Primary and secondary education

Pupils aged 5½-14 follow 8 years of primary education (ilkögretim okulu), after which they progress to secondary education.

After primary education (ilköğretim), students can choose one of the following types of secondary education:

• general secondary education, concluded with exams for a Lise Diploması;
• technical secondary education, concluded with exams for a Teknik Lisesi Diploması;
• vocational secondary education, concluded with exams for a Meslek Lisesi Diploması..

Students conclude general secondary education with exams for a Lise Diploması. In 2005, the duration of Turkish general secondary education was extended from 3 to 4 years. This led to the 12th year of study after 8 years of primary education (12. sınıf). Students complete this year of study at a general secondary school (genel lise).

• Duration: 4 years.
• Content: there are 6 subject clusters: fen bilimleri (natural sciences), Türkçe-matematik (Turkish-mathematics), yabancı dil (foreign language), sosyal bilimler (social sciences), sanat (art) and spor (physical education). It is also possible not to choose a subject cluster. In that case, alanı/dalı states: alan(ı) yok on the diploma.
• Function of the diploma: grants the right to take university entrance examinations.
• Diploma: Lise Diploması.

Please note: 'at least a HAVO diploma' means that the diploma has a higher level than a HAVO diploma, but a lower level than a VWO diploma. The level of the diploma lies between a HAVO diploma and a VWO diploma.

Types of secondary schools

Students may also choose to attend a secondary school of a type other than a genel lise. For example:

• Private schools (Özel Ortaöğretim). These schools were not founded by the government. Aside from Turkish private schools, these include ‘minority schools’ (for the Greek, Armenian and Jewish communities), schools with a non-Turkish curriculum (such as American, French or German schools) and international schools (for expats only).
• Imam Hatip schools. These schools provide the same general education as a genel lise, but additionally train students for the profession of imam (boys) or religious studies teacher (girls).

Technical secondary education allows students to obtain a Teknik Lisesi Diploması from a technical secondary school (teknik lise).

• Duration: 4 years.
• Content: general education subjects, with an extra focus on sciences. In addition, students develop skills for a specific profession.
• Function of the diploma: this diploma grants admission to university entrance examinations for all specialisations.
• Diploma: Teknik Lisesi Diploması.

Vocational secondary education allows students to obtain a Meslek Lisesi Diploması from a vocational secondary school (meslek lise).

• Duration: 4 years.
• Content: students receive general education in Year 1 and choose a vocational specialisation from Year 2. This specialisation is usually mentioned on the diploma in front of the word Meslek.
• Function of the diploma: this diploma grants admission to university entrance examinations following a compulsory additional year at a teknik lise.
• Diploma: Meslek Lisesi Diploması.