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School admission

Right to education

Every pupil who is between 7 years and 16 years has the right to attend a local school in the municipality he/she lives in. Local school is assigned within the pupil catchment area.

The school catchment area means that children who live in a certain geographical area are eligible to attend it; these schools are also called the schools of the place of residence.

Schools of the place of residence do not have admission tests when children start their first year at school. However, schools may establish spoken interviews and practical tasks for children starting their first school year to determine their maturity and academic level. 

What documents do I need?

When you enrol your child in school, you may be asked to present different documents or copies thereof. Most often, schools will ask for the following:

  • The parent’s identity document (passport or ID-card)
  • Child’s passport or ID-card (showing date of birth)
  • Child’s birth certificate
  • A document showing right to permanent or temporary residence in Estonia

Some schools may ask you for reports from the previous schools, health certificate, vaccination information, the kindergarten’s evaluation on the child’s school readiness etc.  You might not have them, but If you do, it will help the school to better understand the needs of your child and thus, better fulfill them.

If your child does not have an Estonian address and/or residence permit, it might be a bit more challenging to find a school. However, all children aged 7 to 17 years have right to have a place at school, regardless of their documents.

If you can not find a school, contact your local municipality to obtain a place. If you still need more help, contact Ministry of Education (Department of Language Policy in General Education and VET, Katerina Leesment). 

Good to know

Many Estonian local municipalities give financial support when a child starts his or her first grade. In some local municipalities, financial support is even provided for the first couple of years.

The financial support is meant to help parents to buy the necessary equipment before the school starts such as pens, notebooks, indoor shoes or sports clothes. Sometimes it is called “school bag support” or “school bag benefit”, also “school allowance”. In Estonian it is often called koolikotitoetus or ranitsatoetus. You can read about Tallinn school bag support here. To get more information about whether your municipality supports parents with that or whether you can apply for it, you need to contact your local municipality.