Types of Institutions

Upper secondary education is provided by:

• non-specialized school (high schools - profile high schools; vocational high schools, general secondary schools, including those which are innovative)
• specialized schools (sport schools, art schools, religious schools, combined, cultural schools)
• evening schools
• special schools - for training and support to students with sensory disabilities, in separate classes in those schools, correctional boarding schools and social educational boarding schools
• schools in places of imprisonment

Geographical Accessibility

The characteristics of school distribution at the level of upper secondary education are generally the same as those for primary schools.

Upper secondary schools are distributed mainly in the cities, where the number of students is greater.  For students of populated places, in which there is not kindergarten or school, obligatory funds from the state budget shall be provided for transport to and from the closes school, which conducts training in the relevant class. They can also study in central state or municipal schools, to which they are also provided with free transportation. Funds for transport from the state budget are also provided to students who travel daily to the school in another settlement in the same or adjacent area where they are trained to acquire a professional qualification, and back if such training is not carried out in the populated area where the student lives or if the student is pursuing a protected profession or a profession where there is an expected shortage of specialists in the labour market and in the settlement where he lives there is no organized vocational education in the same or another protected profession.

The rationalisation of the school network with regard to education institutions granting general and vocational secondary education has some specific dimensions. It is executed in accordance with the development of the different regions of the country, their social and economic status and the general status of the labour market. There is a constant effort of bringing professions that are taught at the school and majors as close as possible to the specific features of the region, its industrial development and the need for certain specialists for different branches.

Admission Requirements and Choice of School

The conditions and procedures concerning enrollment at secondary schools are as follows:

1. 8^th grade – in profiled upper secondary schools, in profiled classes with intensive foreign language instruction at general secondary schools, vocational upper secondary schools and classes leading to the acquisition of professional qualification at general secondary schools and profiled upper secondary schools;
2. 9^th grade – in profiled upper secondary schools, in profiled classes at general secondary schools, in high schools, in vocational high schools, in non-specialized classes at general secondary schools and in classes leading to the acquisition of professional qualification within general secondary schools, in vocational upper secondary schools and other upper secondary schools;
3. 7^th or 8^th grade for the acquisition of professional qualification and basic education – in vocational schools and vocational classes within basic, general lower secondary and upper secondary schools.

Admission of students to the 8th grade is carried out based on their wishes and taking into account the results of the national external assessment, which are included as a scoring element. National external assessment is organized and conducted by the Ministry of Education and Science in all schools where education in the 7th grade is provided. The score for ranking students after completing primary education is formed as the sum of the number of points from the national external assessment in Bulgarian language and literature and in mathematics and the grades from the primary education certificate in two subjects, determined by the school's pedagogical council.

When a student's health condition does not allow him to take an exam from the national external assessment, but in the year of application the student has participated in a regional and/or national round of the Olympiad in Bulgarian language and literature and/or in mathematics, his score is formed, and instead of the result of the national external assessment, his higher result in the relevant subject from the regional or national round of the Olympiad is used. Students participate in the ranking for the places in the 8th grade determined by the state admission plan according to the score and wishes indicated in the application form, in descending order. Students can apply for admission to an unlimited number of schools.

A test of abilities for profiles and professions can also be carried out. The admission of students to the 8th grade for the profiles "Fine Arts", "Music" and "Physical Education and Sports" is also carried out on the basis of the result of the test of abilities. An exam for testing abilities by decision of the pedagogical council can also be held for specialties of professions from the "Arts" area. The ranking score in this case is formed as the sum of the number of points from the national external assessment in Bulgarian language and literature and in mathematics, the doubled result of the test of abilities and the grades from two subjects from the certificate of primary education.Students can enroll in grade 8^th at:

1.  classeswith intensive foreign language instruction at secondary general schools;
2. vocational upper secondary schools
3. classesleading to the acquisition of professional qualification at secondary general schools;
4. profiled upper secondary schools.

Students can enroll in grade 9th at:

1. profiled upper secondary schools, secondary general schools and in other upper secondary schools;
2. vocational upper secondary schools and vocational schools;
3. non-specialized schools and classesleading to acquisition of professional qualification at secondary general schools, specialized upper secondary schools and other upper secondary schools.

Students are accepted after submission of the required documents: application for participation in the first, third and fourth stages of ranking according to a sample with ordered wishes, a medical certificate issued by the student's general practitioner - for those applying for professions, a certificate of recognized primary education - for students from schools in foreign countries, an application for using the results of a regional and/or national round of the Olympiad from the MES calendar in Bulgarian language and literature and/or a regional and/or national round of the Mathematics Olympiad, held in the year of application, when used instead of the results of the national external assessment.  Upon applying students are required tohave finished basic education in the year of applying and be not older than 17 (for full-time education only)= ;

In a class in a school may be taught up to 3 students with special educational needs for which the parent/guardian submits to the school a document from the Regional team for support of personal development of children with special educational needs. In the cases, where on the territory of the populated place there is not another class, which may provide the same education, the number of the children and students in a certain class may be larger after a permission by the head of the relevant Regional educational office. Three students per class with chronic diseases can be accepted, for which the parent / guardian has submitted all the necessary documents to the school. 

Age Levels and Grouping of Students

Students within one and the same age form the grades and classes at the upper secondary level, which lead to completion of secondary education in the daily form of schooling.Division into classes and groups for different academic subjects and the formation of groups from different classes is done within one and the same grade. In evening form of schooling and in adult education forms, including secondary education, classes and groups are formed by students of different age groups. For secondary general schools (both specialized and non-specialized study courses) at upper secondary level (9^th to 12^th grades), the number of students in a class varies between 18 and 26. Classes in the last grade of high school can be of at least 13 students.

At the upper secondary level of education classes can be divided into groups in the following cases:

1. in classes where students study different foreign languages a group is formed with at least 10 students, if this language is not studied in other classes of the same grade.
2. for laboratory classes in Chemistry and Environment protection, Physics and astronomy, Biology and health education whenever the class is more than 25 students;
3. in Computer modelling, Computer science and Information technology the minimum number of students in a group is 8.

The number of students in a class in non-specialized and specialized schools from VIII-XII grade can be between 18 and 26 in full-time education, between 18 and 30 in evening form and between 15 and 35 in extramural education. Variations from the minimum and maximum number of students are allowed in the Ordinance on the financing of institutions in the system of preschool and school education, for example: in protected schools, in classes for training in protected specialties from professions and specialties in professions where there is an expected shortage of specialists on the labour market, in non-specialized and specialized schools, when the number of students in a class is not less than 10, in cases of transfer of students above the approved school admission plan (up to 3 students above the maximum in a class, and more - with the permission of the Minister of Education and Science), etc. In the classes of the second high school stage of secondary education, the classes in the specialized schools can exist with a minimum number of 13 students. A class with less than 10 students in non-specialized and sports schools in the high school stage can be formed in special cases after permission of the head of the Regional department of education, if additional funds are provided to ensure the learning process beyond the standards for the respective activity. 

When distance learning or distance learning in an electronic environment of the student is carried out by another school, the training is carried out in groups formed with a minimum number of 15 and a maximum number of 30 students from one class, and the group may include students from different schools. A group with a number of students below the minimum is formed after permission of the Minister of Education and Science at the motivated request of the school principal, agreed with the head of the relevant regional department of education.

Organisation of the School Year

School time is organized in school years and school weeks in two terms.

For students in grades 9^th, 10^th and 11^th it begins on 15^th September and finishes on 30^th June. It ends in May depending on when the 31st week ends for grade 12^th. For administrative services, schools are open throughout the calendar year. During the school year, students take a Christmas, interterm, spring or Easter and summer breaks. The duration of breaks (summer break excluded) and other non-attendance days is specified by an order of the Minister of Educationand Science.

The school year at the extracurricular teaching establishments begins on 1^st October and finishes on 31^st August. Activities for children are organized during the summer vacation as well.

The school year lasts 36 school weeks for VIII-XI grade and 31 school weeks for XII grade for general education, and for XII grade of vocational - 29 weeks. For the professional and profiled training in the curricula there are two weeks for practical training in X-XII grade and four weeks in the dual system for XI grade. Everything else from the previous period is valid.

Organisation of the school day and week

The number of compulsory hours per week is 32 for grades 9^th to 12^th. Weekly schedules are not determined on a national level. Each school can make its own schedule The relation between compulsory and core curriculum optional hours is 45% to 80% compulsory education hours. The duration of a school week is five school days.

The organization of a school day is half-day and whole-day and includes from 4 to 7 compulsory teaching hours. Half-day organization may be carried out in two shifts – morning and afternoon.

The weekly schedule of school instruction takes into consideration the psychophysical features and capabilities of students. It is in accordance with the requirements stipulated by an ordinance of the Minister of Health. The duration of a teaching hour is 45 minutes for grades 8^th to 12^th. Breaks between teaching hours (lessons) may not be shorter than 10 minutes and not longer than 30 minutes. When lessons are organized in two shifts, the school-hour duration may be 40 minutes with permission by the head of the Regional Inspectorate of Education.