Czech secondary school entrance exams 2027: test dates and deadlines

The unified entrance exams for four-year secondary schools in Czechia in 2027 will take place on 12 and 13 April. Applications to most schools are submitted from 1 to 22 February 2027, while conservatories require them as early as November 2026. Here is what is changing.

Tests on Monday and Tuesday

Ninth-graders will sit the unified tests for four-year programmes on Monday and Tuesday, 12 and 13 April 2027. Previously the dates were a Friday and a Monday, with a weekend in between. As Ministry of Education spokesperson Ondřej Mácura explained, the ministry sets the dates every year with the calendar and the organisation of admissions in mind: for some applicants the weekend break was convenient, while for others it was not — for example, if they had to travel to another city for the exams and stay there for the entire weekend.

The exam can be taken twice, and the better result counts. For multi-year gymnasiums the tests will be held on 14 and 15 April, and the backup dates for all programmes are 29 and 30 April. The subjects remain the same: Czech language and mathematics. Rumours of English being added, which appeared last year, proved unfounded: the ministry has no such plans, although schools may include an additional subject in their own round.

Application deadlines

The principle remains the same. In the first round, applicants can apply to no more than three programmes without an aptitude exam and no more than two with one — that is, up to five applications in total, the Centre for Evaluation of Educational Results (CERMAT) explained. A paper form is also possible, although most applicants submit their applications through the electronic DiPSy system.

Applications for four-year programmes and multi-year gymnasiums are accepted from 1 to 22 February 2027. Those who want to attend a conservatory will have to decide earlier: admissions there are now separate, and applications are submitted from 1 to 30 November 2026.

There is also a welcome change for pupils with special educational needs: the recommendation from the school counselling facility can be linked directly to the DiPSy system via a registration identifier, so with electronic applications it generally will not need to be attached separately.

When to start preparing

October is the best time for ninth-graders to start preparing. Long-term courses from specialist companies are just starting, but places fill up quickly. Mathematics causes the most problems — and it also accounts for the bulk of demand for courses. “Among ninth-graders, errors in applied maths problems reach ninety percent, and we see similar difficulties in younger children with word problems,” said Jakub Rakušan, director of Populo, a school that runs preparatory courses.

Read also: Как выучить чешский язык: курсы, приложения и репетиторы в 2026

Around Prague, based on reporting by denik.cz