Public body: Ministry of Education and Science

Website: https://mon.bg/en/

Bulgaria recently introduced reception year education for children at the age of 5. As result children are now expected to join a preschool for a period of up to 2 years. This stage was introduced to get them better prepared and ready for school.

Most children start primary school at the age of 7. Next, applications are submitted directly to the school of choice. Furthermore, success criteria are primarily based on the proximity of the school to the parent’s registered address. The longer the parents have resided at the address the better their chances of securing a place at the school.

The primary school offers early education starting in year 1 and up to year 4 followed by a pre-secondary school stage in year 5 and up to year 7. All children sit two national exams at the end of year 7. The two exams are Bulgarian literature and Mathematics. Good exam results would help them apply to popular language schools. Similar national exams take place after year 4 and after year 10.

Secondary school offers education from year 8 up to year 12. Children are awarded a Diploma upon successful completion of year 12. Again there are two national exams taking place after year 12. The first of the two exams is Bulgarian literature. Students can choose their second exam paper from the following: Maths, English, French, Spanish, Italian, Geography, History. Pass marks on these two exams would allow students to apply for a place at university.

If you want to know more about a particular school or area with schools, please email hello(at)move2bulgaria.com.

Here is a list of universities and courses taught in English.