This post is to keep UK institutions updated on disruptions across the EU Europe region caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. For more information, updates, webinars and other engagement opportunities, please see ‘Europe and education: Stay connected during Covid-19’.

These posts focus on nine priority countries: Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Romania and Spain. This week:

• Bulgaria: Matriculation exams taking place with 12-day delay, results due 26 June.
• Cyprus: Final-year students returning to school 11 May, Pancyprian dates to be announced.
• France: Baccalauréat and National Assessment grades to be based on continuous assessment; some schools to reopen for optional attendance
• Germany: Abitur taking place, with results due end June to end July; schools in some states beginning to reopen.
• Greece: Schools reopen for graduating seniors on 11 May, Panhellenic exams to be completed by 26 June.
• Romania: Baccalaureate exam to begin on 22 June; government quizzed on plans for potential new wave of cases in autumn.

If a country you’re interested in doesn’t appear here, or if you would like more details, please check previous weeks’ updates or contact the country representative. 

Past updates

• 29 April: Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Romania

• 22 April: Germany, Greece, Spain
• 16 April: Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Romania
• 8 April: Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain 

IELTS tests have been affected in all countries in Europe as a result of Covid-19 precautions. For the latest update by country, please check: https://www.ielts.org/news/2020/changes-to-ielts-test-arrangements-in-some-locations-due-to-novel-coronavirus. We are monitoring the situation very closely and will continue to provide updates as the situation develops. 

For more Europe updates, webinars, market insights and other services in international higher education, please go to your alerts settings and select updates by region from Europe. 

If you have any feedback, please contact me or any of the country staff listed below. 

Thank you - and stay safe. 

Almut Caspary – Higher Education and Research Lead, EU Europe (Almut.Caspary@britishcouncil.org). 

BULGARIA

Updated 5 May

Bulgaria’s lockdown will end on 14 May although some measures will stay in place. People are no longer required to wear masks in all public places; the rule now only applies to closed public spaces. From 6 May, mobility restrictions will be lifted to allow travel around the country without a special permit. Disinfection and social distancing rules are still in place.

School and university closures

Schools will remain closed and pupils will complete the academic year via online and distance learning, with two exceptions – students taking their final exams in the seventh and 12^th grade. These students will return to school in person to take their exams.

The academic year, recruitment campaigns and entry exams for universities are in most cases not delayed or delayed by a few days at most.

Examinations

As mentioned above, seventh- and 12^th-grade students will sit their final exams in person at school.

Grade 12 matriculation exams will take place on 1 and 3 June for compulsory subjects and 2 and 4 June for non-compulsory subjects, a 12-day delay from the normal schedule. High School Diplomas and Certificates will be issued on 26 June at the latest.

Most Bulgarian universities will hold their entrance exams at the end of June and beginning of July.

Contact

For more information about Bulgaria, please contact Ivo Slavov (Ivaylo.Slavov@britishcouncil.bg).

CYPRUS

Updated 5 May

Cyprus has launched its strategy to lift restrictions and restart the economy, with four phases from 4 May to 14 July which may be adjusted depending on epidemiological data. Public and private school graduates will return to school during the first phase.

School and university closures

Final year students at public and private schools will return on Monday 11 May with class sizes capped at 12 students. Students will attend preparation classes for final examinations and Pancyprian examinations, which are expected to take place in June (exact date to be announced). The Ministry of Education is meeting with teachers’ unions and parents to discuss reopening at all education levels from kindergarten to high schools.

Examinations

According to the latest update from CYQAA (Cyprus’s higher education quality assurance authority), higher institutes of tertiary education will be able to apply for alternative methods of assessment which should be aligned with the guidelines and standards of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA). Institutions can choose from a range of options depending on the nature of their course, their infrastructure and their students’ requirements. Tertiary education institutes and universities are encouraged to complete examinations within the current academic cycle using any of the alternative assessment methods. Universities and tertiary education institutions have already updated their examination timetables and delivery modes.

Examinations for lower and upper secondary students have been cancelled for this year, with the exception of final-year Lyceum students who will take Pancyprian examinations in the usual pen-and-paper format. Students will be examined only on the curriculum that was covered in class before the lockdown.

Private schools are following instructions from examination boards in terms of A-level examinations. There is no clarity for students at private tutoring institutes or those who have registered to take A-levels through private institutes.

Contact

For more information about Cyprus, contact Pantelitsa Michael (Pantelitsa.Michael@cy.britishcouncil.org).

FRANCE

Updated 5 May

Confinement will be lifted according to region (département) by means of a ‘red-orange-green’ rating, which will be released in full on 7 May. This is based on the number of new cases of the virus in an area. ‘Red’ regions will remain in confinement.

School and university closures

The government has sent a 60-page questionnaire to all schools and nurseries as part of reopening plans to ensure that all sanitary and social distancing measures are applied. The decision rests with the parents on whether to send children back to school. Teachers are also free to decide whether they wish to return in person. All children who do stay at home will continue to have access to distance learning.

Our education coordinator in France, Carole Hémard, writes: ‘In my town, the mayor has sent a survey to all parents to anticipate how many would want their children to come back to school from 11 May to 4 July. 30 per cent of the parents said they would not bring back their children to school, 38 per cent that they would, and 32 per cent that they don’t know yet.'

University courses will not start again before the autumn. Some research projects will restart from 11 May, provided they respect sanitary and social distancing measures. Some administration and student services will return to work from 11 May too.

Examinations

All end-of-school exams were cancelled several weeks ago and grades for exams such as the Baccalauréat and National Assessment will instead be awarded based on continuous assessment. Since this decision, the Parcoursup (equivalent of UCAS) calendar has not been modified. Students will still receive their offers to French universities via Parcoursup from 19 May to 17 July. They will need to confirm their course choices between 29 June and 1 July. Students can start to register at universities and schools from 17 July.

Student financial support

In June, the government will issue a €200 subsidy to 800,000 under-25s to compensate for loss of revenue or extra expenses due to the closure of university canteens and loss of small jobs or internships.

International students

French universities are greatly concerned about how to attract and welcome international students next year and are mapping out different scenarios and responses. Suggestions include distance learning for the first semester, extending their physical presence in other countries, offering summer or winter courses and having different strategies for countries inside and outside the Schengen space.

Further insights

A recent Heyme-20 Minutes-Opinion Way survey showed that 44 per cent of young people in France aged 18-30 think that the post-Covid society will be worse than before. The number one concern that they said they wanted the government to act on in the coming months was the environment (56 per cent of respondents), followed by revaluation of salaries for the health workers (55 per cent) and redistribution of essential products (53 per cent).

30 per cent of young people surveyed said they had seen a decrease in their revenue because of the crisis, and 46 per cent said they feared their mental health was at risk due to confinement.

Contact

For more information about France, please contact Catherine Saracco (Catherine.Saracco@britishcouncil.fr)

GERMANY

Updated 5 May

Important note: Education in Germany is largely devolved to the 16 federal states. This means there are differences in dates of exams and holidays, although general principles have been agreed Germany-wide.

On 4 May, Germany further relaxed some of its tight rules; many shops and hairdressers have reopened and in some states church services are allowed again, although all have to abide by hygiene regulations. The federal government will continue to monitor the situation closely and if the number of cases increases again, lockdown rules will be retightened. There are increasing calls for the regulations to be relaxed even further and to allow restaurants and hotels to reopen and get all children back to school. Local governments as well as the federal government are expected to announce further relaxations or adaptations to the rules this week, and differences between states are creating an increasingly mixed picture across the country.

School and university closures

Over the last week, primary and secondary schools and universities have been gradually resuming operations. Students in year groups with upcoming exams (e.g. year ten and nine or A-level equivalent students) or those due to transition from primary to secondary in the autumn have partially returned to school under strict social distancing conditions and with reduced class sizes. Teaching for these groups will be a mix of face-to-face and home schooling. The aim is for all pupils to return to school physically ‘at least once’ by the start of the summer holidays (end of June in some areas). Schools are implementing plans to realise this ambition on an individual basis. Naturally, some subjects such as PE and music are unlikely to be feasible in the usual way due to continued hygiene and distancing rules.

The university summer semester started on 20 April in many places, with teaching delivered almost exclusively online. Exact semester start dates differ across federal states, but most universities will start in the next few weeks.

Research at universities and research institutes is taking place under strict conditions. Libraries and archives can also operate if they adhere to rules.

Kindergartens are also slowly reopening. Emergency childcare continues to be provided for key workers and those with a demonstrable need (e.g. working single parents) while their children are not at school.

Examinations

Abitur (A-level equivalent) exams are currently taking place under strict social distancing conditions, with limited group sizes. Results are scheduled to be released before the start of the summer break (between the end of June and the end of July depending on the state and staggered school holiday dates).

University exams are permitted under strict regulations but some have been postponed and there has been an increase in online examinations (e.g. through remote invigilation).

Student financial support

BAföG (the main German state-sponsored student support scheme) will continue to be paid even if students currently cannot attend their course or training programme.

In previous updates, we reported that the federal ministry of education has announced the launch of interest-free loans up to €650 per month for students who are struggling financially as a result of the pandemic. The ministry has now said that it will establish a €100 million relief fund for the hardest hit students. There has, however, been criticism that the loans are not accessible for most international (including EU) students.

For school children, several individual state governments are funding either grants or procuring equipment for children in low-income families (e.g. in Berlin). As previously reported, the federal government is also offering €150 grants to low-income families to buy mobile devices such as tablets for distance learning.

Online and remote education provision

Remote teaching is taking place across the country, although there is still a mixed picture in terms of the capability of schools and teachers to deliver lessons remotely (e.g. internet access, availability of suitable platforms, individual skills). Provision varies from parents being sent PDFs of the week’s work plan to videoconference-assisted group learning sessions (especially for older pupils).

Other insights: Media

German media continues to focus first and foremost on the situation in Germany, then the USA and Sweden. There is regular coverage of the situation in the UK; some reports on the financial challenges facing the UK higher education sector have appeared in the German educational press or in the education sections of newspapers. The concerns of universities in the USA and Australia regarding their international student intake have also been covered.

Contact

For more information about Germany, please contact Ailsa Kienberger (ailsa.kienberger@britishcouncil.de).

GREECE

Updated 5 May

This week, Greece moved from ‘staying home’ to ‘staying safe’, with confinement measures starting to be lifted after 37 days of lockdown. The week-by-week reactivation programme begins this week with the reopening of some businesses and free movement within cities and prefectures without certification. This will gradually lead up to the planned reopening of indoor restaurants and coffee shops in mid-June along with seasonal tourist accommodation and the reopening of Greek islands for tourism. Air travel between Greece and Italy, Spain, Turkey, the UK, the Netherlands and Germany is suspended until 15 May and other routes may be closed at any time. The situation will be closely monitored and may be adjusted depending on how cases of the virus develop.     

School and university closures

Secondary schools will reopen on 11 May for graduating seniors, followed by other grades on 18 May. The school year will be extended for grades seven to 12 until 12 June, while the next academic year will probably begin earlier, on 1 September.  

For universities, semester dates will not change and online learning for students on taught programmes will continue until the end of the academic semester.

From 25 May, lab- and clinical-based subjects will resume face-to-face activity.  

Examinations

Panhellenic exams will begin on 15 June for general lyceums; for vocational lyceums, they will begin on 16 June; the exams will be completed by 26 June. No other end-of-year examinations will be held for other grades.

University semester exams will be delivered according to guidance issued by the National Health Committee; this will be announced shortly. Deputy Minister for Higher Education Professor Digalakis said that ‘every professor has the responsibility to choose how to examine their subject whilst ensuring compliance to health and safety regulations’. He encouraged universities to use all possible methods of examination such as assignments and oral exams via teleconference. Where written exams requiring physical presence are essential, these will have to comply with guidance from the National Health Committee.

Language exams will also be conducted in June and July in line with the National Health Committee guidelines.

Further information

• Ministry of Education Covid-19 re-opening programme (available in Greek only)
• Greek education news on-line platform https://www.esos.gr/ (in Greek).

Contact

For more information about Greece, please contact Maria Tsakali (Maria.Tsakali@britishcouncil.gr).

ROMANIA

Updated 5 May

From 15 May, the official state of emergency in Romania will be lifted and replaced with a ‘state of alert’. In a press briefing on 4 May, President Klaus Iohannis said that people will be able to move freely between localities without special documents, although restrictions will remain in place in towns under quarantine. Personal care salons, dental offices and museums will also open under social distancing and hygiene conditions. These include the wearing of face masks in enclosed public spaces and on public transport.

School and university closures

Kindergartens, schools and universities will mainly remain closed and students will complete the school year by 12 June via distance and online teaching and learning. The exception is students in grades eight and 12, who, depending on the decision of their parents, can return to school after 2 June to prepare for the national exams. Class sizes will be capped at 12 students.

Education Minister Monica Anisie has been questioned about how the school system is preparing to cope with a potential second wave of Covid-19 cases in the autumn. This was particularly after Romania’s health minister Nelu Tataru said last Saturday that a second wave of Covid-19 infections could come around October to December, and that the government was not ruling out extending school closures or reinstating them next academic year.

In a press conference on 5 May, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban briefed journalists about a meeting due to place at the Ministry of Education with representatives of the independent school sector, during which the reopening of private school units such as nurseries will be discussed. ‘Someone has to take care of children while their parents are at work, but we are waiting for the opinion of epidemiologists,’ Orban said.

Examinations

The graduation exam taken by all students at the end of eighth grade will take place on 15 June, two weeks later than planned. The Baccalaureate, Romania's final-year and university entrance exam, is scheduled to start on 22 June. Prime Minister Ludovic Orban confirmed this in a press conference on 5 May.

Remote and online education provision

Minister Anisie has announced that initial statistics collected by the Ministry of Education show that some 250,000 children still lack the necessary equipment to engage with online education. The Education Ministry has published a draft government decision to allocate 150 million RON (around £27 million) to support children from disadvantaged backgrounds with devices and internet connectivity.

Contact

For more information about Romania, please contact Gabriel Ivan (gabriel.ivan@britishcouncil.ro).

COUNTRY REPRESENTATIVES

• Bulgaria: Ivaylo.Slavov@britishcouncil.bg 

• Cyprus: pantelitsa.michael@cy.britishcouncil.org 
• France: Catherine.Saracco@britishcouncil.fr  
• Germany: ailsa.kienberger@britishcouncil.de  
• Greece: Maria.Tsakali@britishcouncil.gr  
• Italy: Filomena.Casamassa@BritishCouncil.it  

• Poland: Julia.Plachecka@britishcouncil.pl  
• Romania: gabriel.ivan@britishcouncil.ro 
• Spain: Carolina.Jimenez@britishcouncil.es