Recognition of lower secondary, secondary and upper secondary education

GENERAL INFORMATION ON AN EXTERNAL SERVICE (SERVICE NOT PROVIDED BY CRD)

This website applies to persons (nationals, foreigners) who would like to have their secondary school or primary qualification (high school diploma, vocational certificate and similar) recognized for further studies (at a higher education institution and others) or other purposes, excluding the practice of regulated professions. Responsible authority is the Regional School Administration Office.

Recognition of leaving certificates and diplomas issued by a foreign secondary school (or a primary school - equivalent of lower secondary education or completion of the 9th grade) is performed at the Regional School Administration Office (Regionálny úrad školskej správy) in the region of the permanent residence of the applicant or the region of the university location. Please direct your application to one of the regional offices below, not the CRD/Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic:

• Regional Office Bratislava: information | contacts
• Regional Office Trnava: information | contacts
• Regional Office Trenčín: information | contacts
• Regional Office Nitra: information | contacts
• Regional Office Žilina: information | contacts
• Regional Office Banská Bystrica: information | contacts
• Regional Office Prešov: information | contacts
• Regional Office Košice: information | contacts

PLEASE NOTE: The regional offices are separate entities that are not organizationally or technically interconnected with the Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic - Centre for Recognition of Diplomas (CRD). The application needs to be submitted to the respective regional office, not the ministry (CRD). By sending your application to the address of the ministry (CRD), you will cause a delay in the handling of your application. The application form can be found on the websites of the regional offices above, the address for submission is printed on top of the application. The ministry (CRD) has no information about the progress status of an application submitted to the regional offices.

Since the websites of the regional offices are Slovak only, CRD publishes some additional information about the process here.

The recognition process is initiated with the receipt of the application.

The application is submitted on the application form or by own signed letter that includes the first name and surname of the applicant, permanent address or address of similar stay of the applicant, full name and address of the issuing primary or secondary school, year of completion of the education, the type of Slovak document it should be compared with, and applicant’s signature. If the applicant is underage, the application is filed by the legal guardian.

Application forms in both English and Slovak can be found on the respective website of the Regional Offices above. The application is sent to the address of the Regional Office, which is printed on top of the application form.

Mandatory attachments to the application include:
a. for documents which are subject to a bilateral mutual recognition agreements signed with Slovak Republic

• copy of identification document,
• certified copy of the leaving certificate or diploma,
• proof of payment of the administrative fee.

b. for all other documents

• copy of identification document,
• certified copy of the leaving certificate or diploma,
• transcript of completed courses and completed exams,
• in case of vocational secondary education, a confirmation issued by the secondary school about the scope of practical education,
• proof of payment of the administrative fee

The application fee for the recognition

• 7 EUR if the qualification is covered by a bilateral agreement signed between the Slovak Republic and the country of origin (code in the web and mobile application eKolok: 7262)
• 40 EUR if the qualification is not covered by any of the bilateral agreements (code in the web and mobile application eKolok: 7263)

Application fee payment options:

1. via Receipt of Payment of Administrative / Judicial Fee (eStamp or eKolok), which can be purchased at selected offices of Slovenská pošta, a.s. (Slovak Post) in the required value
2. via eKolok Mobile Application which is available at GooglePlay / App Store
3. via eKolok Web Application, also called Virtual Kiosk, available at https://m.ekolky.gov.sk

The applicant is also obligated to present certified translation of the educational documents into the official language.
 
Regional office considers the application within 30 days after its receipt. If the application doesn’t include all the required documentation, the regional office interrupts the process and prompts the applicant to submit the missing documents or to correct any found deficiencies.
 
After the receipt of the complete application, the regional office decides within two months with the following possible results:

1. recognition of the educational document,
2. refusal of recognition of the educational document,
3. prescription of a differential exam.

In case of a document, which is subject to one of the bilateral mutual recognition agreements signed with Slovak Republic, the regional office considers the application within 30 days after its receipt. If the application doesn’t include all the required documentation, the regional office interrupts the process and prompts the applicant to submit the missing documents or to correct any found deficiencies. After the receipt of the complete application, the regional office decides within one month. The decision will contain the name of the equal qualification in the Slovak Republic.

Topics:

Recognition statement National regulated professions database Application forms Issuing of decisions Supplementary examination for third country healthcare professionals Proportionality test for regulated professions