Estonian educational system is divided into different stages. Anything that is for children up to 7 years, is pre-school education. When children are 7, they enter basic education (grades 1 to 9). After that one can continue with secondary education (grades 10 to 12) or with vocational education. The pre-school education (kindergarten) comes with a fee, but general public education in Estonia is free of charge.
In this webpage, the focus is mostly on the compulsory part of education, i.e. basic education. You can get a more thorough overview of other stages of education in Settle in Estonia program.
Compulsory education
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.
Different types of schools
In the Estonian general education system, there are both public and private institutions at all levels of education.
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.