Assessment of Foreign Secondary and Tertiary Education in the Admissions Procedure of Charles University

In the admissions procedure for the 2024/2025 academic year the faculties will assess compliance with the requirement of obtainment of secondary education with ‘maturita’ school-leaving examination under section 48 (4) of the Higher Education Act in the case of applicants who obtained a foreign secondary education by completing a secondary educational programme at a foreign secondary school, an international secondary school, a European School operating under the Convention defining the Statute of the European Schools, or a school licensed by the Ministry under the Education Act to offer compulsory education.

Bring the documents with you for the entrance examination date or send the documents listed below in hard copy form by post (the documents cannot be sent by email) to the following address of the faculty no later than on 31. 8. 2024.

Address of the faculty:

Charles University, Second Faculty of Medicine
V Úvalu 84
150 06  Praha 5
Czech Republic

Account number for payment:

CZK 37530021/0100
IBAN: CZ3401000000000037530021
SWIFT: KOMB CZ PP

Please note that the fee for the assessment of foreign document in the amount of 930 CZK can be paid by your credit card via SIS system! We highly recommend you to pay the fee with this method as it is the fastest way.

Contact person in case of questions:

Vera Hall (@email), +420 22443 5833

The following documents may be used to prove compliance with the requirement of obtainment of secondary education with ‘maturita’ school-leaving examination under section 48 (4) of the Higher Education Act:

  1. a document proving general recognition of the equivalence or validity of a foreign document (so-called ‘nostrification’)
    • The applicant must submit:
      • Completed online application form (you will fill in the application via SIS system after your log in. See the tutorial here);
      • An authenticated copy[1] of a document obtained in accordance with Act No. 561/2004 Sb., to regulate pre-school, basic, secondary, tertiary professional and other education (the Education Act), as amended, or in accordance with prior legal regulations, proving that a foreign document concerning the obtainment of secondary education is generally recognised as equivalent or valid in the Czech Republic.
    • It is issued by Regional Authorities (‘krajský úřad’), the Metropolitan Authority of the Capital City of Prague (‘Magistrát hlavního města Prahy’), or by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.
    • For more information see the Školy Praha webpage.
    • Free of charge (a fee of CZK 1,000 is paid to the Regional Authority or the Metropolitan Authority within the framework of the procedure on recognition of the equivalence or validity of a foreign secondary education).
  2. a document proving the awarding of a European Baccalaureate
    • The applicant must submit:
      • Completed online application form (you will fill in the application via SIS system after your log in. See the tutorial here);
      • An authenticated copy[2] of the European Baccalaureate diploma.
    • This applies only to the European Baccalaureate.
    • Free of charge.
    • This does not apply to the International Baccalaureate, which is considered a document under section 48 (4) (d) of the Higher Education Act, and in this case the procedure described under letter (d) is applicable. If the International Baccalaureate forms an integral part of the ‘maturita’ certificate for students who passed the ‘maturita’ examination in Czech language and literature in the common part of the ‘maturita’ examination, such applicants submit in the admissions procedure an authenticated copy of the ‘maturita’ certificate.[3]
  3. a document deemed automatically equivalent without any further administrative procedure
    • A foreign document concerning a foreign secondary education completed with the ‘maturita’ examination, if it is deemed automatically equivalent in the Czech Republic in accordance with its international agreements without any further administrative procedures – these are documents proving obtainment of the equivalent of Czech ‘maturita’ in Slovakia, Poland (‘swiadectwo dojrzałośći’), Hungary (‘érettségi bizonyítvány’), and Slovenia.
    • The applicant must submit:
      • Completed online application form (you will fill in the application via SIS system after your log in. See the tutorial here);
      • An authenticated copy[4] of the foreign certificate or a similar document proving foreign secondary education obtained by completing a secondary educational programme at a foreign secondary school operating under the legal regulations of another state.
    • If needed the faculty will request the applicant to also submit the following documents:
    • Original or an authenticated copy[5] of a document describing the content and scope of education completed at a foreign school (an overview of subjects including the number of hours of instruction for individual years of study).
    • Free of charge.
  4. a foreign document concerning a foreign secondary education
    • The applicant must submit:
      • Completed online application form (you will fill in the application via SIS system after your log in. See the tutorial here);
      • An authenticated copy[6] of the foreign certificate or a similar document proving foreign secondary education obtained by completing a secondary educational programme at a foreign secondary school operating under the legal regulations of another state;
      • Original or an authenticated copy[7] of a document describing the content and scope of education completed at a foreign school (an overview of subjects including the number of hours of instruction for individual years of study).
    • If needed the faculty will request the applicant to also submit the following documents:
      • Additional information on the content and scope of foreign secondary education;
      • Additional information confirming that the programme of study was offered by an institution authorised to provide an education comparable to a secondary education under the Education Act;
      • A confirmation from the relevant foreign secondary school or other relevant foreign body (e.g., a Ministry of Education) certifying that a graduate of a secondary educational programme at the relevant foreign secondary school is entitled to apply for admission to study in a bachelor's or a long-cycle master's programme of study in the given foreign state.
    • This concerns documents to which the procedure under letter (c) cannot be applied.
       
    • The document is assesed – in the case of a positive assessment, the document is accepted; in the case of a negative assessment the applicant is required to submit a document under letter (a) (a general ‘nostrification’).
    • The assessment is valid only for the admissions procedure at one faculty.
    • A fee of CZK 930 applies (The fee can be paid directly by a credit card via SIS system!)
Translations

Documents which are not originally issued in the Czech, English, or Slovak languages must be officially translated into the Czech or English languages.

Other documents

If the situation of the applicant calls for it, the applicant also submits the following documents:

  1. A power of attorney, if the applicant is represented by an attorney for the purposes of proving compliance with the requirement for admission under section 48 (4) and (5) of the Higher Education Act;
  2. If the applicant's name changes, an authenticated copy of a document proving it (e.g., a certificate of marriage);
  3. An authenticated copy of the decision to award international protection, if the assessment is requested by a person listed in section 90 (4) of the Higher Education Act and if this person wishes to use the possibility of substituting a document with an affirmation.

For seeing the Forms of Authentication click here.


[1] See Forms of Authentication

[2] See Forms of Authentication

[3] A certificate of ‘maturita’ examination issued by the schools that were granted approval by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of a different manner of completion of education by ‘maturita’ examination in the field of education 79-41-K/610 Upper Secondary General education (‘Gymnázium’) – selected subjects taught in a foreign language (section 81 (9) of the Education Act for the period from 1 September 2014 to 31 August 2020). The IB Diploma forms an integral part of the certificate of the ‘maturita’ examination for students who passed the ‘maturita’ examination in Czech language and literature in the common part of the ‘maturita’ examination. This concerns the following schools: The English College in Prague, Anglické gymnázium, o. p. s., PORG – gymnázium a základní škola, o. p. s., OPEN GATE – gymnázium a ZŠ, s. r. o., 1st International School of Ostrava – mezinárodní gymnázium, s. r. o. The graduates of these secondary schools submit in the admissions procedure an authenticated copy of the ‘maturita’ certificate.

[4] See Forms of Authentication

[5] See Forms of Authentication

[6] See Forms of Authentication

[7] See Forms of Authentication

Last update: 24. 10. 2023 / Věra Hall