Care for children from 6 months to 3 years of age is provided by facilities of care for children up to 3 years of age, formerly known as nurseries. Nurseries are not a part of the educational system, they are considered and organised as a social service.

Pre-primary education (ISCED 02) in the Slovak Republic is provided in kindergartens, which are usually designed for children aged between 3 and 6 years. Exceptionally, children aged 2 can be admitted. Kindergartens provide education to children in cooperation with the family. They can offer half-day or full-day education and care. Pre-primary education is compulsory for any child who reaches the age of 5 years by 31 August. Children younger than 5 years of age are not legally entitled to a place in a kindergarten. More information is in the chapter Organisation in centre-based ECEC.

According to Education Act (Školský zákon) compulsory school attendance in Slovakia takes 10 years and at most until the end of the school year in which the pupil reaches the age of 16. Compulsory school education usually starts when the child reaches the age of six. If the child does not reach appropriate physical or mental maturity at the age of 6, the parent can request that their child continue compulsory pre-primary attendance in kindergarten. 

Primary and lower secondary education is provided by primary school, which has two stages:

1. First stage - grades 1.- 4. (ISCED 1), and
2. Second stage - grades 5.- 9. (ISCED 2).

Compulsory school attendance takes place in primary schools and secondary schools. Parents can choose the type of school their children will attend during their compulsory school attendance: state school, private school, or church school.

Upon successful completion of primary school, pupils continue their compulsory school attendance in the first grade of the secondary school, except for pupils admitted to the first grade of 8-year gymnasiums, dance conservatories, and 5-year bilingual secondary schools. More information is in the chapter Organisation of single-structure education.

Secondary schools provide upper secondary general or vocational education (ISCED 3). 

Secondary general education is provided by gymnasiums in either four-, five-, or eight-year educational programme. Gymnasiums provide full secondary general education. Educational programmes at gymnasiums focus mainly on preparation for higher education study; they can also prepare for certain work in public administration and culture.

General education is a part of education at secondary vocational schools, secondary sports schools, schools of applied arts, and conservatories focusing on vocational training.

Secondary vocational schools provide preparation for the pursuit of professional activities, mainly technical, economical, pedagogical, health, socio-legal, administrative, artistic, and cultural, but also for higher education study.

The conservatory provides for comprehensive artistic and artistic-pedagogical education. It prepares pupils for professional employment in arts and for teaching artistic and vocational subjects in educational programmes of artistic orientation. There are two types of conservatory: music and drama conservatory and dance conservatory.

The study at secondary sports schools focuses on preparing pupils with sports talent for higher education study and the pursuit of occupations and professional activities in sports.

School of applied arts provides pupils with a comprehensive education in arts focusing on fine art and design. At the same time, it may provide artistic-pedagogical education.

Secondary vocational education is rather differentiated. According to the length of the study and the education level it is classified as follows

• lower secondary vocational education,
• secondary vocational education,
• full secondary vocational education,
• follow-up study.

More information is in the chapter 6.1 Organisation. 

Primary and secondary education is provided free of charge in state schools. Other schools may charge fees.

The system of schools also includes basic art schools and language schools, which provide education in arts and foreign languages according to the respective educational programme.

Higher education (ISCED 6-8) can be provided only by higher education institutions, which can be public, state, and private. Military and police higher education institutions are state budgetary organisations, and healthcare higher education institutions are state contributory organisations. Higher education institutions provide education in

• 3- and 4-year Bachelor study programmes (first degree of higher education study),
• 2- and 3-year Master study programmes (the second degree of higher education study),
• 5- and 6-year joint first and second degree of higher education study programmes, or
• 3- and 4-year PhD study programmes (third degree of higher education study).

Second-degree study programme graduates can take a ‘rigorous’ examination, which also involves the defense of a 'rigorous' thesis in the study field they graduated in or a related study field. The rigorous examination and the defense of the rigorous thesis should prove that based on individual study, the candidate has deep knowledge in the study field and can acquire new scientific and practical knowledge, and apply the acquired knowledge in practice in a creative manner. Upon completion of the examination, higher education institutions will award the following academic titles

• ‘doctor of natural sciences’ (‘RNDr.’),
• ‘doctor of pharmacy’ (‘PharmDr. ’),
• 'doctor of philosophy' ('PhDr.'),
• 'doctor of law' ('JUDr.'),
• 'doctor of pedagogy' ('PaedDr.'),
• 'doktor of theology' ('ThDr.').

More information is in chapter Types of higher education institutions. 

Adult education provided by further education institutions follows the level of education achieved in school education. More information is in the chapter Main Providers.  

Home education of pupils who attend compulsory school education is governed by the Education Act (Zákon č. 245/2008 Z. z. o výchove a vzdelávaní) as a form of individual education.

Individual education is allowed for  

• pupils whose health does not allow participation in school education (ISCED 0.2-3) 
• primary school pupils (ISCED 1-2) upon the parent’s request and 
• children fulfilling compulsory preschool attendance at kindergarten (ISCED 0.2) upon the parent’s request. 

Parents can ask the head of the school the pupil was admitted to for permission for individual education and for the pupil’s exemption from attending school.

Individual education of children in compulsory pre-primary education

The application for individual education also includes

• the period of individual education to be permitted,
• reasons for permitting individual education,
• proof that the person who will be providing the child’s individual education meets the qualification requirements and
• other facts that influence a child’s individual education.

For children who cannot attend kindergarten because of their health, the application also includes written consent from a pediatrician or a recommendation from a counselling and prevention centre.  The parent kindergartens will provide education to these children through their pedagogical employees with a weekly minimum of two hours. At the end of the half year, the pedagogical employees will present a written report on the individual education of the children to the kindergarten heads. 

The education of a child who was allowed individual education upon the parent’s request is provided by the child’s parent. Completed full secondary general education or full secondary vocational education is required. 

In cooperation with the parent, the kindergarten will define the content of the individual education of the child. In March, the child will take part in education at the kindergarten, which will assess whether the content of individual education is adhered to.

Permission for a child’s individual education can be revoked by the head of the child’s parent kindergarten

• upon a child’s parent’s request and
• based on the chief school inspector’s proposal or
• if the content of the individual education is not adhered to.

The application for individual education must be accompanied by the following documents submitted by the pupil’s parents:

• individual educational programme principles and goals which must comply with the Education Act, 
• period for which the individual education is to be permitted,
• description of spatial, material, and technical equipment
• a list of textbooks and learning materials to be used in individual education,
• proof that the person who will be providing the pupil’s individual education meets the qualification requirements and 
• other facts that influence the pupil’s individual education. 

The application for individual education for pupils who cannot attend education in school because of their health also includes a pediatrician’s statement or a recommendation from a counselling and prevention centre. Education of these pupils is provided by the school with a weekly minimum of two hours. 

The parent of a pupil who was permitted to be home education must provide a person who will be responsible for the pupil’s individual education. The person must meet the qualification criteria set for teachers at the relevant level of the primary school that is the second degree of higher education. The person will be financially remunerated.

The pupil will then take commission exams in the respective subject matter in each compulsory subject every half year. The school will issue a certificate to the pupil based on the commission examination results.

Monitoring of the quality of education in individual education is performed by the State School Inspection. Monitoring of professional-pedagogical and material provision of education is performed by the school the pupil was enrolled in. Therefore, parents must allow an authorised school inspector and an authorised employee of the pupil’s parent school to enter and perform the inspection.

The school head can withdraw the permission for individual education if:

• pupil’s parents do not meet the requirements for individual education,
• the pupil fails at the end of the evaluation period,
• upon the chief school inspector’s proposal,
• upon the proposal of the person providing the pupil’s individual education.