Primary and secondary education

Primary education lasts 6 years and is intended for children aged 6 to 12.

Secondary education lasts 3 years. There are different types of secondary education:

• general secondary education
• religious secondary education
• technical secondary education

These different types of secondary education each have their own diplomas. Below, we describe the diplomas we often see.

Pupils get this diploma when they pass the national exam of lower general secondary education. In Egypt, primary education and lower secondary education together are called ‘basic education’.

• Duration i : 6 years (primary education) + 3 years (lower secondary education).
• Content: general education subjects.
• Function of the diploma: access to all types of upper secondary education and secondary vocational education.
• Diploma: Basic education certificate / شهادة اتمام الدراسة بمرحلة التعليم الأساسي

This is the diploma of lower religious secondary education.

• Duration: 3 years.
• Content: mainly the same as the content of the Basic education certificate, with extra religious subjects.
• Admission requirements: completed primary education.
• Function of the diploma: access to all types of upper secondary education.
• Diploma: Preparatory education certificate of Al-Azhar / الشهادة الإعدادية الأزهرية.

This is the diploma of upper technical secondary education. Students are taught at a technical secondary school.

• Duration: 3 years (grades 10-12).
• Content: subjects concerning agriculture, commerce or industry. Since the school year 2022-2023, 2 specialisations have been added: hospitality and technology.
• Admission requirements: a Basic education certificate with study results that do not give access to general secondary education.
• Function of the diploma: access to secondary vocational education if students obtained their diploma with a final result of at least 70%. In some cases, access to higher education is also possible.
• Diploma: one of the following diplomas:
  • Secondary school technical diploma in agriculture (3-year study programme) / دبلوم المدارس الثانوية نظام الثلاث سنوات زراعي
  • Secondary school technical diploma in commerce (3-year study programme) / دبلوم المدارس الثانوية نظام الثلاث سنوات تجاري
  • Secondary school technical diploma in industry (3-year study programme) / دبلوم المدارس الثانوية نظام الثلاث سنوات صناعي
    Please note: from 2025 onwards, we will see the first diplomas in the new specialisations (hospitality and technology).

This is the diploma of upper general secondary education. Students get the diploma when they pass the national exam / شهاده التنوية العامة.

• Duration: 3 years (grades 10-12).
• Content: in the 1st year, all students take the same general education subjects. From the 2nd year onwards, students choose a programme of study and a corresponding subject cluster for which they take subjects. They can choose from the following programmes of study:
  • the general (academic) programme of study with 2 possible subject clusters: literature /أدبي or (natural) sciences /علمي; or
  • the technical programme of study with 3 possible subject clusters: agriculture / زراعي, commerce /تجاري or industry / صناعي.
• Admission requirements: a Basic education certificate.
• Function of the diploma: access to higher education.
• Diploma: General secondary education certificate / شهادة اتمام الثانوية العامة.

This is the diploma of upper religious secondary education. Students are taught at a school that is affiliated to the Al-Azhar institute.

• Duration: 3 years (grades 10-12).
• Content: the subjects can be divided into 3 groups: religious education, Arabic language and general education.
• Admission requirements: a lower secondary education diploma.
• Function of the diploma: access to higher education.
• Diploma: Secondary education certificate of Al-Azhar / شهادة الثانوية الأزهرية.