Assessment of Foreign Secondary and Foreign Higher Education for the Purposes of the Admission Procedure at the University of Ostrava

The University of Ostrava (hereinafter referred to as "UO") has received institutional accreditation in several areas of education and is therefore now entitled to assess secondary (high school) and tertiary (university) education as part of the admissions procedure in a simpler way, so-called the Assessment of Foreign Education for the Purposes of the Admission Procedure.

This assessment is carried out directly by the UO and is subject to a fee. The UO's assessment of foreign education is carried out in accordance with Section 48 of the Higher Education Act and the Order issued by the Rector No. 69/2019.

Note: Assessment of education for the purposes of admission to the UO is not a recognition of education generally valid in the Czech Republic or at other universities in the Czech Republic or abroad (general nostrification). The assessment is valid only for admission to the UO’s study programmes. If the applicant needs recognition of foreign education for other purposes, general nostrification is required.

Instructions for applicants:

The applicant must complete the application form and send it together with certified copies (see forms of verification) of the documents listed below in paper form by post to the address of the faculty to which he/she is applying.

Documents that are not originally in the Czech, English or Slovak language must be officially translated into Czech or English by a court translator. The sheets containing the translations must be attached to the copy of the document in such a way as to prevent any additional exchange or substitution of sheets. If the documents are issued bilingually and one of the languages is English, it is not necessary to translate the documents.

Verification of education on the basis of foreign educational documents for all study programmes is done by the department of the Vice-Rector for Studies and Lifelong Learning.

The result of the assessment will be sent to the faculty of the study programme to which the applicant is applying. The result of the assessment is valid for admission to all study programmes of all faculties of the UO to which the applicant applied to study in a given academic year.

It is recommended to apply for the assessment of education as soon as possible so that the applicant has sufficient time to deal with other matters related to studying in the Czech Republic (visas, etc.). Applications for the assessment of education are processed within 30 days.

Required documents:

  1. For applicants to Bachelor's degree programmes and Master's degree programmes that do not follow a Bachelor's degree programme:
    • An officially certified copy of a report card or similar evidence of foreign secondary education obtained by completing studies in a secondary education programme at a foreign secondary school operating under the laws of a foreign country.
    • An officially certified copy of the proof of the content and scope of education completed in the foreign school - a list of courses with hourly allocation for each year of the entire study.

    If necessary, the applicant may be also asked to provide:
    • Additional information on the content and scope of the foreign secondary school studies.
    • Additional information on the fact that the study programme was carried out by an institution authorised to provide education comparable to secondary education according to the Education Act.
    • Confirmation from the relevant foreign secondary school or other competent foreign authority (e.g. Ministry of Education) that a graduate of the foreign secondary school's secondary education programme is eligible to apply for admission to a bachelor's degree programme or a master's degree programme not following a bachelor's degree programme in that foreign country.

  2. For applicants to follow-up Master’s study programmes and Doctoral study programmes.
    • A certified copy of a Diploma, certificate or similar document (for example, a certificate of completion of studies) issued by a foreign university.
    • A certified copy of a Diploma Supplement or a transcript of examinations taken (Diploma Supplement/Transcript).

    If necessary, the applicant may also be asked to provide:
    • Additional information on the content and scope of the foreign higher education studies.
    • Confirmation from the competent foreign authority that the foreign higher education institution is authorised to provide higher education in that foreign country (confirmation of accreditation).

Other documents:

If the applicant’s situation requires, he/she shall also provide the following documents:

  • A power of attorney, if the applicant is represented by an attorney in order to prove that the admission requirement under Section 48(4) and (5) of the Higher Education Act has been met.
  • In the event of a change of the applicant's name, a certified copy of the document proving this (e.g. marriage certificate).
  • A certified copy of the decision granting international protection, if the person referred to in Section 90(4) of the Higher Education Act wishes to use the option of replacing one of the documents with an affidavit.

Fee for the assessment of foreign secondary/higher education:

The applicant is obliged to pay a fee of CZK 800 for the assessment of foreign education, regardless of whether the result of the assessment is positive or negative. The fee can be paid by card via the e-application form (the applicant will be informed of the card payment instructions after sending the application to the relevant faculty) or by bank transfer to the UO account:

Bank:
Czech National Bank, Ostrava’s Branch, Nádražní 4, 701 01, Ostrava 1
Account number:
931761/0710
Currency:
CZK
IBAN:
CZ65 0710 0000 0000 0093 1761
SWIFT:
CNBACZPP
VS:
901027
SS:
applicant's branch of study number
Information:
applicant’s name

In case of any questions, please contact the UO via the email address: .

Contact person:

Mgr. Magdaléna Divínová
Department of Study and Lifelong Learning
E-mail:

Forms of verification:

All documents submitted by the applicant to the faculty must be duly verified in accordance with the relevant international treaties:

1. Countries that have concluded a legal assistance treaty with the Czech Republic

Original documents are valid in the territory of the contracting states without further higher verification. In case the applicant submits copies of such documents, they must be officially certified copies made by a Czech or foreign notary, at a Czech embassy abroad or made via Czech Point.

List of countries that have concluded a legal assistance treaty with the Czech Republic: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Belgium, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, France, Georgia, Yemen, Croatia, North Korea (DPRK), Cuba, Cyprus, Kyrgyzstan, Hungary, North Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, Austria, Romania, Russian Federation, Greece, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Syria, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam.

2. States which are signatories to the multilateral convention on the simplification of the authentication of foreign public documents

- the Convention on Abolishing the Requirements for Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, (Hague, 5 October 1961, published under No. 45/1999 Coll.), hereinafter referred to as "the Hague Convention".

A uniform form of authentication of documents, the so-called Apostille, is established for these states, issued by the authorized body of the state in which the diploma was issued (the so-called Apostille Office). A list of the states that are members of the Hague Convention is available on the Hague Conference website, including the addresses of the apostille offices.

For documents from countries of the European Union, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, it is possible to replace the Apostille (superlegalization in the case of Canada) with an officially certified copy of the documents (similar to option 1) if any of the following conditions are met at the same time:
  1. the foreign secondary school or higher education institution shall, at the request of the applicant, confirm by electronic mail that the applicant is a graduate of that foreign secondary school or higher education institution,
  2. the foreign secondary school or higher education institution sends the applicant's secondary school leaving certificate/transcript or diploma supplement to the faculty in a sealed envelope or, if the applicant submits a transcript in a sealed envelope, as part of the supporting documents,
  3. the official website of the foreign secondary school or university allows verification that the applicant is a graduate of that school or university (e.g. the possibility to download the applicant's transcript from the official website of the foreign secondary school or university by entering a password).

3. Other countries

These graduation documents must be superlegalized. As part of the superlegalization, the authenticity of the signatures and stamps on the original documents is verified:

  • by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country in which the secondary school or higher education institution issuing the document is located, or by the competent foreign authority,
  • and the competent embassy of the Czech Republic.

Required verification of documents according to the countries where the education was obtained and the document was issued


Updated: 09. 09. 2022