Education system in another Member State, including early childhood education and care, and primary and secondary education

If you are EU citizens, your children are entitled to attend school in any EU country under the same conditions as nationals of that country.

They have the right to be placed in a class with their own age group, at the equivalent level to their class in your country of origin - regardless of their language level.

As an EU citizen, when you move long term to another EU country for work, your children are entitled to free introductory tuition in their new country to help them integrate and adapt to the school system there. Part of this initial training includes support to learn the language of your new home country.

The school system in your new home country may be very different from what you are used to. In some countries, for example, children might be separated at different stages into academic or vocational streams.

Because of this, there is no automatic EU-wide recognition of school certificates. It may be the case where the national authorities must be asked to recognise your children's school certificates before they can enter a local school.

You should try to keep a file on your children's educational history whenever possible, to help speed up the application process. This might include:

• copies of transcripts or report cards, including original copies with the school seal
• reference letters
• a list of current text books and course outlines
• test results, especially in the child's native language, maths and sciences.
• any medical records (including immunisations)

If you are an EU citizen moving to Ireland, the Your Europe portal has practical information on you and your childrens educational rights within the EU.

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