This year, all basic school graduates will be required to continue their studies. Applications for general and vocational secondary education open March 30 and close May 15, with enrollment offers to be issued starting June 9, the Ministry of Education and Research said.

Students who have yet to enroll by June 30 can reapply in a second round beginning July 15, while those needing extra support can enroll in preparatory programs.

Ministry secretary general Triin Laasi-Õige said the goal is to ensure every basic school graduate has a smooth transition to secondary education.

"It's very important that completing basic school and continuing their education is as seamless as possible for students and schools," she said.

Rollout expected by fall

Originally, spring 2026 admissions were slated to take place in SAIS3, Estonia's new unified online system. While the latest platform's functionality was completed, technical testing in late January revealed that it would be impossible to ensure the system's full reliability in the time originally scheduled.

As a result, applications this spring will proceed through SAIS2, sisseastumine.ee or other school-selected online systems.

"Our goal is to provide a reliable platform with strong functionality," said deputy secretary general Henry Kattago. "IT experts agree this is achievable, but we need more time."

He added that immediate, premature adoption of SAIS3 would be irresponsible, as schools need time to input data, adjust workflows and train staff.

The effort behind the new platform is not in vain, however, as the ministry confirmed it should be fully ready for broad use by September 1, for the 2026-2027 school year.

Tartu principal: Students and schools will bear the brunt of this

Merike Kaste, the principal at Tartu's Kristjan Jaak Peterson High School (KJPG), said repeated changes to the high school admissions process are hurting both students and schools.

"Over 2,000 students are applying through joint [admissions] exams in Tartu, and we normally interview more than 600 each year," Kaste said Tuesday, adding that it's simply impossible to interview that many while also running the school.

KJPG will admit 324 new students this fall.

Kaste said this year's nationwide standardization of the applications and admissions process, set by the education minister, also creates a double loss.

"It's a loss for the students, who often use this interview to demonstrate their genuine interest in coming here and prove there's a real person behind that name and ID number," she explained. It's also a loss for the schools, she continued.

"We lose the chance to see that spark we're looking for in their eyes, that person behind it," the principal said. "We're now losing that opportunity, and now admissions will be based purely on numbers."

She advised students to choose their prospective schools carefully, track application requirements online, focus on their basic school final exams and then prepare — whether for entrance exams or admissions interviews.

"And try to stay calm, as best you can," Kaste added.

For schools, the changes wipe out months of prep work and SAIS3 training, and they now have to scramble to prepare for alternatives.

"In Tartu, we've run joint entrance exams between five high schools for nine years," Kaste said. "Now we're going back to those same joint exams, I guess, and moving quickly to figure out how to make it work."

The City of Tallinn confirmed it will adjust to the latest situation, adding that the city's education department will support schools forced to revise admissions procedures already set under the ministry's earlier plans.

"Everyone needs to be patient in any case," said Deputy Mayor Andrei Kante (Center), adding that in light of last year's experience, there will be plenty of confusion.

Like Kaste, he also urged students to start looking into the rules and platforms their prospective schools will be using this spring.

"So we're essentially back to where we started," Kante said. "The plan was to standardize admissions, but unfortunately that isn't happening this year."

Lukas: Stop experimenting on our students

Former education minister Tõnis Lukas (Isamaa) called SAIS3's repeated delays yet another sign that the current minister's lofty plans are out of touch with reality.

"For the past three years, the Ministry of Education and Research has been a political testing ground," Lukas said. Kallas as minister may be an educational expert, he added, but she still doesn't seem to grasp that things don't just happen quite so easily.

"We've seen this pattern before: the minister announces a flashy plan with no technical overview for how it will be implemented," Lukas said. Officials then try to make it work, but schools are inevitably hampered by a too-short timeline.

"Now we're seeing [ministry] officials forced to explain the SAIS3 issue in the minister's stead," he commented. "Which is strange because just weeks ago, the minister herself was happy to criticize school leaders for expressing genuine concern over the adoption of the new system."

Lukas said that many schools have already put in work involving the planned new system — efforts which have now gone to waste.

"I hope the ministry stops experimenting on students, and that future plans are more thoroughly considered," he said. If not, he added, then it's time for someone else to take over.

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