The education system in the Republic of Croatia consists of:

• Early and preschool education – for children aged from six months until they reach school age, before starting primary school all children must attend a preschool programme
• Local or territorial (regional) self-government units are obliged to secure a place in a kindergarten or elementary school that implements a mandatory preschool program for a child who is obliged to attend preschool
• Enrollments in kindergartens can be conducted electronically
• Priority when enrolling in a kindergarten founded by local or territorial (regional) self-government units for the next pedagogical year shall be given to children who reach the age of four by 1 April of the current year. If a preschool founded by a local or regional self-government unit cannot enroll all the registered children, those not enrolled are admitted according to priority criteria prescribed by the provisions of Article 20 of the Preschool Education Act, and the method of exercising priority in enrolling children in preschool is regulated by the preschool founder through its own act

• Primary school education – compulsory for all children, generally from six to the fifteen years of age; This applies to all children who are residents in the Republic of Croatia, or have registered place of stay in the Republic of Croatia, regardless of their nationality,
• Enrollment of children in primary school is carried out according to the enrollment plan adopted by the administrative department in the county responsible for education, i.e. the City Office for Education, Sports and Youth of the City of Zagreb on the basis of the enrollment areas determined in accordance with the provisions of Article 16 of the Act on Education in Primary and Secondary Schools,
• At the level of all counties, except the City of Zagreb, electronic enrollment of students in the 1st grade of primary school is carried out using the National Enrollment Information System for Primary Schools. Since the electronic enrollment system for primary schools is accessed through the e-Građani portal, parents who do not have credentials must contact the school within their enrollment area, which will complete the enrollment application for their child on their behalf

• Secondary school education – lasts from one to five years, depending on the type of education (vocational school, high school – gymnasium or art school), and is completed by passing the state graduation (high school) or submission and defence of the dissertation (vocational and art schools). High school students have the possibility to stay in students’ homes,
• All students have the right to enroll in the first grade of secondary school, under equal conditions, after completing primary education, within the number of enrollment places determined by the enrollment decision adopted by the minister responsible for education for each school year.
• Candidates apply and enroll electronically through the National Information System for Applications and Enrollment in Secondary Schools (NISpuSŠ) on the website: https://srednje.e-upisi.hr.
• The services of educational activities, accommodation and food provided in student dormitories can be used by full-time secondary education students in the Republic of Croatia who attend school outside the area where they have permanent residence, and who are Croatian citizens, Croats from other countries, children of citizens of the countries of the European Economic Area and the Swiss Confederation, and children of citizens of countries outside the European Economic Area and the Swiss Confederation. A student dormitory accepts students who are citizens of countries outside the European Economic Area and the Swiss Confederation if they have a regulated residence status in accordance with the law governing the status of foreigners, with the consent of the founder.
• All the necessary information regarding the application and enrollment process in student dormitories in the Republic of Croatia can be found at the following link: https://domovi.e-upisi.hr/
• The total price of accommodation and food for full-time students in secondary school in a student dormitory in 2024 amounts to a maximum of EUR 167.24 per month.
• State graduation exams may also be taken by other applicants who have at least four years of secondary education in the Republic of Croatia and candidates who have completed secondary education outside the Republic of Croatia, comparable to a four-year secondary education in the Republic of Croatia,
• Higher education – takes place at universities, faculties, art academies and polytechnics,
• Adult education – takes place in adult education institutions (public open schools, secondary schools, universities, college, foreign language schools, penology and other institutions). An adult education institution may be established by: the Republic of Croatia, local and regional self-government units, other legal and natural persons. An adult education institution may perform a programme if it has a registered adult education activity and meets the spatial, personnel and material requirements set by the programme, which must comply with standards and norms for its implementation and the qualification standard or set of learning outcomes from the Register of the Croatian Qualifications Framework. Adult education participants can be persons who have reached the age of fourteen and meet other requirements set by the programme.

Enrolment

• Admissions to a higher education institution are carried out by that higher education institution on the basis of a public tender published on the website of the higher education institution no later than 1 May of the current year.
• The higher education institution establishes the admission procedure in such a way as to guarantee the equality of all applicants.
• Pursuant to Article 79 of the Act on Higher Education and Scientific Activity (OG 119/22), citizens of another Member State of the European Union who have a full-time student status and attend a university or professional undergraduate or graduate study programmes or a university integrated undergraduate and graduate study programme at a public higher education institution are entitled to having the costs of their tuition fees subsidised entirely from the state budget, in accordance with the regulation referred to in Article 99, paragraph 8 of the Act.On the Study in Croatia portal, www.studyincroatia.hr, foreign students interested in studying in Croatia can find information on higher education institutions, study programs, life in Croatia, etc.Information on admissions in higher education institutions are available in Croatian and English on the website Studij.hr, https://www.studij.hr/sve-o-prijavama.

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Education of Adults

Primary education – intended for persons over fourteen years of age who have not completed primary school, with the aim of improving their literacy and developing life skills in all areas; funds for this purpose, for the participants, are provided in the state budget. The programme is performed in accordance with the prescribed Curriculum for Adult Primary Education. Participants who complete primary education are also provided with training for simple jobs in occupations, for the purpose of access to the labour market and easier employment.

Secondary education – includes programmes for acquiring a complete qualification at levels 4.1 and 4.2. of the Croatian Qualifications Framework.

Programmes for the acquisition of a partial qualification or micro-qualification include training, advanced training and vocational specialist advanced training programmes at level 5 of the Croatian Qualifications Framework (HKO).

Adult education programmes are conducted through regular classes, consultative-instructional classes and correspondence-consultative classes, where the implementation of adult education programmes is adjusted to the age, experience, previously acquired education, knowledge, skills and abilities of the participants.

 

RECOGNITION AND EVALUATION OF FOREIGN EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

The right to recognition and evaluation of foreign educational qualifications is granted to Croatian citizens, foreign citizens, stateless persons, asylum seekers, foreigners under subsidiary protection and foreigners under temporary protection, and family members of an asylum seeker, or a foreigner under subsidiary protection, and a foreigner under temporary protection legally residing in the Republic of Croatia.

Recognition of a foreign educational qualification is the confirmation of the value of a foreign educational qualification, issued by a competent authority for the purpose of accessing education or continuing education.

Recognition of periods of education is the confirmation of acquired sets of learning outcomes achieved abroad before acquiring a foreign educational qualification, with the aim of continuing education in the Republic of Croatia.

The evaluation of a foreign educational qualification is the determination of the level, volume, profile, and quality of the foreign educational qualification, as well as the rights that this qualification confers in the country in which it was acquired.

1) Evaluation of foreign educational qualifications for the purpose entering the labour market

The procedure for evaluating foreign educational qualifications for the purpose of entering the labour market in professions not included in the List of Regulated Professions in the Republic of Croatia is carried out by:

• the Education and Teacher Training Agency, for foreign educational qualifications for completed primary and secondary education in general, grammar school and arts programmes;
• the Agency for Vocational Education and Training and Adult Education for foreign educational qualifications for completed secondary education in vocational programmes and for completed programmes at the level of post-secondary education other than higher education;
• the Agency for Science and Higher Education for foreign educational qualifications for completed higher education.

Evaluation of foreign educational qualifications for asylum seekers, foreigners under subsidiary protection and foreigners under temporary protection who are unable to submit documentation proving the foreign educational qualification

• For persons who, for justified reasons, are unable to submit documentation proving a foreign educational qualification, the agency responsible for evaluation for the purpose of entering the labour market will carry out the evaluation in accordance with the available data and prepare an informational document on the foreign educational qualification.

• Recognition for the purpose of accessing professions from the List of Regulated Professions in the Republic of Croatia is the responsibility of the competent ministries and professional organizations. A list of regulated professions and competent authorities is available at: http://reguliraneprofesije.azvo.hr/en/professions/.

2) Recognition of foreign educational qualifications for the purpose of continuing education

The procedure of recognising foreign educational qualifications for the purpose of continuing education is carried out by:

• The Education and Teacher Training Agency is responsible for recognising foreign educational qualifications for completed primary education for the purpose of continuing education at the secondary school level, within the central application procedure.
• Primary or secondary schools carry out the procedure of recognising foreign educational qualifications, outside the central application procedure, i.e when enrolling students coming from abroad during the school year.
• The Agency for Science and Higher Education is responsible for recognising foreign educational qualifications for completed secondary education for the purpose of enrollment in undergraduate studies, and foreign educational qualifications for completed undergraduate higher education programmes for the purpose of enrollment in graduate studies.

 

CROATIAN LANGUAGE LEARNING

Children

Teaching and other forms of educational activities are carried out by school institutions in the Croatian language and Latin script. Students need to pass the test of knowledge of the Croatian language, which will be performed by the professional body of the respective educational institutions. After that, students are included in the appropriate type and level of education in an educational institution closest to their place of residence.

Depending on the age of students, educational institutions should assess whether the student will be simultaneously included in the corresponding attendance or in approximately appropriate class. A student who attends preparatory Croatian language classes and is unable to follow classes teaching other subjects can be parallelly included in those other classes. However, their attendance in those classes will not be evaluated by grading, but only by monitoring in terms of socialization and language learning. A student who attends remedial Croatian language classes can attend classes in all subjects and be evaluated with a grade.

Schools are required to provide special assistance to:

• Children of vulnerable groups (asylum seekers, foreigners under subsidiary protection),
• Children of Croatian citizens returning from abroad and who start or continue their education in the Republic of Croatia and have insufficient knowledge of the Croatian language,
• Children who reside at the Croatian territory and who are members of the families of workers nationals of EU Member States and who perform or have performed self-employed jobs, or who are employed or were employed on the Croatian territory.
• For the effective integration of students, schools organise individual and group forms of direct upbringing – educational work by which these students are enabled to overcome effectively the Croatian language and to compensate a lack of knowledge in certain subjects.

 

Adults

• Croatian language learning for vulnerable groups of adults (asylum seekers, foreigners under subsidiary protection) who are not included in the educational system, is organised at open universities, primary schools and other institutions;
• For the remaining groups of aliens the Croatian courses are organised at the following institutions of higher education: Croaticum – Centre for Croatian as a Second and Foreign Language, Faculty of humanities and social sciences, University of Zagreb, Centre for Croatian Studies Abroad, The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Split, Rijeka School of Croatian Studies, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka and The programme in Croatian Language and Latin Script for Foreigners, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek; Croatian as a foreign language exam prior to enrolment to Croatian universities and upon completion of the freshman year as a prerequisite for continuation of the study is carried out by the National Centre for External Evaluation of Education.

 

Relevant links

• Ministry of Science, Education and Youth
• Study in Croatia
• Education and Teacher Training Agency
• Agency for Vocational and Adult Education
• Agency for Science and Higher Education
• The Central Government Portal – Education