Nursery and school for your children
The enrolment dates changed in 2026: primary school enrolment is now 15 January to 15 February, and nursery enrolment 15 March to 15 April. Foreign children have the same right to a place as Czech children, and free Czech support.
Every child staying in Czechia for more than 90 days has to complete compulsory education, foreigners included. The last year of nursery (mateřská škola, MŠ) before school is compulsory, starting in the September after the child turns five. Primary school (základní škola, ZŠ) starts in the September after the child turns six.
From 2026 the enrolment periods (zápis) moved earlier. Nursery enrolment is now from 15 March to 15 April, and enrolment for the first year of primary school from 15 January to 15 February. Asking to postpone school start (odklad) is now stricter and must be done in the same January–February window, with recommendations from a counselling centre and a doctor or clinical psychologist.
Your child has a right to a place at the catchment school (spádová škola) for your address. A school can only turn the child away if it is full. Catchment is based on your registered address in Czechia, and foreign children follow the same rules as Czech children.
Bring the child's passport, your own ID and proof of where the child lives, such as the lease or the residence card. For nursery, children who are not yet in the compulsory year must show proof of vaccination from a Czech children's doctor. The child's right to stay must be proven at the latest on the first day.
Foreign pupils can get free Czech language preparation: up to 400 hours at designated schools during their first 24 months of compulsory schooling here. The head teacher should tell you about it after admission. In nursery, where four or more foreign children are in the compulsory year, the school runs a small group with one hour of Czech support a week.
In Brno
Brno runs enrolment online. Nursery applications are at zapisdoms.brno.cz and first-year primary applications at zapisdozs.brno.cz, both in English too.
For 2026 the nursery application forms were available from 15 March and collected 13 to 15 April. Primary forms open on 1 January for the 15 January to 15 February period.
Three Brno schools have long experience with foreign pupils: ZŠ a MŠ Staňkova 14, ZŠ a MŠ Jana Broskvy 3, and ZŠ J. A. Komenského a MŠ at nám. Republiky 10. The South Moravian Region publishes the list of schools designated for language preparation (in Czech).
In Prague
In Prague each city district (městská část) runs its own enrolment. Many use an online system; for example Prague 5 runs zapisdoms-praha5.praha.eu, where you log in with your child's health insurance number and each nursery sets its own submission day within 15 March to 15 April.
Check your district's website early in the year, as dates and systems differ.
Step by step
- Find your catchment nursery or school on your city or district website
- Get your child's residence document sorted early; this can take weeks
- For primary school, apply between 15 January and 15 February
- For nursery, apply between 15 March and 15 April
- Bring passports, proof of address and, for younger nursery children, the vaccination record
- After admission, ask the head teacher about free Czech language preparation
Last checked 2026-11-11. Open this guide in the app to add the dates to your calendar.