medical condition) that significantly affected the applicant’s performance.
  • The appeal should include specific information to support the request for review (e.g., a doctor’s note).

It was common in the past for applicants who ended up on the list of non-admitted students to appeal and hope to be admitted to the school they had selected, provided that some of the admitted students would not decide to enroll in that school. However, the current practice is different. With the new system of assigning priority and ranking successful applicants, all places are allocated automatically by the system based on the applicants’ priority order. All places will be allocated transparently according to the established rules, which obviates the need for appeals related to these issues.

Downloadable documents:

Appeal template (secondary school)