School in Cyprus: free and Greek, or private and English, and enrolment in January

Can your child go to an ordinary school in Cyprus? Yes. Every child living in Cyprus may attend a public school, whatever their nationality, and public education is free, including textbooks. It is, however, Greek-speaking. The alternative is a private school, often English-speaking, which according to the list the ministry publishes costs from € 3,150 to € 32,215 a year. The pitfall is the calendar: enrolment for public primary school runs in January, for the school year that starts in September. Anyone arriving in summer has missed that window.

What does the system look like?

Stage	Age	School	Cost
Pre-primary (nipiagogeio)	3 to 6, compulsory from 4 years and 8 months	public or approved private	public free from 4 years and 8 months
Primary (dimotiko)	6 to 12, six years	school of your school area	free
Lower secondary (gymnasio)	12 to 15, three years	public	free
Upper secondary (lykeio or vocational)	15 to 18, three years	public	free, no longer compulsory
Private primary	6 to 12	your own choice	€ 3,150 to € 19,500 a year in 2026-2027
Private secondary	from 12	your own choice	€ 3,300 to € 32,215 a year in 2026-2027

Compulsory schooling lasts ten years and four months: from 4 years and 8 months to 15. A child enters the first year if they turned six before 1 September. The school year has 180 school days; lessons start on the first Thursday after the first Monday in September and end in June. A class has at most 25 pupils.

When and how do you enrol?

For public primary school in January, online or at the school. New classes are only formed on the basis of those registrations. After January a head teacher may no longer enrol pupils; you then apply to the district education office. Confirmation of all registrations usually follows in April.

You don't choose the school yourself. A child goes to the school of the school area where they live. A transfer to another area is requested via the same district office, and only after your child has been enrolled in their own area.

For the first enrolment you hand in:

• the registration form YPAN DDE 11;
• for a child born abroad, the ARC, the registration certificate that comes with the yellow slip, or an official document from the country of birth;
• two bills as proof of address, a refuse bill and a recent electricity bill; tenants without a refuse bill hand in the lease with the electricity bill;
• a copy of the vaccination record.

If you arrive in summer, sort out the district office before September. The school itself may no longer accept you after January. And watch the first year: for that the school wants a certificate from an approved pre-primary school. If your child doesn't have one, they are enrolled provisionally until you provide it.

What if your child doesn't speak Greek?

Then they get support. The ministry organises parallel classes in which children learn Greek intensively, with tests to place them in the right language group. Teachers receive training in Greek as a second language. For young children that often works; for a teenager who was already in the upper years of secondary school in the Netherlands, a Greek-speaking lyceum is a big step. That is the trade-off that leads many families to a private school.

How do you choose a private school?

A private school needs a licence from the ministry, and the ministry divides them into three types. A school of the same type follows the public curriculum. A school of a similar type teaches at least two thirds of the main subjects of the public school. A school of a different type, such as the English-speaking and international schools, follows its own programme.

Since the 2019 law on private schools, the ministry publishes the fees and compulsory extra costs of every school each year. That is the place to compare, because the list shows more than tuition: registration fees, deposits, compulsory uniforms, books and school trips. In Limassol, for 2026-2027, one primary school lists a one-off deposit of € 1,800 and another € 2,000.

What do you arrange before you leave?

The papers the school asks for: a translated and certified birth certificate, the vaccination record and, for an older child, the latest school reports. For the yellow slip of a minor, the Migration Department also asks for proof of school enrolment. What the yellow slip and the ARC open up is in the Cypriot numbers. Which lease and which bills count as proof of address is in living and renting in Cyprus.

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 Cyprus or go straight to step 5.4 in the open plan.