Overview
The maturita (maturitní zkouška) is the Czech Republic's secondary school-leaving examination, taken at the end of upper secondary education. It is organised in two parts: a common (state) part set and marked centrally through CERMAT, the national exam authority, and a profile (school) part set by each individual school. A student must pass both parts to receive the maturita certificate, which is the general qualification needed to apply to university and other tertiary study in the Czech Republic.
Who can apply
The maturita is sat by students finishing the final year of a four-year gymnázium, a longer six- or eight-year gymnázium, a secondary technical school (střední odborná škola), or a conservatory, typically at around 18 to 19 years old. It is not a separate exam that outside candidates register for independently in the usual case; it is taken as part of completing upper secondary school, through the student's own school.
Exam pattern
Common (state) part. Every student registers for two compulsory exams: Czech Language and Literature, and a second compulsory exam chosen between a Foreign Language or Mathematics. Both compulsory exams in the common part are held only as a written didactic test (a test of multiple-choice and short-answer items); there is no written essay or oral exam in this part. Students may also register for up to two further voluntary exams from the remaining common-part subjects; these do not count toward passing but appear on the certificate.
Profile (school) part. Czech Language and Literature is compulsory for everyone in the profile part too, and here it includes both a written composition and an oral exam before a school examination board. If a student chose Foreign Language as their second common-part exam, that same language is also examined in the profile part, again with a written and an oral component. Beyond these, each school's director sets two or three further compulsory profile exams (the exact number depends on the student's study programme) and may offer additional voluntary ones; subjects, format and topics are published by the school at least seven months before the first profile exam. At secondary technical schools, the profile part commonly includes a practical or project-based exam tied to the student's field of study.
Marking and results
Czech schools use a five-point scale for the maturita, as for all school grading: 1 (výborný, excellent) is the best grade, down to 5 (nedostatečný, fail). For the common-part didactic tests, CERMAT scores each test as a percentage of available points and converts it to this scale: roughly 87% or above for grade 1, 73–87% for grade 2, 58–73% for grade 3, 44–58% for grade 4, and below 44% for grade 5 (a fail). A didactic test is reported to the student as "passed" or "not passed" together with its percentage score. Profile-part exams are graded by the school's own examination board on the same 1–5 scale.
A student who fails one or more parts can retake only the failed exam(s), not the whole maturita, in a later exam period. Each exam subject can be retaken up to twice after the first attempt (two corrective attempts).
Important dates
For the spring 2026 exam period, applications had to be submitted through the student's school by 1 December 2025. The common-part didactic tests were held from 4 to 7 May 2026, with results delivered to schools by 15 May 2026.
A further, autumn exam period exists for students who fail a part, miss a part for a valid reason, or sit a resit; the application deadline for the autumn 2026 period is 25 June 2026. Autumn common-part didactic tests run within the window of 1 to 10 September 2026, with results available to schools by 10 September 2026. The profile part of each exam period is scheduled separately by each school within the period set for it.
After the exam
A student who passes both the common and profile parts receives the maturita certificate (maturitní vysvědčení). Under the Czech higher education act, this certificate (or an equivalent proof of completed secondary education) is required to enrol in a bachelor's or master's degree programme at a Czech university, and an officially certified copy is normally submitted at enrolment into the first year. A student who only completes the maturita in the autumn period is not automatically barred from starting university that year; universities generally handle such late enrolment on a case-by-case basis with the applicant.
Preparation tips
Decide the second compulsory common-part subject (Foreign Language or Mathematics) early, since it also determines whether that language carries through into the profile part as a written-and-oral exam.
Practise against official past didactic tests, since the test format and scoring bands are fixed nationally and repeat from year to year.
Check the school's own profile-part offer as soon as it is published, since topics, format and the number of compulsory profile exams are set by each school individually.
Keep the retake limit in mind: only the failed subject needs to be retaken, but each subject allows at most two further attempts.
What is the difference between the common part and the profile part?
The common part is the same nationwide: a Czech Language and Literature didactic test plus a Foreign Language or Mathematics didactic test, both set and scored centrally by CERMAT. The profile part is set by each individual school and includes a written and oral exam in Czech (and in the chosen foreign language, if applicable), plus further subjects the school itself chooses.
What happens if a student fails part of the maturita?
Only the failed exam needs to be retaken, not the full exam. The student can sit a corrective attempt in a later exam period (spring or autumn), and each subject allows up to two further attempts after the first one.
Is the maturita needed to start university in the Czech Republic?
Yes. Completed secondary education, evidenced by the maturita certificate, is a legal requirement for enrolling in a bachelor's or master's programme at a Czech university, and a certified copy of the certificate is normally required at enrolment.
Can someone who only passes in the autumn period still start university that year?
It is not automatically ruled out, but it depends on the university and the specific programme's enrolment process, since the autumn results come later than the spring ones. Applicants in this situation should check directly with the university they are applying to.