Changes in education coming in Greece: The national baccalaureate, the new high school and the new way of entering universities

The new year brings significant reforms in education

All the changes in education coming in 2026: The national baccalaureate, the new high school and the new way of entering universities

The change in the method of admission to universities with the National Baccalaureate system, with simultaneous changes to the Lyceum, so that it stops functioning as a vestibule of universities and restores its rightful prestige as an independent educational unit, constitutes the new major reform planned in Education. Together with the strengthening of the internationalization of public universities and the expansion of the establishment of new non-state universities, as well as the new digital school, they constitute the main priorities of the political leadership of the Ministry of Education for 2026.

High on the agenda of Education Minister Sofia Zacharaki for the new year is the completion of the phase of recruitment of substitute teachers, which is expected soon, and the resolution of the issue of teacher housing. The digital school and the integration of Artificial Intelligence in education will dominate the new year, as will changes to the PISA issue, in order for Greek students to raise their performance and rank higher in the international competition.

The central foundation of the ministry’s educational policy, according to Ms. Zacharaki, remains teachers, with their systematic training and increased number of recruitments. Further strengthening schools with psychologists and social workers in order to more effectively address the issue of school bullying is a “bet” for the new year as well.

Regarding school infrastructure, through the “Marietta Giannakou” program, an additional 2,500 schools are planned to be upgraded over the next three years, with a total budget of 650 million euros. At the same time, the creation of 13 Innovation Centers is progressing, as well as the equipping of schools with modern technological, laboratory, sports and music infrastructure.

The “eternal” students

The start of the new year will also mark the completion of the first cycle of the deletions of the so-called “eternal” students, as approximately 280,000 “backlogged” students will have received a relevant email from the Institutions, while a second chance is being given to those who have recently actively declared their presence in academic life by participating in the exams.

University administrations, according to a relevant ministerial decision, must have completed the process of deletions and have sent the lists of deleted students to the Directorate of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education.

At the same time, a favorable regulation of the ministry gives a one-year “life extension” to approximately 35,000 students who meet the conditions, in order to complete their studies. According to the timetable set by the ministry, the relevant list should be posted anonymously on the Department’s website and sent to the Ministry of Education by December 31 of each year.

In December 2026, those who exceed the legally prescribed time limits for five-year studies (polytechnics, etc. schools) should be deleted, and one year later, those who are in a six-year cycle of studies (medicine).

New university admission system

At the beginning of the new year, the start of the national dialogue on Education is expected, with the Minister of Education, Sofia Zacharaki, inaugurating meetings with political leaders, party representatives and all involved education bodies in order to put on the table the government proposal for the establishment of the National Baccalaureate, the New High School and the new university admission system.

The plan for the establishment of the National Baccalaureate includes the admission of candidates to universities with the grade of the Lyceum baccalaureate, for which the students’ scores in all three grades of Lyceum will be taken into account, in different percentages, in combination with their performance in the national-type graduation exams that will again be held in four subjects per scientific field.

The plan drawn up by a ministry committee provides for national-type exams at the end of A, B and C grades of high school, the results of which will be taken into account for admission to universities, with a participation rate of 20% for A grade, 30% for B grade and 50% for C grade.

The promotional exams for A and B Lyceum are evolving into national exams and 100% of the subjects will be selected by lottery from the Subject Bank, while the abolition of the in-school graduation exams that are currently taken by students in the last year of Lyceum to receive their graduation certificate is being promoted, as candidates for universities take the Panhellenic Exams a few days later.

The new high school plays a central role

The basic philosophy of the Ministry of Education is that the newly formed New High School should acquire a central role and cease to be a “vestibule” for universities. At the same time, admission to Higher Education Institutions will no longer depend exclusively on the Panhellenic Examinations, thus reducing the impact of the psychologically damaging examination process, which causes anxiety in most students.

The changes that will be finalized next year will be made without any surprises for candidates, and for this reason, their implementation is planned to begin with students who graduate from high school this year and will attend the first year of high school in the 2026-2027 school year.

However, the exact timing of the implementation of the reform will depend on the completion of the required preparation, for which the necessary prerequisites are the upgraded Subject Bank and the introduction of the Multiple Book in all schools.

The project is scheduled to be implemented in 2026 by the Institute of Educational Policy (IEP), which is being upgraded and will assume the scientific supervision of the Subject Bank, which will form the core of the changes with 13,000 topics. From these topics, the core subjects for the issuance of the National Baccalaureate will be examined in-school.

It is proposed to establish a national body of evaluated graders, while the method of grading written papers with the new system and the determination of the weighting courses per direction are being studied. In this context, external or double grading is proposed, since, as it is argued, reliability cannot be left exclusively to the internal judgment of the professor who undertakes to grade the candidates’ written papers.

Artificial Intelligence is entering dynamically

Artificial Intelligence is planned to be introduced into Education, in a way that students and teachers can come closer to A.I. within the safe school environment. In this context, starting in March, for students of A and B Lyceum, the new, pilot educational program “AI in Schools” will bring to Greek schools “ChatGPT Edu”, the special version of ChatGPT designed exclusively for Education.

“AI in Schools” will be implemented in 20 High Schools, in collaboration with OpenAI, the Onassis Foundation and the organization “The Tipping Point in Education”, offering safe and creative use of Artificial Intelligence in the educational process.

Teachers will be able to create personalized GPTs for lesson planning, assessment material production and administrative support, while students will use the technology for personalized learning, idea development, foreign language learning and research. Also, within 2026, the use of the EduPlan digital platform will utilize Artificial Intelligence for timely forecasting of needs and rational staffing of school units.

The digital steps

At the same time, the program of installing interactive whiteboards is being expanded with 2,900 more, which will be installed in schools by the summer, as well as the creation of robotics and STEM laboratories in schools. The digital school will be strengthened with innovative tools: 3D holograms, digital learning assistants with AI, electronic and audio books – ebooks and audiobooks, as well as support material for parents. At the same time, 13 Innovation Centers with modern learning spaces are being created.

The support and strengthening of model and Experimental Schools is on the agenda of the leadership of the Ministry of Education for 2026 as well. Indicative is the fact that by 2028 the Experimental Schools will increase from 120 to 133.

The internationalization of public universities

Public universities are investing in extroversion, in an effort to make Greece a pole of attraction for foreign students and to transform it into a regional education center. The Ministry of Education will also strengthen the extroversion of universities in 2026, which has already borne fruit. The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens currently has 8,015 foreign undergraduate and postgraduate students and there are 240 foreign doctoral candidates.

Also, the National University of Cyprus established a branch in Cyprus, the University of Thessaly plans to establish a Veterinary School in Cyprus in the new year, while the Democritus University of Thrace aims to create a branch in Egypt in 2026. The new position of the universities on the educational “map” includes 74 joint or double postgraduate programs with foreign universities, more foreign-language undergraduate programs and enhanced international collaborations.

The new arrivals

The deadline for submitting files regarding the establishment and operation of new branches of foreign universities as Legal Entities of University Education for the next academic year, 2026-2027, was set by the Ministry of Education as February 28, while applications can be submitted throughout the year.

The new applications to be submitted, as reported, are expected to be from Deree and Sunderland University. The Ministry of Education, through a legislative provision submitted to Parliament, allows the 8 institutions whose study programs were not approved by the National Council for Higher Education and Research in the first evaluation process to resubmit their enriched files.

In order to submit a re-evaluation application, a prerequisite is the waiver of legal remedies against the initial negative opinion of the ETHAEEU. These regulations address, among other things, issues related to the expansion of the possibility of operating a branch with only one School and at least one study program, under specific conditions.

According to the provision, the file for the issuance of a license to establish and operate a branch of a Legal Entity of University Education may now be re-evaluated once, after the notification to the requesting parent institution of a negative opinion from the National Authority for Higher Education. The re-evaluation may be requested without the re-submission of a letter of guarantee or fee.

The four universities that received licensing from the ATHEAE and are already operating are Anatolia University in Thessaloniki, the University of Nicosia in Athens, the University of Keele in Athens in collaboration with the Metropolitan College, and the University of York, which collaborates with the City in Thessaloniki.