RIGA – The 2025/2026 academic year commences today in educational institutions across LATVIA. According to preliminary data from the Ministry of Education and Science (MoES), 223,696 students are enrolled in general education programs, including 19,956 first-graders and 2,196 children from UKRAINE. The teaching staff comprises 26,222 educators.

As of September 1st, 477 municipal general education institutions are opening, encompassing 25 primary schools, 239 elementary schools, 183 secondary schools, and 30 state gymnasiums, along with 37 special education institutions. Additionally, 76 private schools are in operation for the academic year.

The MoES anticipates that vocational education enrollment will remain stable at approximately 28,000 students, with about 10,000 entering their first year across 53 vocational education institutions.The Ministry of Education and Science (MoES) has stated that the education system is prepared for the new school year.

Transition to Latvian-Only Instruction

This academic year marks the culmination of the transition to Latvian as the sole language of instruction in schools that previously offered minority education programs. Starting today, 4th and 7th-grade students, formerly under minority curricula, will study exclusively in latvian.

“Simultaneously occurring, Latvian schools will start phasing out Russian as a second foreign language”

In basic education, Latvian schools are phasing out Russian as a second foreign language. This year, 4th graders will study only English as their first foreign language. From the 2026/2027 school year, students will select a second foreign language from the official languages of the European Union or European Economic Area countries, or other foreign languages regulated by intergovernmental agreements in the field of education.Russian will not be an option.

Changes to Centralized Examinations

Revisions are also being implemented in the structure of centralized examinations, affecting both elementary and secondary school graduates who have been assessed under the new curriculum as the 2022/2023 school year.

To receive a certificate of basic education completion, students must pass examinations in Latvian, a foreign language, and mathematics.

Secondary school students must pass Latvian, mathematics, and a foreign language at least at the optimal level, along with two exams from a selection of 14 subjects at the highest level.

This year, secondary school graduates are also required to take a new centralized exam in biology, chemistry, or physics at the optimal level, or in natural sciences at the general level.

Plans are underway to reduce the number of mandatory highest-level exams from two to one and to eliminate the requirement to submit access materials for centralized exams in advanced courses.

For 9th-grade students, the foreign language exam is proposed to be administered as a monitoring test. Moreover,basic school graduates will need to achieve a minimum score of 15% to pass an exam,up from 10% in the past two years.

Basic school students who have received an annual grade of “4” or higher in all subjects but have not successfully passed one of the exams will be allowed to continue studies in a vocational education program.

These programs span three years and confer a level 3 professional qualification. Concurrently, students will continue studying the subject they failed to retake the exam at the end of the academic year.

Previously, students who did not pass a national examination were required to repeat the 9th-grade curriculum. Though, the moes recognizes that repeating a year does not inherently guarantee improved academic performance.

In the 2024/2025 school year, 1.7% of all students in grades 1-9, or 3,135 pupils, repeated the same grade. Of these, 1,096 were 9th graders, making up 5.1% of all students in that grade.

Mobile Phone Usage Restrictions

Starting this school year, the use of mobile phones in schools will be prohibited up to grade 6, unless required for the implementation of the study program. this is mandated by amendments to the Education Law adopted last autumn. Each educational institution will determine the conditions and procedures for using technical devices in learning, education, and dialog.