Types of institution

Gymnasium

Gymnasium is an academically oriented school providing full secondary general education. Currently, about 33% of pupils (CVTI SR, Štatistická ročenka školstva za školský rok 2023/2024) in the Slovak Republic study at gymnasiums in three educational programmes:  

• a four-year educational programme,
• a five-year educational programme,
• an eight-year educational programme. 

Gymnasium educational programmes focus mainly on preparing pupils for higher education study or the pursuit of some activities in public administration and culture.

In addition to regular 4-year gymnasiums of various focus, there are 5-year bilingual gymnasiums.

There are also 8-year gymnasiums for gifted pupils, who are motivated towards academic study, which enroll pupils who have completed the fifth grade of primary school.

More information on 8-year gymnasiums is available in chapter 6.4 Organisational variations and alternative structures.

Secondary vocational school

Vocational education has a long tradition in the Slovak Republic. Despite an increase in applicants for study at gymnasiums, about 63% of pupils (CVTI SR, Štatistická ročenka školstva za školský rok 2023/2024) are still enrolled in full-time and part-time study at secondary vocational schools. However, the number of pupils is decreasing and there is a decline in the interest in ISCED 353 study fields – preparing for various professions and services, graduates of which are awarded the Certificate of Apprenticeship.

Thus, we see a lack of some professions in the practice. The cost of one pupil’s secondary vocational school study is about 3000-5400 EUR (gymnasium study about 2600 EUR). The quality of secondary vocational school graduates also depends on the material, technological, and spatial provision of the teaching of each field of education. Thus, schools in cooperation with employers, who provide their equipment and technology, try to keep up with the trends in technology and work equipment.

Secondary vocational schools prepare pupils for the pursuit of vocational activities, mainly technical-economic, economic, pedagogic, healthcare, social-legal, administrative, artistic, and cultural. Secondary vocational schools educate and train pupils in educational programmes of different lengths, from 2-year to 5-year programmes, in the respective field of education. Secondary vocational schools currently offer more than 400 fields of study and focus.

Secondary vocational schools can provide vocational education in the system of dual education. In the system of dual education, pupils prepare for the pursuit of a profession, a group of professions, or professional activities according to the specific needs of the employer. Pupils attend practical education directly at the employer’s practical education workplace. Employers in the system of dual education are solely responsible for the organisation, content, and quality of pupils‘ practical education. For this purpose, employers cover all costs associated with practical education.

Upon completion of secondary vocational study by “maturita” (school leaving examination), pupils can apply for higher education.

The Ministry of Education, Research, Development, and Youth of the Slovak Republic publishes on its website a list of study fields with a surplus or lack of secondary school graduates, thus helping the school founders plan the number of pupils to be admitted to secondary schools.

Secondary sports school

Secondary sports schools prepare pupils with sports talent in the educational programme of the respective field of study. Educational programmes focus on preparing pupils for higher education study and the pursuit of professions and professional activities in sports. Education and training in secondary sports schools expand the knowledge, skills, and abilities of pupils with sports talent acquired in their previous education and provide knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for the pursuit of a profession or professional activities in sports. Education in secondary sports schools also includes sports training organised according to the sports discipline.

Conservatory

Conservatories provide complex artistic and artistic-pedagogical education. They prepare pupils for the pursuit of professions in arts and for teaching artistic and vocational subjects in arts educational programmes, particularly at basic art schools.

Conservatory is a kind of secondary school, which is divided into two types:

1. Music and drama conservatory,
2. Dance conservatory.

Music and drama conservatories provide education and training in the field of singing, music, dance, and music-drama art in a 6-year continuous programme, in which pupils take the school-leaving examination upon completion of the fourth grade and the graduation examination upon completion of the sixth grade.

Dance conservatories provide education and training in the field of dance in an 8-year continuous educational programme, which is completed by the school-leaving examination and the graduation examination in the last grade. More information on dance conservatories is available in chapter 6.4 Organisational variations and alternative structures.

School of applied arts

Schools of applied arts provide pupils with comprehensive artistic education in the educational programme of the respective field of study focusing on fine arts and design. Schools of applied arts can provide pedagogical-artistic education, mainly to basic art school teachers. Education and training in the schools of applied arts are organised as theoretical and practical instruction, which also includes a vocational subject of artistic practice.

Geographical accessibility

Slovakia is divided into 8 regions – self-governing regions, which are the majority founders of secondary schools. Secondary schools can also be founded by state-recognised churches or religious societies, natural persons, or legal persons. When registering to and removing schools from the secondary school network, the founders take into account the population of the region, social composition, cultural and national particularities, interests, and needs of the region. The geographical distribution of secondary schools is well-balanced and proportional to the population of the given region. Bratislava region with the capital has a specific status. Due to its high population, the Bratislava region has the highest number of secondary schools of all types.

The supply of schools for pupils is sufficient in each region and currently exceeds the demand. 

There are some study fields and programmes in the network of secondary schools that are not provided in every region, and so secondary schools offer pupils the possibility to stay in dormitories, which are usually a part of the schools. In addition to boarding, these dormitories also provide pupils with meals, opportunities to spend leisure time usefully in the form of various leisure time activities, etc.

An overview of the geographical accessibility of schools is presented in the following table: 
 

Sources:
Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information (Centrum vedecko-technických informácií SR), 2023. Statistical yearbook for school year 2022/2023 (Štatistická ročenka školstva za školský rok 2023/2024). Bratislava: CVTI SR. 2023. (Last Accessed 23/01/2024) 
Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic (Štatistický úrad Slovenskej republiky), 2023. Public Database (Verejná databáza údajov). Bratislava: Štatistický úrad Slovenskej republiky. 2023. (Last Accessed 23/01/2024)

Admission requirements and choice of school

Pupils can be admitted to 4-year gymnasiums, secondary vocational schools, schools of applied arts, and conservatories if they have successfully completed the ninth grade of primary school.

Pupils can be admitted to 8-year gymnasiums and dance conservatories if they have successfully completed the fifth grade of primary school.

Pupils can be admitted to a 5-year bilingual secondary school study if they have successfully completed the eighth or ninth grade of primary school.

More information on the dance conservatory, 8-year gymnasium, and bilingual secondary school study is available in chapter 6.4 Organisational variations and alternative structures.

Admission examination dates and profile subjects for the admission examinations are determined by the Ministry of Education, Research, Development, and Youthh of the Slovak Republic. Admission examinations may consist of a maximum of three profile subjects. The profile subjects of admission examinations for secondary schools with national minority languages of instruction are supplemented by the secondary school’s language of instruction. The secondary school’s head will determine the form, content, extent of the admission examination, and the criteria for admission, following the discussion with the school‘s pedagogical board.

The applicant or the parent of a minor applicant applies to a secondary school’s head by 20th March. In the application, they may list four study fields – a maximum of two study fields that do not require verification of special abilities, skills, or talent, and a maximum of two study fields that require such verification. The Ministry of Education compiles a list of study fields, which require verification of special abilities, skills, or talent.

Admission examinations are held on the same date all over the Slovak Republic for all study fields including those that require verification of special abilities, skills, or talent. The first round is usually held at the end of April or the beginning of May. The second round is held a week after the first. If the planned admission quota is not reached, another round of admission examinations will be held in the third full June week starting on Tuesday. 

Applicants with disabilities will submit an application supplemented with a general practitioner’s statement on the student’s ability to study in the selected field of study. Applicants with disability and gifted applicants also attach a report from the diagnostic examination issued by a counselling and prevention centre, which contains a proposal for support measures. Applications of students who have not reached the age of 18 are signed by their parents (legal representatives). 

When deciding on admission, the secondary school’s head considers the result of the admission examination, and the pupil’s results in subject olympiads and competitions, which are related to the study field the pupil is applying for. Gymnasium school heads can admit pupils without admission examination if the applicants achieve at least 90% in all subjects in the nationwide external testing of 9th-grade primary school pupils (T9). Pupils can be admitted to other secondary school study fields without taking an admission examination if they achieve at least 80% in all subjects in the nationwide external testing of 9th-grade primary school pupils (T9).

Foreigners can also be admitted to study at a secondary school if they demonstrate the required knowledge of the language of instruction.

The secondary school heads will publish the results of the admission examination on the schools' bulletin boards or websites as scheduled by the Ministry of Education, Research, Development, and Youth of the Slovak Republic. Applicants or parents of minor applicants can appeal against the secondary school’s head decision of non-admission within 5 days from the delivery of the decision.

Secondary school “graduates” with the school-leaving certificate can apply for post-secondary education at secondary schools. They can choose from economic, technical, agricultural, artistic, or medical orientation fields. The follow-up study is organised in secondary vocational school fields of study which are linked to the previous vocational education and training in the related fields of study completed by secondary vocational education. Secondary school “graduates” can submit their applications for follow-up and post-secondary study by 31st May. The applications are to be submitted to the school head of the respective secondary school. The deadline for unsuccessful applicants for higher education is extended to 31st July.

The first date of admission examinations is always planned for the last full week of June. The second round of examination will be held within the last two full weeks of August. The school head defines the specific date of the examination. The school head will publish the admission requirements one month before the admission examination date at the latest. The school head will decide on admission to study based on the admission procedure within 3 days from the date the admission examination was held.

Age levels and grouping of pupils/students

Education at secondary schools is organised in grades according to the age of pupils in the classes of each grade. It is co-educational. There is not a strict division of pupils according to their abilities. The age of secondary school pupils is usually 15 -19 years except for pupils of 8-year gymnasiums, bilingual secondary schools, and dance conservatories. Follow-up and post-secondary education are not limited by age.

Each subject is taught by a teacher with appropriate qualifications.

Study at secondary schools is organised as a full-time study in classes with a maximum of 30 pupils. The lowest average number of pupils in full-time secondary school classes is 17; for part-time secondary school classes, it is 8 pupils.  The maximum number of pupils can be increased to 34 in cases stipulated by law. The reasons for increasing the number of pupils include a change of permanent residence, a pupil repeating a grade, a pupil continuing their study after having interrupted, a pupil being transferred from a different school due to health reasons, moving a pupil to a higher grade while skipping the previous grade, a pupil changing the study field within the respective secondary vocational school due to health reasons, a change of the study field based on a written statement by a counselling and prevention centre or entering into a study agreement.

In connection with the emergency caused by COVID-19, secondary schools learnt to use the distance form of study. Currently, the full-time study can also be organised as distance study within the extent defined by the state educational programme.

Pupils also attend a part-time form of study, which is organised by schools as evening or distance study. Part-time study is not provided by conservatories, schools of applied arts, and secondary sports schools. Full-time study and part-time study can be combined.

Secondary school classes can be divided into two or more groups for compulsory and optional subjects. For non-compulsory subjects, groups can be created by combining pupils of different grades. 

For example, religious education/ethics classes can form groups of pupils from different classes of the same grade. If the number of pupils in one religious education/ethics group drops below 12, pupils from different grades can be combined. In gymnasiums, pupils of the same grade can be combined into groups with a maximum of 23 pupils for optional subject classes.

Special vocational training in conservatories is organised individually, in groups, or collectively. A group is comprised of 5−9 pupils depending on the study specialisation. 

Pupils enter the follow-up forms of study at the age of 18 or 19. The typical age of pupils in post-secondary non-tertiary education is 19−20. There is no age limit in the legislation.

Secondary school heads can exempt pupils from a compulsory subject or physical activity based on the statement by a relevant doctor.

Organisation of the school year

In the Slovak Republic, the school year starts on 1st September and ends on 31st August of the following year. It is divided into the period of school classes and the period of school holidays. The instruction period is structured into

1. term (starts on 1st September and ends on 31st January of the following calendar year) and 
2. term (starts on 1st February and ends on 30th June of the standard calendar year).

The period of school holidays consists of 

• Autumn holidays, which last two days. They are set by the Ministry of Education, Research, Development, and Youth of the Slovak Republic every year usually at the end of October.
• Christmas holidays, which last from 23rd December to 8th January of the following calendar year.
• Spring holidays, which last one week. Their beginning is usually set by the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic within the period between the second half of February and the first half of March depending on each region.
• Easter holidays, which last two days over the period of the Easter holiday.
• Summer holidays, which last from the end of the second term until the beginning of the first term in the new school year.

The school year is 37−40 weeks long and the number of instruction days is about 180 − depending on the number of free days and holidays in the respective calendar year. Details on the organisation of a school year are issued and published annually in the methodological material School Year Guide (Sprievodca školským rokom) published on the Ministry of Education, Research, Development, and Youth website of the Slovak Republic.

Organisation of the school day and week

The creation of the timetable depends mainly on the teaching plan. Teaching plans are drafted for orientation. They define the number of lessons pupils need to take throughout the whole study and give secondary school heads and teachers space for internal and external differentiation. The structure and proportionality of subjects in the teaching plan must correspond with the school's function and type. For secondary schools – gymnasiums and secondary vocational schools, there are several variants of teaching plans.

The timetable at secondary schools is based on the weekly number of lessons for individual subjects and it is drafted by the school head. In the drafting of a school timetable, but mainly of a daily timetable, health, pedagogical, psychological, and psycho-hygienic principles are respected.

A lesson at a secondary school takes 45 minutes. Usually, there is a 20-minute break after the third lesson. Otherwise, there are 10-minute breaks after each lesson. If the instruction of pupils from the same class continues in the afternoon, there is at least a 30-minute break between the morning and afternoon lessons. Lessons alternate according to their difficulty in such a way that pupils have enough time to relax.

Instruction in schools takes place 5 days a week. The lessons usually start at 8 a.m., or 7 a.m. at the earliest. Instruction of pupils younger than 18 usually finishes by 6 p.m., at 8 p.m. at the latest. Instruction of a pupil in one day takes at most 8 lessons (not including sports and artistic training). Vocational training of the first- and second-grade pupils takes at most 6 lessons per day. Vocational training of the 3rd−5th-grade pupils per day takes at most 7 lessons. Vocational training can start at 6 a.m. at the earliest and finish at 10 p.m. at the latest. 

A lesson at secondary vocational schools takes 45 minutes; vocational training and vocational practice lessons take 60 minutes.

Schools set their timetables according to their possibilities and needs in compliance with legislation. The start of instruction at secondary schools is also set with regard to the transportation possibilities and pupils’ commuting from different parts of the region.