Slovenia, with a population of 2 million and capital Ljubljana, has a free public primary education system for children aged 6-15, lasting 9 years. Secondary education offers various pathways, including vocational and general schools leading to national exams, while tertiary education includes Bologna-compliant degrees from major universities. A local school in Maribor serves 870 students and provides three educational programs, including the international baccalaureate, alongside a variety of extra-curricular activities and international exchange opportunities.

1. Peter Cigrovski,
Teacher of English
Maribor, Slovenia

2. SLOVENIA AD
SLOVENIA AD

3. Quick Facts
 Population
2 million
Capital
Ljubljana
 2nd biggest city
Maribor
 Surface
20,273 km2 – world’s 150th
 Average household size
2,8 people
 An ‘independent’ republic since 1991 (Yugoslavia)
 EU member since May 1st 2004

4. The Slovene Educational System
free of charge
public
PRIMARY SCHOOL
 Pupils aged 6-15
 Takes 9 years
 Divided into 3 triads of 3 years
 English introduced as an optional subject in
Year 1 and as an obligatory subject in Year
3

5. SECONDARY SCHOOL
 Short Upper Secondary School (2 years)
 Upper Secondary Vocational School (3 years)
 Upper Secondary Technical School (4
years) – National Vocational School-leaving
exam
 Upper Secondary General School
(gimnazija) – National School-leaving exam
Syllabus
Slovene, Maths, two foreign languages,
Sciences (Bio, Chem, Phys), Humanities (Soc,
Psy, Phil., Geography, History), Arts, IT, PE

6. TERTIARY EDUCATION
Bologna University Degrees
Two main universities (Ljubljana,
Maribor)
Many private universities
 BA (3 – 4 years)
 MA (2 years)
 PhD (2 years min.)

7. MY SCHOOL
 870 students
 80 teachers
 3 educational programmes
 sports classes
 National Baccalaureate,
 International Baccalaureate –
IB DP
 80 extra-curricular activities
 strong international dimension
 many international exchanges
(e.g. India, Israel, China,
Uganda, Italy, France,
Germany, Austria, Sweden)