Education in Cyprus

If either parent is Cypriot, children are required to go to school in Cyprus from the age of five, until they have passed Year 9, or age 15. Most stay on until they are 18 and gain a high-school diploma, which is required before they can apply for university or a job in Cyprus.  All the free state schools are Greek-speaking, and fairly rigid in their curriculum. There are also private schools, mostly English-speaking, of varying quality and price.  Since Cyprus is now in the European Union, and ex-pat children from all over Europe are encouraged to live here, state schools do provide extra intensive Greek lessons for children who do not speak the language.  

As in the UK, Cyprus has primary education and secondary education. Primary schools take children from five years and eight months up to eleven years and eight months (six years in all). Pre-school education is offered from the age of about three, and has recently become compulsory from the age of four years and eight months - ie for one year before starting school. This is roughly equivalent to the Reception class in the UK, or Kindergarten in the USA.

Secondary education, which is also six years, is in two parts: the 'Gymnasium' or lower secondary school, and the 'Lyceum' or upper secondary school. Gymnasium level education is compulsory, and in practise the majority of students also attend Lyceum, although it's possible to go instead to a technical college for those who prefer more practical learning.

Private schools tend to have just primary and secondary schools; the majority are English-speaking, but there are also a few French, Russian and Greek-speaking private schools.  A list of some of the private schools around the island can be found at the Angloinfo page.

Foreigners sometimes choose to educate their children at home; at the time of writing there are about 15 families on the island who home educate, using various methods, according to the regulations (if any) of their home countries. To find out more about home education in general, see my other site, Home Education in the UK.

School terms in Cyprus

As in the UK, the Cyprus school year is divided into three terms. There is no week-long half-term break in the middle, but there are several public holidays for religious and cultural occasions. The page about public holidays has more details.  The school year begins in September, with the first term ending shortly before Christmas. The Christmas break lasts until just after January 6th when the spring term begins, and lasts until just before Holy Week (the week before Easter). Christmas and Easter are major festivals in the life of the Greek Orthodox Church, so each has a two-week break from school. The Summer term then starts a week after Easter, and continues until early June; the summer break lasts nearly three months - longer than the usual 6-week holiday in the UK, but since temperatures are so hot during the summer, it would be impractical for children to continue at school.

The school day 

As with many warmer countries, the school day begins fairly early - between 7.30am and 8am, depending on the school - and ends at lunchtime (usually around 1.15pm at primary level, a little later for secondary schools).  There are a couple of recesses during the morning when children can play outside and eat a snack, if they have brought one.  But they all go home for lunch.  Cypriots tend to eat at around 2pm, followed by a siesta.  

This doesn't mean that school children have the rest of the day to themselves, however.   Extensive homework is given, starting with the very youngest children who are given up to an hour of language and maths work to do each day.  By secondary level at least two hours of homework is expected each day, and much of it is 'busywork' - long pages of examples of the day's lessons to be done alone.  Children work at the same level within a class, and if they do not achieve the expected grades through the year, they can be kept back to repeat a class with younger children.  This is very different from the British system where children stay with their peers and work in ability groups or streams within a class.  

School uniform

All the schools in Cyprus have a compulsory school uniform, which is nearly always either black and white, or navy blue and white. Tracksuits in grey are worn for sports during the winter.   Girls are usually allowed to wear trousers as an alternative to skirts, but each school will have its own requirements.  Uniform can be bought at most standard children's clothing shops, and some supermarkets, particularly during the Summer.  

Special Schools

There are a few special schools for those with disabilities in Cyprus, although not as wide a variety as is found in Western European countries.  There is a school for the deaf in Nicosia, although as far as possible deaf children are integrated into ordinary classrooms at secondary level.  There is also a school for the blind in Nicosia, and 'New Hope School' for children with general learning disabilities.

Unfortunately, there is not much provision for children with special needs in other areas of Cyprus.  

Official Cyprus policy on education for those with special needs

Education in the Arts

Despite a wonderful heritage of theatre, art, dance and music, these subjects are barely touched upon in the state schools, which tend to focus more on academics.  

Although there are no full-time schools devoted to the Arts, there are many small institutes, also confusingly known as schools (or 'odeons') which provide teaching in music - mainly voice, piano, guitar and violin.  Many of these teach students for British music exams in RSM or Trinity/Guildhall, and are found in residential areas in most of the cities.  Teaching in brass or woodwind instruments is less common, although the Larnaka Municipal Band has a training school for these instruments.   It's also sometimes possible to find a private teacher - as with many things in Cyprus, word of mouth and personal recommendations are really the only ways to find these.   Costs of music lessons in Cyprus are less than in the UK, ranging from about £7.50 per hour up to around £15 per hour.  

There are schools for dancing of various types, and a small number of theatre/drama schools.  Probably the best drama teaching for children and teenagers is at Theatre Antidote, in Larnaka.    Art classes can sometimes be taken at weekends.  You will need to check the local papers, or adverts in the supermarkets to find what is available - or ask your neighbours and friends.  

Tertiary education in Cyprus

There is an official University of Cyprus, and several other colleges offering tertiary education to Cypriots and foreigners.  Most of the courses are in business studies or information technology of some kind, and the quality is variable.  Students other than Europeans are not permitted to be employed in paid work alongside their studies, despite what they may be told in their home countries.   Europeans are allowed to work, but unless they are fluent in Greek as well as English it's not very easy to find a job, and the pay tends to be very low.  

A list of the colleges offering tertiary education.

More general information about education in Cyprus:

Schooling in Cyprus at the AngloInfo site

History of schooling in Cyprus

Full official details of Cyprus school regulations