Skip to content

Education in Estonia

Different types of schools

In the Estonian general education system, there are both public and private institutions at all levels of education. Read more about Estonian school system and about school admission.  

There are schools where the main language of instruction is Estonian, as well as some schools with Russian and English as the main language of instruction.

Studies are conducted in accordance with national curricula, which serve as a basis for schools to compile their own curricula.

What to consider when choosing a school?

Choosing the right school for your children when moving to a new country can be a challenging decision. Some factors to consider are:

  • The planned length of the stay in Estonia
  • The age of your child and language(s) your child speaks
  • Your budget

Ultimately, your choice will come down to whether to send your child to a local public school, a local private school or an international school, and whether the main language of instruction should be in Estonian, English or Russian.

When can my child start the school in Estonia?

Education in Estonia is compulsory from the age of 7 and until 16. This means that if you have a child of this age, they have to attend school until basic education is acquired or until the age of they become 17 years old. Optionally, your child can also be homeschooled.

It also means that if your child is aged 7 to 16, then you can start looking for the school straight away. It is not necessary to wait for residence permit or ID number. However, be aware that sometimes even schools themselves have a misconception that in order to accept the child, the ID code or the residence permit is needed. In this case, contact your local municipality to obtain a place at school. If this does not help, ask for help from Ministry of Education (Department of Language Policy in General Education and VET, Katerina Leesment). 

If you do not plan stay in Estonia for long time and your budget allows, international schools can be a suitable option. These schools operate in English and their work is based on an internationally recognized curriculum which might allow your child to continue the education smoothly when moving again.

In Estonia, there are some private and public schools that use the international curriculas and have English as a language of instruction. An overview of international programs and schools can be found on the website of the Ministry of Education and Research

If you plan to stay in Estonia for a longer time, then a local public school with Estonian as the main language of instruction might be the best choice. While at first, it might demand more effort on your side, it helps to immerse your children in the culture and language, get friends and might help you as a family to faster develop a local network. Especially young children tend to pick up the language quickly. Estonian schools have a different experience in dealing with migrant children. When looking for a school, ask the school about their previous experience, and about what they can see as potential challenges for your family.

During Soviet time (from 1940ies to late1980ies), there were two parallel educational systems in Estonia: one in Estonian, and one in Russian. Since the re-independence in 1990ies, the number of schools with Russian as the main language of instruction, has steadily decreased. However,  in areas with a considerable  Russian-speaking population (for example, Ida-Virumaa in the North-East of Estonia and the larger cities) there are still public schools that have Russian as main language of instruction. In these schools, Russian is taught as the mother tongue and Estonian as the second language. Sometimes, migrant parents might feel that schools with Russian as main language of instruction can better suit their children (maybe children already speak Russian or because Russian is a language spoken by more people, thus more useful).  However, when choosing a school with Russian as the main language of instruction, it is useful to be aware that while the amount of Estonian language in Russian-language schools has been increasing throughout the years, the level of Estonian in some of the Russian-language schools might be somewhat low, and not sufficient for further education in Estonia.

There are more than 50 private schools in Estonia (57 schools as of 2020), approximately half of them are in the capital – Tallinn. The private schools have a tuition fee and a right to set specific admission conditions, but all schools in Estonia, including private schools, have to align with national curricula.

While in many countries, the private schools are chosen because of a higher quality of education, this is not the case in Estonia. Here, the private schools are mostly chosen for one or several of the following reasons:

  • specific pedagogical approaches that resonate with the parent (e.g. Montessori school, Waldorf school etc),
  • cosier atmosphere and smaller number of children in the class,
  • religious reasons (e.g. Lutheran School, Russian Orthodox school)
  • language reasons (e.g. International schools with English as main language of instruction)