Schooling and childcare in Vienna

The November week for the first primary class

Children born between 2 September 2020 and 1 September 2021 are of compulsory school age in 2027/28 and must be registered by their guardians. Registration is by appointment, made by phone or online, at a single public or private Volksschule or Sonderschule holding permanent public status. Bring the enrolment invitation with the completed form or a current Meldezettel as proof of residence, the child's birth certificate, a document proving the child's citizenship such as a passport, and proof of the child's social insurance number.

• Add an employment or training confirmation if you need afternoon care, and confirmation of current kindergarten attendance if it applies.
• Bring medical findings for any impairment or chronic illness.
• The allocation letter arrives by early February and triggers part two: an appointment with the head of the assigned school for a school-readiness check and a German language assessment, which the child attends in person.

No catchment, so how places are decided

Vienna has no Schulsprengel, which means your address does not assign you a school and does not guarantee you one either. Where a school is over-subscribed, the Bildungsdirektion allocates by statutory criteria: a sibling already at the school, the length of the school journey, the building's physical capacity and organisational requirements. Afternoon care is not offered at every school, so state whether you need it at registration rather than afterwards.

The move into secondary

The transfer from grade 4 to grade 5, into a Mittelschule or an AHS, has its own February window and its own phone-booking stage in early January. For the 2026/27 intake, registration ran 16 to 20 February 2026, from 08:00 to 12:00 daily and additionally 14:00 to 17:00 on Tuesday and Thursday, with the appointment itself reserved by phone between 8 and 14 January 2026. Expect the same shape a year on and confirm the dates with the Bildungsdirektion. You register in person at the chosen school with the Erhebungsblatt issued by the primary school plus the original and a copy of the child's Schulnachricht.

• AHS admission without an entrance exam needs Sehr gut or Gut in German, Reading, Writing and Mathematics in the final grade-4 report, with all other compulsory subjects passed.
• A Befriedigend in one or both can still be cleared by a ruling of the primary school's conference.
• Otherwise the child sits an entrance exam, held on the Tuesday and Wednesday of the last school week, and the grade-4 report must in any case be a pass.
• A child moving from a private school with its own organisational statute, which includes the international schools, must sit the entrance exam without exception.

Kindergarten, and the English-language option

Kindergarten runs on a different clock again: the main registration period for Vienna's municipal kindergartens is November and December each year, though places can be applied for year-round. On the international side, Vienna International School publishes 2026/27 annual tuition of €23,675 for Primary through Grade 5, €27,997 for Grades 6-10 and €29,160 for Grades 11-12, with the Early Learning Centre at €15,896 full day or €9,253 half day. The one-off charges are the part families underestimate. The American International School Vienna, Danube International School, Lycée Français de Vienne and Amadeus International School are the other established options, and their current fees should be requested from each school.

• VIS one-off charges: an application fee of €670, an admissions fee of €5,760, a capital fee of €5,040 (€3,500 for Vienna-based organisation and diplomatic corps families) and a €620 deposit.
• VIS tuition falls due in full on 30 August, or in four instalments on 30 August, 30 October, 30 January and 30 March, with a €15 late-payment fee on overdue accounts.
• Vienna also runs bilingual and English-supported state programmes; their locations, entry requirements and windows change, so ask the Bildungsdirektion rather than working from a list.

Who to ask

Bildungsdirektion für Wien is the authority for all state school admissions, on 01 52525-0 or office@bildung-wien.gv.at. It is also the place to ask about mid-year entry, German-support provision and recognition of schooling done abroad, none of which follows the ordinary calendar. If you arrive outside the enrolment windows, that call is the first thing to make.