The education in Bulgaria follows the traditional European system and is mainly supported by the state through the Ministry of Education and Science, and school education is compulsory for children from five to sixteen years of age.
In Bulgaria, there are public schools and private educational institutions at all levels – from infant to university years.
For public schools, parents do not pay fees, free education aids for children in the compulsory pre-primary groups are provided by the state.
Bulgarian school levels:
Pre-school or Kindergarten (Детски градини):
For children aged 3 years to 6/7
Parents pay only a monthly fee for food. This fee is fixed by the municipality in which the kindergartens are located.
Kindergartens and nursing schools operate Monday to Friday, 7.00-19.00, but parents can choose to take their children home after lunchtime. There are nursery schools for children aged 0-3 and kindergartens for children aged 3 to enter the first grade (children aged six or seven).
How to apply:
For nursery and kindergarten, you will need to present the same documents, keep in mind that at least one of the parents needs to have residence in Bulgaria (in case both parents are foreigners), the system works that you should apply to the Nursery or Kindergarten close to your residence (address of your ID card) and you can apply up to 3 places.
Then you fill up and Application form (заявление), the method to assign the free spots into all candidates is by points, a ranking is made, who has more points is on top of the list, points are given if: living in the area, has a brother or sister in kindergarten, both parents work, etc.
Later if your child is selected in any of the kindergarten or nursery that you apply, you have to go and present some documents like:
-Birth Certificate
-Medical documentation (check with your child GP doctor ), will include some exams and record of the child vaccination (depending on if the child is from a foreign country, extra exams can be added)
-Before they use to ask for a Declaration from the National Revenue Agency (NAP) stating that both parents don’t have pending obligations with the agency, now the director of the Kindergarten or Nursery has access to the National Revenue Agency (NAP) database and they check by themselves, but if you have register debt, you will be requested to pay it before your child is accepted.
Primary School (Основно образование и прогимназия):
Divided into 2 stages
Elementary school: 4 years
Pre-gymnasium school: 3 or 4 years
How to apply:
Normally the procedure to apply to regular public schools are the same than applying to Nursery and Kindergarten, the difference is since is mandatory, you aren’t requested to don’t have debts with National Revenue Agency (NAP), and that at least one of the parents to have Permanent Residence in Bulgaria.
There are some special schools, like arts, music, and dances, where the child that apply, also need to present an aptitude exam.
Secondary School (Средно образование):
4 years at general secondary education schools (Общообразователни училища), the equivalent of comprehensive schools or 5 years at professional schools/gymnasiums (Професионални училища),
How to apply:
For the secondary school, a child has to apply, a similar procedure than in the elementary school, the difference is that in this selection, the grades from grade VII are taking it into consideration, and the results of National external evaluation for grade VII, which are two mandatory exams one is about Bulgarian language and Literature and the other Mathematics, then the combination of the results from the 7th grade and the results of the external examination will make an average score of the child and that will be used to rank the children that apply to each school.
Higher education (Висше образование):
University/college. Both state and private universities charge tuition fees, which will vary depending on the institution.
Main Grading System Used by Education Institutions in Bulgaria
All academic courses receive grades of 2-6 according to the following standards:
6 (A) – Excellent (91.5 -100%)
5 (B) – Very Good (80.5 – 91.4%)
4 (C) – Good (70.5 – 80.4%)
3 (D) – Sufficient (59.5 – 70.4%)
2 (F) – Poor (0 – 59.4%)
What do kids will study at the school, the curriculum is unified for all schools. It includes subjects such as Literature (Bulgarian, English, French, German), Mathematics, Foreign Languages, History, Geography, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Psychology, Ethics and Law, Philosophy, Music, Arts, Vocational Training, and Physical Education. There are no course levels, i.e. A.P., or Honor Courses in the Bulgarian Educational System. However, in the last two years of study, students are required to take advanced courses in two or three subjects.
School Year
The school year is divided into two terms, at the end of each term students receive term grades in each subject, and at the end of the school year, they get final grades in the subjects. Classes in schools start on September 15th and the school year ends on June 30th for high school students. Younger students finish by the end of May or mid-June.
