School in Hungary: compulsory from three, your district's school and the paper your child needs itself

Can your child go to a public school in Hungary for free? Yes: Hungarian law gives a child from another EU country the same rights as a Hungarian child, and your district's school may not refuse it. Two things differ from the Netherlands. Kindergarten is compulsory from age three, not voluntary. And equal treatment only applies once parent and child both have a residence document for more than three months.

From what age must your child go to school?

Age or moment	What applies
From 20 weeks to 3 years	nursery (bölcsőde), not compulsory, for a fee or with support
The year your child turns 3 before 31 August	kindergarten compulsory from the start of the school year, at least 4 hours a day
By 15 April at the latest	request for exemption from the kindergarten obligation, up to age 4 at most
The year your child turns 6 before 31 August	start of compulsory schooling, on the first school day
Age 16	end of compulsory schooling
By 15 June at the latest	application to the Oktatási Hivatal for education outside school

Kindergarten (óvoda) in Hungary isn't childcare but education, and it is free. Basic education takes eight years, in two parts of four. One extra year in kindergarten is possible, but only on the advice of an expert committee.

Which school will your child get?

Every primary school has its own district, set by the school district. If you live within that district, the school must admit your child, without an entrance exam. Only schools with an advanced programme in sport or the arts may hold an aptitude test.

If you want a school outside your district, you may apply, but the head may say no. If such a school still has places after its own district children, disadvantaged children go first, then children from the same town. If there are too many applications, a lottery decides. A brother or sister at the same school, or a parent's workplace nearby, counts as a special circumstance.

Kindergarten works the same way: the óvoda must admit a child from its own area. Enrolment usually takes place in April and May, for a start on 1 September. You can object to a rejection within fifteen days.

So the address determines the district. Look at the school before you rent or buy a house, not afterwards.

The paper your child needs itself

Register your children too, not just yourself. Hungarian education law gives a child from another EU country access to kindergarten and school on the same terms as a Hungarian child, but only if the parent and the child have a document allowing residence of more than three months. Without that document the school may charge a fee, up to the cost per pupil. So apply for the registration certificate for each child. A child aged six or older must come along to the immigration office in person for this.

What happens to the Dutch school years?

Studies your child began abroad can be continued in Hungary. The school's head decides which years and subjects count and whether your child is admitted. If he can't decide himself, he asks the ministry for an opinion. So bring reports and the pupil file from the Netherlands, so the head has something to base the decision on.

What does the school year look like?

The school year starts on the first working day of September and ends on the working day before 16 June. The minister sets the holidays each year: at least three times a year a holiday of six consecutive days or more, in autumn, winter and spring, and a summer holiday of at least sixty days.

Home education or an international school?

Churches, foundations and private organisations may set up their own schools in Hungary, alongside the state's schools. If you want your child to learn outside school, that is only possible with an individual study schedule, decided on by the Oktatási Hivatal. That application must be in before 15 June for the following school year. Anyone who moves in August and only then thinks of home education is too late.

How school fits into the rest of your move is in the step-by-step plan for Hungary.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.4: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Hungary or go straight to step 5.4 in the open plan.