Czech Republic · School systems and practical choices
Start with the language your child can learn in and the qualification they may need later. Czech private schools and English-medium internationals solve different problems.
Prague's English-medium, Czech, German and French schools serve different ages and qualification plans. Keep the actual campus and Czech requirements visible throughout the search.
Open Gate in Babice and Gymnázium Říčany are in different towns east of Prague. Compare entry stage, Czech-language readiness, leaving qualifications and boarding.
PORG Brno and International School of Brno differ in teaching language, final qualification and cost. Check the child’s entry year and campus before comparing them.
Deutsche Schule Prag is a co-educational day school in Jinonice. Its German and Czech routes do not have the same entry rules or qualifications, so families should establish the child's route before comparing fees.
Prague 9The English College is a selective, fee-paying Czech bilingual gymnázium for secondary-age pupils. Its six-year course leads every pupil towards the IB Diploma, with an optional Czech Maturita route in the final two years.
ŘíčanyGymnázium Říčany offers four-year and eight-year Czech-medium courses leading to the maturita. This public day school suits families seeking an academic education in Czech. Published 2026–27 admissions results are not evidence of a current vacancy.
BrnoISB offers English-medium day education on Čejkovická in Brno-Vinohrady. Its programme runs from kindergarten through Cambridge IGCSE to the IB Diploma. For a child still learning English, the important budget question is whether additional support will be compulsory: the 2026–27 charge is CZK 4,500 per month.
Prague 6ISP offers four IB programmes in Nebušice. Confirm the child’s upper-secondary route and support fit, and budget annual tuition plus the recurring capital fee and any first-entry charges.
Prague 5LFP provides French national education from age 3 to the baccalauréat. Its Czech integration route can take a child from no French into mainstream classes over two years. The British International Section adds advanced English within the French system; it is not the IB.
Prague 4Nový PORG suits families seeking a selective Czech education with substantial English, rather than an English-medium international school. It offers primary school, four- and eight-year gymnázium routes, and the IB Diploma in the final two years. The admissions route and language expectations differ sharply by entry point.
BabiceOpen Gate combines a Czech primary school with an eight-year grammar school in Babice. Grammar pupils can attend by day or board on campus. The programme leads to the Czech maturita, the IB Diploma, or a permitted combination of qualifications.
PraguePark Lane is an English-medium day school spread across six central Prague sites. The route runs from EYFS and the English curriculum to Cambridge IGCSEs and the full IB Diploma. Campus allocation matters because fees and accessibility differ.
BrnoPORG Brno is a Czech day school with a bilingual preschool, primary education and an eight-year gymnázium. English grows in importance through the school, and the gymnázium combines Czech requirements with Cambridge programme elements and the IB Diploma. Families must match the child's entry point to both the admissions process and the correct Brno campus.
PraguePBIS combines English-medium schooling toward IGCSE and IB with a separate Czech-British primary option. Confirm the campus, English readiness and full cost; MYP candidacy is not authorisation.
Prague 6Riverside offers British international education across four Prague 6 sites, with a secondary-campus move planned for 2028. Budget EAL separately and check Czech provision, the exact site and full-term notice conditions.
Cities: Prague, Brno
If your family expects to remain in the Czech Republic, I would investigate the local Czech school before assuming that an international school is essential. For a young child, learning Czech can make later school choices and everyday friendships much easier. For a teenager already studying towards an international qualification, continuity may matter more.
Prague has the widest range of schools covered here, but it is not the only practical choice. Brno offers both Czech–English private education and an English-medium IB route. Babice offers boarding, while nearby Říčany has a public gymnázium. These are different towns and different admissions processes.
Základní škola, usually shortened to ZŠ, covers nine grades. The first stage is Grades 1–5; the second is Grades 6–9. Compulsory schooling normally starts in the school year after a child turns six by 31 August and lasts nine school years. The government’s basic-education guide explains age rules, catchment schools and entry during the school year.
The spádová škola is the municipal school linked to the child’s registered address. Parents can choose another school, but must check its capacity and admission criteria. Contact the municipality early if you are moving or if your documents and address are not yet settled.
First-grade registration now falls between 15 January and 15 February, with the individual school setting its date within that period. Do not rely on older advice describing an April registration. The ministry’s enrolment guidance also warns that the methodology changes again for 2027.
Public basic education does not charge tuition. Lunch, školní družina after-school care and some activities need separate budgeting. Ask which grades can use družina, when it closes and whether a school place also secures an after-school place.
A gymnázium is an academically selective secondary school, not a sports facility. An eight-year programme starts after Grade 5, a six-year programme after Grade 7 and a four-year programme after Grade 9. Staying at ZŠ through Grade 9 is a normal route, not a failure to secure an earlier gymnázium place.
The maturita is the national school-leaving examination used for progression to higher education. It is available through gymnázia and relevant vocational-secondary programmes. Ask about the actual subject choices and teaching language rather than treating every maturita course as interchangeable.
A soukromá škola is privately run; a církevní škola is founded by a church or religious organisation. Many follow Czech educational requirements while offering a particular teaching approach or language emphasis. Neither label tells you how selective the school is, how much support it provides or what parents pay.
An international school may instead teach an authorised foreign programme. The ministry maintains a list of foreign schools permitted to fulfil compulsory schooling in the Czech Republic. Check the legal programme, not just an accreditation logo.
Families using a foreign programme should also ask whether the child needs a Czech kmenová škola, or reference school, and supplementary Czech examinations. Nationality, residence and the programme’s legal arrangements matter. The ministry’s guidance for foreign schools explains the framework.
IB Primary Years and Middle Years programmes are not the IB Diploma. IGCSEs are normally taken around 16 and are not a final university-entry qualification on their own. For any international route, confirm the leaving qualification, the subjects available and the recognition process required by likely universities.
Lack of Czech should prompt a support discussion, not an assumption that only a fee-paying school is possible. The ministry publishes guidance on free language preparation in basic schools, including provision through designated schools. Ask the receiving school who arranges it and whether travel to another site is involved.
For a bilingual school, request a subject-by-subject language timetable. Extra English lessons are different from learning science or history in English. Equally, a weekly Czech lesson at an international school may not prepare a pupil for Czech secondary entrance examinations.
Ask who will coordinate the first term, how subject knowledge will be assessed before the child has fluent Czech, and how you will receive progress reports. A named contact and a practical plan are more useful than a promise that children adapt quickly.
Czech secondary admissions have national dates, even though international schools can use separate admissions calendars. The unified entrance examination, jednotná přijímací zkouška, uses Czech-language and mathematics tests. Schools can add their own assessments and other published criteria.
For September 2027 entry, the ministry’s published timetable gives first-round applications from 1 to 22 February 2027. Choices are ranked in order of preference. The usual 20 February endpoint falls on a Saturday, so the published deadline moves to Monday.
The official examination dates are 12 and 13 April 2027 for four-year programmes, and 14 and 15 April for six- and eight-year gymnázia. The substitute dates are 29 and 30 April. Check each school’s additional tests and documents; a school enquiry form is not necessarily the national application.
Applicants educated abroad may qualify for a waiver of the written Czech test, with Czech assessed by interview instead. Mathematics is not automatically waived. The ministry’s September 2026 guidance includes education-history rules and a transitional provision for 2026–27. Foreign citizenship alone is not the test. Attendance at a foreign school located inside the Czech Republic is not the same as education abroad for this purpose.
The Prague guide compares the local journeys and individual admission processes.
International School of Prague, ISP, is an IB through-school in Nebušice. It offers all four IB programmes and its own accredited high-school diploma. For 2026/27, tuition plus the annual capital charge totals CZK 700,000 in Grades 1–5 and CZK 831,000 in Grades 11–12. New pupils at these levels also pay CZK 9,000 to apply and CZK 52,000 on entry. The fee schedule makes clear that the capital charge repeats annually.
Prague British International School, PBIS, is Nord Anglia’s British–IB school across Kamýk, Libuš and Vlastina. It has a separate Czech bilingual primary option. Its lower-secondary MYP is described as a candidate programme, not an authorised MYP. IGCSEs and the IB Diploma follow later. Ask which campus the pupil will use; the announced Prokop campus is a future 2027 project.
Riverside International School follows a British curriculum through IGCSE and then offers the IB Diploma alongside its high-school diploma. It has four working Prague 6 sites and a Christian ethos, while welcoming families of different religions. Its planned unified campus is for September 2028. Confirm the current building and whether additional English-language support costs extra.
Park Lane International School also follows a British–IGCSE–IB route, with younger pupils in Prague 5 or 6 and older pupils in Prague 1. Its 2026/27 fee schedules vary by campus, even for similarly named early-year classes. The annual-payment discount has a deadline; meals, transport and examination charges are separate.
The English College in Prague, or Anglické gymnázium, is a selective six-year school in Vysočany. It does not offer primary education. Pupils progress through Foundation and pre-IB study to the Diploma, with an IB-and-maturita or IB-only choice in the final two years.
Its 2026/27 fees are CZK 414,000 annually in Years 1–2, rising to CZK 468,000 for IB-and-maturita or CZK 540,000 for IB-only. New pupils also provide CZK 65,000 in listed refundable deposits. Read the deposit conditions separately from tuition, and note the one-full-term notice requirement before leaving.
Nový PORG in Krč has Czech basic education, four- and eight-year gymnázia, and an IB option. Its 2026/27 annual fees are CZK 216,100 for basic school, CZK 199,100 for gymnázium and CZK 330,200 for an external IB transfer. The external IB route requires strong English and entrance assessments; it is not an English-only route that dispenses with Czech.
Nový PORG’s current eight-year admissions page advertises 52 prima places for 2027/28 and a deadline of 19 February 2027. That differs from the ministry’s 22 February national deadline. Plan for the earlier published school date and ask admissions to resolve the discrepancy, rather than assuming either page cancels the other.
Lycée Français de Prague, in Smíchov, follows the French national programme through the baccalauréat. Its Czech–French integration course is for pupils who need to acquire French before joining ordinary French classes. The 2026/27 regulations specify entry through CI, the Czech Grade 5 equivalent, after tests in Czech. Older descriptions of wider entry options need confirmation.
The 2026/27 financial regulations list standard annual tuition of CZK 185,400 in preschool, CZK 200,200 in elementary, CZK 258,500 in middle and CZK 282,500 in upper secondary. Entry costs CZK 30,100 extra. International-section rates are higher. Lower rates for former Czech bilingual pupils are protected arrangements for those enrolled before 2025/26, not a discount for new entrants. The fees page confirms 5% off tuition for the second and subsequent children attending together.
Deutsche Schule Prag, in Jinonice, offers German education through the Deutsches Internationales Abitur, with a separate Czech gymnasium programme. It is not an English-medium IB school. Confirm which programme the child can enter and what German is required.
Its 2026/27 schedule lists CZK 198,000 annual tuition for primary, the German gymnasium and new Czech-programme entrants. The CZK 158,400 rate is for existing Czech-programme pupils. A CZK 19,000 application fee and CZK 5,000 annual family membership are additional, as are meals, materials and after-school care.
Open Gate is in Babice, east of Prague. It combines Czech primary education with an eight-year gymnázium and on-campus boarding. The leaving options include maturita, IB or a permitted combination; ask for the exact requirements of the pupil’s intended route. The school publishes a Czech nationality or residence-permit condition, so an overseas family should confirm eligibility early.
Its public grammar-school fee page still labels CZK 282,000 for day pupils and CZK 620,000 for boarders as 2025/26 prices. These are useful historical figures, not a current quote. Primary has its own price. Means-tested and academic scholarships exist, but an award must be confirmed separately.
Gymnázium Říčany is a public, Czech-medium day school in Říčany, with four- and eight-year courses towards maturita. It is in a different town from Open Gate and has no boarding provision. The 2026/27 admission results are already published. Use the Babice-area guide to compare the practical journeys and check the next intake’s criteria.
PORG Brno offers Czech basic education and an eight-year gymnázium with substantial English teaching. Its 2026/27 annual fees are CZK 150,500 for basic school and CZK 143,400 for gymnázium. The next first-grade application deadline is 9 December 2026. The prima page advertises 26 places for 2027/28 and, like Nový PORG, publishes 19 February 2027 rather than the ministry’s 22 February date. Clarify that difference with admissions.
PORG’s pages also differ on which Brno site will receive the next first-grade cohort. Confirm Mendlovo náměstí versus Nová Zbrojovka before choosing housing.
International School of Brno, on Čejkovická, is the English-medium alternative with PYP and the IB Diploma. Its 2026/27 schedule lists CZK 373,000 for primary and CZK 534,000 for the Diploma, plus CZK 26,000 registration. IB examinations are extra. Required English-language support costs CZK 4,500 per month, not per year. The Brno guide compares the routes.
Choose the curriculum before arranging visits. For a long stay, compare Czech public and private provision on language support, academic fit and the next transition. For a short stay, compare international schools on continuity, subject availability and the help the child will actually receive.
Friendly orientation, not formal admissions advice. Always confirm dates with the school.