Changing Schools in Cyprus: Private, Public and Mid-Year Transfers

Families change schools in Cyprus for many reasons: a move to another town, fees, an unhappy child, or a switch between Greek-medium and English-medium education.

The rules depend on the direction. A move into a public school follows regulations on catchment areas, age, documents and, for some secondary pupils, placement exams. A move into a private school mostly follows that school's own rules.

This guide covers moving from a private to a public school, from a public to a private school, between public schools, and leaving a private school mid-year. For joining a private school during the year, our admissions guide explains mid-year entry to private schools.

We researched it from the laws, regulations and Ministry of Education circulars in force on 5 November 2026. It is general information, not legal advice.

Cyprus law sorts private schools into three types, and the type of your child's current school decides whether they sit a placement exam when moving to a public school (Private Schools Law 147(I)/2019).

• Same-type (in Greek, idiou typou): Greek-medium schools that follow the public curriculum
• Similar-type (paromoiou typou): schools that teach at least two thirds of the public curriculum, in Greek or another language
• Different-type (diaforou typou): schools that follow another country's system, such as English or IB schools, while still teaching Greek and the History of Cyprus

Ask your child's current school which type it is registered as before you plan a move.

Every child must enrol at a primary school or kindergarten of their catchment area (in Greek, ekpaideftiki perifereia) (Regulatory Administrative Act (KDP) 168/2024). A school outside it is allowed only when your area has no school of that type (Law 221/1991).

For 2026-27, the catchment areas are built into the Ministry's online enrolment system, eDEA, which finds the school from your home address. A child may also join the school of an older brother or sister in Grades 1 to 5. Children of any nationality living in Cyprus can enrol, whether or not their parents are lawfully resident (Ministry circular of 12 December 2025).

No placement exam: the class follows age

Public primary schools do not set placement exams. The senior officer of the district education office (in Greek, Protos Leitourgos Ekpaidefsis) sets the class from the birth certificate and the attendance certificate, never above the class your child's age allows (Regulatory Administrative Act (KDP) 168/2024).

In 2026-27, Grade 1 took children born from 1 September 2019 to 31 August 2020, and each later class is one year older. Our year group calculator gives a quick estimate.

A child with a migrant background who does not know Greek may be placed one class lower, including pre-primary, if they can still finish primary school and support is offered.

Starting in September

For the next school year, you apply in January. In the 2026-27 cycle, enrolments ran through eDEA from 5 to 19 January 2026, and transfer applications from 26 to 30 January 2026 (Ministry circular of 12 December 2025). The 2027-28 dates had not been published on 5 November 2026.

If you miss January, contact the district education office. No extra classes are formed, so your child may go to the nearest school in your area with free places.

Moving during the school year

During the year, apply in writing to the district education office (in Greek, Eparchiako Grafeio Paideias), whose senior officer approves the transfer and sets the class. A particular school depends on free places, but the Ministry must secure a place for every pupil (Regulatory Administrative Act (KDP) 168/2024). Bring:

• The original birth certificate
• An attendance certificate (in Greek, pistopoiitiko foitisis) from the private school
• Proof of address, such as recent electricity and refuse bills or a rental agreement
• Your child's vaccination record (a child can enrol even without the scheduled vaccines)
• An ID card or residence permit (ARC), if the Civil Registry cannot confirm your child's details

The 2026-27 circular's list leaves out the attendance certificate, but the regulations require it, so have it ready. A child approved for a school outside your catchment area gets no free school transport (primary education forms).

Public gymnasia and lyceums also work by catchment, based on the family's permanent home. Where an area has several schools, the district senior education officer allocates places and decides objections with finality (Regulatory Administrative Act (KDP) 60/2017).

Who sits a placement exam

Whether your child sits placement exams (in Greek, katataktiries exetaseis) depends on the school they are leaving (Regulatory Administrative Act (KDP) 60/2017):

• Same-type private school: no exam, unless a lyceum subject needed for your child's stream was not taught
• Greek public school, or a school abroad recognised by Greece that teaches mainly in Greek: no exam, with the same exception
• Similar-type or different-type private school, including English-medium schools: written placement exams
• School in another country: written placement exams

The exams cover the examined subjects of the class, plus any others the Ministry decides, and lead only to a class your child has already been promoted to (Private Schools Law 147(I)/2019). If your child does not pass, the examining school's teachers decide the class, with reasonable leniency in documented serious health or family cases.

Ask the district education office which subjects, syllabus and fee, if any, apply: the Ministry's latest subject list predates a 2023 change to the examined subjects.

From Grade 6 to gymnasium

Pupils finishing Grade 6 at a same-type private primary school join the first year of gymnasium without an exam. Pupils from similar-type or different-type private primary schools, including schools abroad, sit a written placement exam in Modern Greek and History (Regulatory Administrative Act (KDP) 60/2017).

Dates in the 2026-27 school year

For pupils from similar-type or different-type private schools and from schools abroad, the Ministry's 2026-27 circular sets this timetable (Ministry circular of 18 August 2026):

• Apply to the district senior education officer by Friday 28 May 2027
• Exams run from Monday 14 June to Tuesday 22 June 2027
• Results come out on Wednesday 23 June 2027, and enrolment follows

Later applications are considered as far as schools can manage.

Moving during the school year

After 1 April, a pupil from a private school can enrol in a public gymnasium or lyceum only in very exceptional cases, with the Minister's approval (Regulatory Administrative Act (KDP) 60/2017).

We found no official route for sitting placement exams mid-year, so if your child may leave an English-medium school during the year, ask the district education office early how they would be placed.

Documents

The application form, DMGE02, asks for identity documents, recent utility bills, the leaving certificate or end-of-year report (in Greek, apolytirio or endeiktiko) and, for lyceum, a subject-choice form, as lyceum entrants choose an orientation group of subjects (OMP) when they enrol (form DMGE02 in English). Documents not in Greek or English need a certified translation, and incomplete applications are not accepted.

In secondary schools, pupils who do not yet speak Greek join Greek-learning programmes (Regulatory Administrative Act (KDP) 60/2017). For 2026-27, gymnasia run transitional classes (in Greek, metavatikes taxeis), separate or partly within the regular class, and short courses of 5 periods a week. Lyceums and technical schools run a transitional first-year class (Ministry circular of 20 July 2026).

Under the rules for 2025-26, a separate transitional class gives Greek 20 of 38 weekly periods in the first year of gymnasium and 14 in the second. Placement needs your written consent: without it, your child joins the regular class and cannot join a programme later. If your school has no programme, you can ask the district education office for a transfer to the nearest one that does.

From 2026-27, secondary pupils with a migrant background can have exam accommodations at the school's request, without a psycho-educational assessment: questions read aloud and in simpler wording, no penalty for spelling mistakes, and extra time (Ministry circular of 31 August 2026).

In primary schools, children are grouped by their level of Greek after a diagnostic test, in groups of up to 12, aiming for at least one period of support a day (Ministry circular of 2 September 2026). The Ministry's Greek-learning site for families has parent guides in eight languages and a learning app.

Joining a private school follows that school's own Ministry-approved rules on enrolments and transfers, and we found no law that stops a child joining during the year (Private Schools Law 147(I)/2019). For waiting lists, exam years and timing, see mid-year entry to private schools.

From a public secondary school, a same-type or similar-type private school places your child in the same or matching class. A different-type school, such as an English-medium one, sets the class after placement exams.

Private secondary schools that hold entrance exams for Grade 6 pupils do so in a window the Ministry sets: 7 to 21 February 2026 for entry in 2026-27 (Ministry announcement of 18 November 2025). Our entrance exam dates page tracks each cycle.

For a new pupil joining a private school above its first class, the agreed fees may not exceed the average paid by pupils already in that class (Private Schools Law 147(I)/2019).

What to ask the public school for

• Primary, during the year: an attendance certificate (pistopoiitiko foitisis)
• Primary, after a full year: the end-of-year certificate (endeiktiko), or the leaving certificate (apolytirio) after Grade 6
• Secondary: the end-of-year report or leaving certificate
• Moving abroad: certificates are certified at the district education office, then at the Ministry of Justice or of Foreign Affairs

We found no rule that you must give a public school notice, but tell it in writing where your child is going: primary schools record it and alert the district education office if the transfer is not confirmed (Regulatory Administrative Act (KDP) 168/2024).

Because public schools work by catchment area, moving to another public school is a transfer (in Greek, metengrafi) that needs approval. The law allows one for serious reasons: health certified by a school doctor, expulsion, or other reasons the Ministry's Director considers serious (Law 221/1991).

Six grounds in secondary schools

Gymnasium and lyceum pupils can transfer to a matching school in another area when (Regulatory Administrative Act (KDP) 60/2017):

• The school has closed, or will be closed for more than 30 days
• It does not offer your child's subject combination, stream or speciality
• The family has moved house
• Serious health reasons require a move
• A new school has opened in your area
• The Ministry agrees, on the head teacher's documented recommendation, that your child needs a change of school environment

After bullying

The school-violence law covers bullying in public and private schools but has no transfer rule (Law 185(I)/2020). In secondary schools, families use the last ground above, which starts with the head teacher's documented recommendation. In primary schools, the move goes through the general serious-reasons ground.

No official guidance lists the evidence needed, so keep a written record of incidents and meetings, and ask the head teacher for the recommendation in writing.

A primary pupil staying away from home because of domestic violence can move to the school nearest the temporary home, with a letter from the district Welfare Office. The decision is taken confidentially (Regulatory Administrative Act (KDP) 168/2024).

How to apply, and who decides

Primary, for the next year: apply through eDEA in the January transfer window, giving your reason. In the 2026-27 cycle, applications ran from 26 to 30 January 2026 and objections (in Greek, enstasi) from 12 to 16 February, with answers by 31 March 2026 (Ministry circular of 12 December 2025).

Primary, during the year: apply in writing to the district education office on form YPAN DDE 33 (primary education forms). Transfers need free places, except after a change of address or from a same-type private school, when the senior officer decides.

Secondary: for the first year of gymnasium or lyceum, transfers outside the catchment go through eDEA in March. In 2026 that was 2 to 13 March for gymnasium and 16 to 31 March for lyceum and technical schools (Ministry announcement of 3 February 2026). For later years, the latest instruction, from 2023, is form DMGE02 at the district education office (Ministry circular of 15 December 2023).

The district senior education officer decides secondary transfers with finality. After 1 April they happen only in very exceptional cases, with the Minister's approval.

No law sets a notice period for taking a child out of a private school. Notice and refunds follow the school's study guide and your written fee agreement (Private Schools Law 147(I)/2019).

Each year, before enrolments, every private school must publish a Ministry-approved study guide (in Greek, odigos spoudon). It must state the fees and other charges, how they are paid, and the school's policy on refunding fees when a child stops attending.

Before a child's first enrolment, the school must also agree with you in writing the total fees and charges until your child finishes school, with an itemised statement. Breaching this is an offence punishable by up to 12 months in prison, a fine of up to €15,000, or both.

Read both documents, then give notice in writing with your child's last day, and ask for a written statement of anything the school says you owe.

Certificates the school must issue

Every private school must issue attendance certificates, progress reports, end-of-year certificates and leaving certificates. A certificate shows the subjects and results up to your child's last day. The Ministry can also confirm attendance in writing itself, from the data private schools must send it (Private Schools Law 147(I)/2019).

If fees are unpaid

The law has no express rule on whether a school may hold back these documents over unpaid fees. It sets the duty to issue them without any condition of payment, and we found no official ruling on the point.

If a school will not release documents your child needs, ask the Ministry of Education's Private Education Office for a written confirmation of attendance, so your child's schooling is not held up, and deal with the fees separately.

School is compulsory through pre-primary, primary and gymnasium, until a pupil completes gymnasium or turns 15, whichever comes first, at a public school or a private school registered with the Ministry (Law 24(I)/1993).

A parent who fails to enrol a child or supervise their attendance commits an offence punishable by up to 3 months in prison, a fine of up to €1,000, or both.

So secure the new place before your child leaves the old school. Public primary schools report more than 5 days in a row of unjustified absence to the district education office, which informs the Police or the Welfare Office (Regulatory Administrative Act (KDP) 168/2024).

Private school to public primary school

1. Find your catchment school in eDEA.
2. Ask the private school for an attendance certificate.
3. Gather the birth certificate, proof of address and vaccination record.
4. Apply in January for September, or to the district education office during the year.
5. Give the private school written notice under its study guide.

Private school to public gymnasium or lyceum

1. Check your current school's type.
2. If exams apply, apply to the district senior education officer by 28 May 2027.
3. Ask which subjects and syllabus the exams cover.
4. Get the end-of-year report or leaving certificate.
5. Complete form DMGE02 with every document.
6. Moving during the year? Apply well before 1 April.

Public school to private school

1. Read the study guide and admission terms.
2. Check entrance exam dates, if they apply.
3. Sign the written fee agreement and keep a copy.
4. Ask the public school for its certificates, and tell it where your child is going.

Between public schools

1. Check that your reason fits a transfer ground.
2. After bullying, ask the head teacher for a documented recommendation.
3. Apply in eDEA in the transfer window, or to the district education office during the year.
4. Attach evidence, such as proof of a new address or a doctor's certificate.
5. Plan transport: in primary school, a child approved for a school outside your catchment area gets no free school transport.

Rules and dates change every year, so confirm details with the district education office or the school before you act. This guide is general information, not legal advice.