When compulsory school attendance arises
Compulsory school attendance in Slovakia lasts 10 years. It begins with starting primary school, usually at the beginning of the school year on 1 September following the day the child turns 6 and achieves school readiness.
Who is required to enrol the child in school
A child who turns 6 by 31 August (inclusive) of the given year and has permanent residence in the territory of the Slovak Republic must be enrolled by:
How a child can fulfill compulsory school attendance
A child can fulfil compulsory school attendance:
Special methods include, for example:
Who is obliged to submit the application
The legal guardian must ensure the application to primary school and participation in enrolment.
This obligation applies:
If the child has not reached school readiness — options for further proceedings:
a) The child will continue fulfilling compulsory pre-primary education in kindergarten.
The kindergarten decides on continuation based on:
The legal guardian is also required to inform the director of the primary school where the child was enrolled about this fact. If the kindergarten decides on continuation of pre-primary education:
Important information
If the child does not reach school readiness even after continuing in kindergarten, they will start compulsory school attendance at the latest on 1 September after turning 7.
b) The child will be educated in the introductory grade of primary school, if the school establishes one.
This option applies to a child:
If, after turning 6, it is not expected that they will manage the 1st grade of primary school, and they are not continuing to fulfil compulsory pre-primary education. In such a case the primary school may admit the child and place them in the introductory grade.
c) The child will be educated in the preparatory grade at a primary school for pupils with health disadvantages, if the school establishes one.
A child with a health disadvantage (except a child with a mild communication impairment or mild developmental disorders) may be admitted to the preparatory grade if:
In such a case the child may be admitted to a primary school for pupils with health disadvantages and placed in the preparatory grade.
A child aged 7: A child with a health disadvantage (with the exception noted above) who has turned 7 and has not reached school readiness may also be placed in the preparatory grade, even if they continued fulfilling compulsory pre-primary education.
Important information: The school opens a preparatory grade only if it has established one. We recommend verifying this option directly with the school in advance.
d) The child will be educated in the first grade of primary school with the necessary support provided through support measures.
If a child has special educational needs, the school may adapt education through an individual education programme. This programme allows for adjustment of:
Adjustments are set according to the child’s needs in cooperation with the school’s professional staff. The aim of support measures is to enable the child to be educated in a regular class with appropriate assistance.
A child who will not turn 6 by 31 August may exceptionally be admitted to primary education if the legal guardian, together with the application, also submits to the primary school:
Warning: Since 1 January 2021 it is no longer possible to apply for a postponement of the start of compulsory school attendance, nor to additionally postpone compulsory school attendance. This means that once a child begins compulsory school attendance at primary school from 1 September, they cannot return to kindergarten.
Important information: The decision to start primary school is final. Once school attendance has begun, the law no longer allows a return to kindergarten.
You can enrol your child:
One public school catchment area is determined by the municipality by a generally binding regulation, separately for each primary school under the founding authority of the municipality, self-governing region, or regional school administration office within the territory of the given municipality.
Don’t know which school you belong to?
You can obtain information about the public school catchment area at the relevant municipal office, town office, or on the website, if the municipality has one. The school catchment area determines which primary school the child belongs to according to their place of permanent residence.
How to find a primary school
To find a primary school you can use the interactive school map (Find a school | ePrihláškyOpens in a new window). It provides an overview of schools in the area and their availability, with the option to search by address, distance, languages taught, and filtering by various criteria.
Who the catchment school must admit with priority
The catchment school admits children with priority up to the maximum number of pupils in a class. The order is as follows:
a. pupils with permanent residence in the given public school catchment area,
b. pupils placed based on a court decision in a facility located in this school catchment area,
c. pupils with habitual residence in the given public school catchment area.
Good to know
Permanent residence is the address recorded in the population register. Habitual residence is the place where the child actually lives, even if they do not have permanent residence registered there. Even if the child belongs to the school catchment area, we recommend checking the school’s capacity in advance. If the class capacity is full, the school can no longer admit further pupils.
If the catchment school cannot admit the child for capacity reasons:
The municipality will then ensure the child’s admission to another primary school under its founding authority.
Exception: This procedure does not apply if the child was admitted to a church or private primary school.
The primary school begins proceedings on the admission of a child to primary school based on an application, which is completed and submitted by the legal guardian.
The legal guardian submits:
You can submit more than one application
You can submit the application to more than one primary school. However, you can confirm admission and the child can start at only one primary school.
The application allows you to indicate a ranking of schools by preference; the legal guardian states the ranking directly in the application; its evaluation and notification to the relevant school is carried out through the central register.
If the application does NOT allow ranking schools by preference
If your child is admitted to more than one school, you must confirm to the chosen school within 3 working days of receiving the decision that the child will attend it. Other admission decisions automatically lose validity.
If the application DOES allow ranking schools by preference
You state the ranking of schools directly in the application. The evaluation is carried out by the central register, which notifies the relevant school of the result.
Exceptional case
A child can fulfil compulsory school attendance alternately at two primary schools only if a court has decided on this in the case of alternating personal care by both parents.
Deadline for submitting the application
Submit the application from 1 February to 31 March of the calendar year in which the child is to start compulsory school attendance.
Note: For the 2026/2027 school year the application is still submitted within the existing deadline, i.e. from 1 April to 30 April 2026.
Method of submitting the application
You can submit the primary school application:
Electronically – conveniently from home, and track its progress online.
Procedure:
In paper form
According to the template approved and published by the Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic (Primary school application templateOpens in a new window). You can submit the application in person, by post, by courier, or by email.
Expressing consent electronically in the ePrihlášky system is also considered a signature.
Signature of legal guardians on the application
The signature of both legal guardians is required on the application.
The signature of both legal guardians is not required if:
Prove these facts to the school with a relevant document (e.g. a court decision, birth certificate, death certificate, or affidavit).
Enrolment for education at primary school takes place from 1 April to 30 April.
The place and time of enrolment are determined by the founder for schools under its founding authority.
The specific date (specific days, possibly also a time range within individual days) and place of enrolment is published by the primary school director in agreement with the founder:
- on the primary school building or
- in another publicly accessible place,
- including the primary school’s website, if the primary school has one.
Together with the enrolment date, the primary school director also publishes the conditions for admitting children to primary school.
1.Submitting the application
The legal guardian submits the completed application to the primary school, attaching the required annexes if needed.
2. Registration of the application
The primary school registers the received and signed application in its records.
3. Enrolment at the primary school
Enrolment takes place in the presence of the legal guardian or the facility’s representative and in the presence of the child.
In some cases (e.g. the child’s illness, the child’s long-term stay abroad) it is possible to enrol the child remotely through electronic tools (e.g. via MS Teams).
In exceptional cases, when the situation does not allow even remote contact (e.g. the child’s hospitalization in an infectious disease department or intensive care unit, the child’s stay abroad as part of alternating care), enrolment may also take place without the child’s presence.
4. What happens at enrolment
At enrolment, a pedagogical or professional staff member of the school:
If the school has doubts about the child’s readiness
If, during enrolment, there is a reasonable suspicion that the child may not manage the 1st grade, the school will recommend a professional assessment at a counselling and prevention facility. The aim of the professional assessment is to determine what support the child needs to cope with starting school.
5. The primary school’s decision on admission
The primary school decides on the admission or non-admission of the child for education at primary school within the deadline set by the Ministry of Education.
6. Filing an appeal
If the legal guardian disagrees with the primary school’s decision, they may file an appeal addressed to the primary school within 15 days of the decision being delivered to the party to the proceedings.
The primary school decides on the admission or non-admission of the child within the deadline set and published by the Ministry of Education on its website.
Publication of results
The list of applicants is published:
The list contains:
Important information
If the child is admitted, the information on admission stated in the list is considered a decision on admission. The day the list is published is considered the day the decision on admission is delivered.
Delivery of the decision
The school director delivers the decision on admission to both legal guardians, regardless of whether they have the same or different delivery addresses.
The decision is delivered to only one legal guardian if:
The school will deliver the decision on non-admission to a non-admitted applicant within 5 working days of its issuance.
If the legal guardian requests a written decision on admission, the school will prepare and send it without undue delay. If the legal guardian did not indicate a ranking of primary schools in the application, the primary school will prepare it only after confirmation of admission.
Appeal
An appeal against the decision may be filed with the primary school within 15 days of its delivery.
More detailed information on enrolment in the 1st grade and the introductory grade can be found on the website of the Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic.Opens in a new window
During compulsory school attendance, a pupil may transfer to another primary school. It is enough to submit a written request to the director of the school to which they are to be admitted. The director of the school to which the pupil is transferring decides on admission.
When a transfer is possible
A transfer is possible at any time during the school year.
For a school with a specific focus (for example a language or sports school), the transfer is usually carried out from the beginning of the following school year.
Obligations of the legal guardian
If you want the pupil to transfer to another school, deliver a written request for admission by transfer to the director of the new school. You can submit the request in paper form or electronically.
What the request should contain
The law does not stipulate an exact form or mandatory content for the request. We recommend stating in particular:
Good to know
Some schools publish a transfer request template on their website.
Before leaving the original school
Before ending attendance, settle all obligations towards the school, for example:
Obligations of the school
The primary school decides on admitting the pupil by transfer, usually within 30 days of receiving the request.
After admitting the pupil, the schools proceed as follows:
Good to know
The transfer of documentation is arranged between the schools themselves. The legal guardian does not need to arrange it separately.
