Starting School and School Postponement

For children aged 7–18 living in the city of Tartu who are subject to compulsory education, the city ensures access to basic education in full-time study.

Study places are provided through the following schools:

• local catchment-area basic schools
• city-wide admission basic schools
• a city-wide admission basic school for children with special educational needs

Tartu ensures a study place for every child with compulsory school attendance in their designated local school.

In addition, parents may apply for a study place in a city-wide admission basic school, a private school, or a state school. City-wide admission schools allocate first-grade places based on the admission criteria established by the school principal.

Opportunities for acquiring basic education in Tartu [EST] →

When a child begins school, parents can find helpful information on the City of Tartu information page [EST] →

If a child has not reached school readiness due to their health condition or individual development, they may start fulfilling compulsory school attendance one year later.

The application to postpone the start of compulsory school attendance is submitted by the parent to the external counselling team of Rajaleidja →

The external counselling team may recommend starting school one year later if:

1. the child’s cognitive, learning, social, or self-management skills are not sufficiently developed;
2. the child requires long-term treatment due to illness, trauma, or a health disorder.

Conditions and procedure [EST] →

If the start of a child’s compulsory education is postponed by one year based on the recommendation of the external counselling team, the local government ensures that the child may, at the parent’s request, continue attending the same kindergarten during that period.