The Ministry of Education estimates that the allocation of school places will become smoother in 2027, when the new SAIS-3 information system is introduced, however.

In Tallinn alone, 4,659 students are due to graduate from junior high (põhikool) this year, while over half of them, or 2,471, are registered for the joint entrance examinations at the capital's four elite high schools (gümnaasium). Applications can be submitted to as many schools as desired.

"Those who applied to one of our classes in one way or another numbered close to 2,000. That is not fewer, but it is also not significantly more than in previous years," said Raido Kahm, academic affairs coordinator at Tallinna XXI School, one of the top high schools.

However, the planned hiking of the compulsory school attendance age to 18 has increased the number of applicants elsewhere as well.

"There are significantly more applicants. In previous years the number was somewhere between 600 and 700, but this year it exceeded 800, practically reaching 900. That is a challenge for us as a school as well," Anu Niegesen, director of the Old Town Education College (Vanalinna Hariduskolleegium), told "Aktuaalne kaamera."

This year, all schools must publish their lists of admitted upper secondary and vocational school students by June 9 at the latest. Following that deadline, students will have three days to make their decision. According to school leaders, the change does not resolve the previous issue of students having to wait all summer for confirmation of a school place, as the admissions process exerts something of a domino effect: if a student declines an offer, that place moves to the next person on the ranking list, then each new candidate is given a new decision deadline, prolonging admissions even after the initial offers have been made.

"It may happen that I really wanted to get into School X, but I did not receive an offer there. Instead, I got an offer from School Y, and within three days I have to choose whether to accept a place at School Y, which I did not actually want to attend, as I do not know what will happen with School X. In reality, the major confusion will begin after June 9," Niegesen explained.

"This is a new situation for us all, and it has been created largely due to the June 9 deadline. Before, we could issue invitations throughout the admissions process, and students who got an offer from the school they wanted would withdraw from interviews and promptly inform us or any other school that they were no longer interested. Now they have no reason to do that, as they will not know before June 9 whether they will get into their first choice school. And many probably will not know before June 12 or even June 15," Kahm added.

The Ministry of Education and Research has been urging students to make their decisions as quickly as possible. In the next academic year, the situation should become more convenient, however, thanks to a planned legislative amendment which will make it mandatory for students to indicate their school preferences. There are no plans to limit the number of schools to which a student may apply under this new system, though.

"At present, we do not foresee introducing such a restriction centrally. There will be no such limitation in SAIS3 either, but we believe that software-based solutions will allow us to make the process somewhat more automated for schools and therefore more convenient for them. By the beginning of the school year, it should already be developed enough for schools to start familiarizing themselves with it," said Riin Saadjärv, Senior Adviser for general and vocational education and youth policy at the ministry.

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