Schooling and childcare in Vilnius

The shape of the system

Education is compulsory from the age of six, when pre-primary begins, until a child turns sixteen. The last two years, upper secondary, are optional. State schooling is free, and a place in it rests on the same declared address that everything else here rests on.

Applying to a municipal school

Applications to Vilnius municipal schools and kindergartens go through svietimas.vilnius.lt, and logging in needs Lithuanian e-banking credentials. The main centralised round runs from 1 March to 31 May; pupils are admitted year-round outside that window, with additional dates published by the City Municipality, but the good schools fill in the spring. Those dates can move, so check svietimas.vilnius.lt for the year you are applying in rather than trusting a window quoted elsewhere. How many schools one application may name, and how places are allocated when a school is oversubscribed, are worth asking the municipality's education department directly, because no public source sets them out.

• A child holding only a D visa rather than a temporary residence permit cannot use the online system at all, and must apply by email to the municipality's education department.
• Documents: an application form, identity documents for both parents and the child, a translated document certifying the child's prior learning achievements, and an annual medical check-up certificate.
• Individual schools may add requirements of their own.

Language, and the year your child lands in

Most schools teach in Lithuanian, and Vilnius also has state schools teaching in Polish and Russian; nationally there are schools teaching in Belarusian, German, English or French, and some run bilingual programmes. A child who does not speak Lithuanian can attend a levelling class to learn the language before joining a mainstream general education school. The year group is not a translation of the previous grade: a school commission assesses the foreign curriculum the child is arriving from and decides which part of the Lithuanian curriculum it matches.

The international schools

Vilnius International School runs the IB Primary Years and Middle Years Programmes plus Cambridge International AS and A Levels, for ages three to nineteen. The American International School of Vilnius follows an American standards-based curriculum from nursery at age two through Grade 12, admits on a rolling basis subject to space, and asks for a teacher evaluation form and the previous two years of school records in English. Both review applications on a rolling basis as space allows, and Vilnius International School begins its assessments in November for the following year, which is why November rather than March is the practical deadline.

• Vilnius International School tuition for 2026-27: €9,630 a year for Early Childhood, €10,755 for Grades 1 to 10, €11,880 for Grades 11 and 12, lunch included, payable in three instalments on 26 August, 26 November and 23 February.
• On top of that, a €100 non-refundable assessment fee on invitation and a one-time non-refundable initiation fee of €500. Cambridge exam fees in Grades 11 and 12 are extra.
• Families with official Vilnius city residency can apply for €120 a month of Early Childhood compensation from the municipality.
• The American International School of Vilnius charges a non-refundable application fee of €410. Its tuition is not published on comparable terms, so ask the school for the current schedule.

Lithuanian for the adults

Free Lithuanian courses run for non-EU citizens and stateless people who hold a Lithuanian residence permit and have declared residence in Vilnius. The course is 75 academic hours, delivered with Vytautas Magnus University, and ends in an academic certificate carrying ECTS credits. Registration was suspended and is due to reopen in autumn 2026, so ask International House Vilnius about the current intake.