How to Get Into a University in Czechia as an International Student

Fee figures: catalogue of 6 October 2026.

In Czechia you do not apply to a university. You apply to a faculty, and each faculty decides how it selects. That makes the system flexible: you can file several applications, each with its own exam, and take the best result. It also means there is no single set of rules to learn.

The first choice: Czech or English

This decision shapes everything else.

• Programmes taught in Czech at public universities are free for everyone, whatever your citizenship. You need Czech, usually at B2 level, and you sit the same entrance exam as Czech applicants.
• Programmes taught in English are paid. The entrance requirements are often lighter, and the exam is in English. Our catalogue lists 201 undergraduate programmes taught in English.

Many international students spend a year on an intensive Czech course, pass B2 and then study for free. Whether that suits you depends on how you weigh a year of language study against several years of fees.

How faculties select

• An entrance exam. Many faculties use the National Comparative Exams run by the company Scio: standard tests of general study aptitude or of a subject, held on several dates a year. You can sit them more than once and the best result counts. Other faculties write their own test.
• School results. Some programmes admit on secondary-school grades alone, or waive the exam for applicants above a certain average.

Czech faculties do not publish cutoff scores in the way Spain or Portugal do. What you can find is the number of applicants and admitted students for past years, on the faculty's own site.

Nostrification: recognising your school diploma

Before you can enrol, your foreign secondary-school diploma must be recognised as equivalent to the Czech one. This process is called nostrification. Countries that have a recognition agreement with Czechia are exempt. For the others, recognition is handled by the regional education authority, and some universities are entitled to assess foreign diplomas themselves for their own applicants. It involves certified translations and can include extra exams, so start early: you can usually sit the entrance exam before nostrification is finished, but you cannot enrol without it.

Step by step

1. Decide between Czech-taught and English-taught study.
2. Shortlist faculties and read each one's admission conditions. Applications for an autumn start are due in late winter or spring.
3. File an electronic application to each faculty and pay its application fee.
4. Register for the Scio exams or the faculty's own test.
5. Start nostrification of your school diploma.
6. Enrol. Non-EU citizens then apply for a long-term visa or residence permit for study.

What it costs

See how much it costs to study in Czechia for fees and student housing prices.

Where to look next

Browse all 1,301 programmes in Czechia by city and field.

Official sources

• Study in Czechia: official portal for international students
• Scio: National Comparative Exams

Always check current information on the official website of the university before you apply.