As a result of my visits to Open Days in Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Faculty of Information Technology of Czech Technical University (CTU) in Prague and also in Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University I can provide a summary of information on the admission procedure to Bachelor and Master Degree or Doctoral (PhD) programmes.

When higher education is free of charge in the Czech Republic

First, you need to be aware that students are exempted from paying tuition fees in Czech universities only if they study in Czech language. This is the main requirement. So it is necessary to reach a reasonable level of competence in your Czech (it should not be a survival one) and pass an entrance examination on it. However, if you have ILPS CU certificate B2 (The Institute for Language and Preparatory Studies, Charles University) you needn’t to take an entrance examination in Czech language. To obtain a certificate it is necessary to achieve an overall score of at least 60%, as well as in each individual subtest. The exam pass rate for students who completed the Annual Preparatory Course for University Study is 90-95%.

Studying in foreign languages

In Czech universities students can study in English in Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD programmes. However, institutions charge tuition fees starting at approximately 150 000 – 300 000 CZK per academic year. For studying in English instead of a Czech exam students have to take an examination in English or they are required to have an IELTS / TOEFL certificate.

Competition

There is a minimal competition to get into CTU or Charles University on mathematical and physical specialties. For most bachelor study programmes you may fulfill the requirements for acceptance without an entrance examination, you only have to pass a test in Czech or bring an ILPS CU certificate.

At the same time there’s fierce competition to get into Charles University or University of Economics, Prague (VŠE) on such “prestigious” study fields and branches as humanitarian or economics and the competition is up to 5 people in a place. Moreover, in most cases, there are several written tests based on the prerequisites for studying at the faculty.

Due to a great demand for technical specialists, the government is allocating funds to CTU for development.

Admission procedure rules

The admission procedure takes place twice a year. Application submission for the Winter semester (the beginning of the study is in September or October): from late January until late March or April. The entrance examinations are held in early June. The basic conditions for admission to study at Bachelor programmes is completion of full secondary education (for candidates who achieved the required education at foreign schools the condition for admission to study is acknowledgement of the successfully passed final examination at the relevant foreign school or nostrification of their certificate of secondary education). A part of the application for study must be also a proof of payment of the organization fee (400-500 CZK). Several universities in Brno requires a CV but in Prague it is only required at master’s and doctoral programmes.

The basic condition for admission to study in a Master degree study programmes is successful completion of the preceding Bachelor degree study programme or a Master degree in a similar or the same branch of study (foreign applicants need nostrification of their diploma*), a proof of payment of the organization fee, their CV.

* Nostrification refers to the validation of qualifications awarded by foreign institutions (as equivalent to qualifications awarded by Czech institutions). Nostrification is normally a prerequisite for entering a study programme at a Czech university. There are different regulations in approach to different countries in mutual diploma validation.

An application for study in doctoral degree study programmes is similar to the master’s, but it requires a degree not lower than master’s, a CV and a list of publications.

Entrance exams

Entrance examinations are usually held in the Czech Republic in early June. For undergraduate programmes you have to pass tests while to the Master’s programmes candidates are often interviewed about their plans and interest; sometimes they also have to write a small test. In any case, each candidate is examined individually and can enlist without competition and without examination with a good grade point average score of 1.80 or less in in a Bachelor’s degree. On admission to the doctoral programmme it’s an interview with a future scientific director and a number of professors of an appropriate Department about applicant’s future dissertation, a research topic and problems, and also an applicant experience.

Scholarships

There are several scholarships available to international students, for example, to PhD students (approximately 3-7 thousand crowns per month). Scholarships of this type are designed for university students or graduates and PhD candidates who wish to accomplish a study or research stay at one of the Czech public institutions of higher education. Some Czech higher education institutions might grant scholarships for excellent study results or in cases of hard circumstances of a student. In addition, students can take advantage of discounts at the universities canteens 50% -discount (set lunch – 50 CZK), also a lot of Czech companies offer discounts upon presentation of ISIC.

Accommodation

All universities have dormitories. Czech Republic complies with the European standards and therefore they all are not very different from ours. They always have Internet; canteens are quite close to them. The price for accommodation in a 2-bed room is 3-5 thousand crowns, for the same money you can find a room in an apartment.

Commercial colleges

Various Czech small companies, which were opened by former Russians, often tout to study at Czech private universities. Supposedly, you can do simple monthly courses of Czech to enroll in such universities and in a year can transfer to the normal state university without the loss of the year. All this is nonsense!

You can’t learn language in a private high school because only foreigners study there due to some ‘good’ advice given by those companies. The level of students’ knowledge is lower than in state universities.