Education in Uruguay: school levels, Bachillerato and the open public university
A factual overview of Uruguayan schooling, the Bachillerato stage, the open access of the Universidad de la Republica and national assessments.
In short
Uruguay stands out in the region because its main public university is open to anyone holding the secondary certificate. Public education is administered by ANEP, the national administration of public education, and the Ministry of Education and Culture sets policy. There is no national entrance exam for most university careers, so what a student does in Bachillerato is the key preparation.
School levels
The General Education Law of 2008 makes schooling compulsory from the age of four until the end of upper secondary. The stages are:
- Initial education: for children from three to five years old, with the last years compulsory.
- Primary school: six years, taught by a single class teacher in most schools.
- Basic secondary, ciclo basico: three years, with a common curriculum of language, mathematics, sciences and social studies.
- Upper secondary, Bachillerato: three years, with orientations such as humanities, sciences, arts and economics. The student chooses a path in the later grades.
Technical education is offered by the technical branch of ANEP, and it combines school subjects with workshops. The school year runs from March to December. Public schools are free, and private schools, many linked to religious or community groups, also exist.
The Plan Ceibal, started in the first decade of this century, gave every public school pupil a laptop and an internet connection, and it supports digital learning in classrooms.
University access
The Universidad de la Republica, called Udelar, is the main public university. It is publicly funded, and undergraduate studies are free of tuition fees. Students who hold a Bachillerato title can enrol in most careers without a selection exam. Some programmes ask for a pre-enrolment, a diagnostic test or an orientation course, and some careers with limited resources use special admission rules. Adults without the title may sometimes enter through a special route for older applicants.
Other options include the Universidad Tecnologica, UTEC, which has regional campuses, the Universidad Catolica and other private universities, and the teacher training institutes. Private universities decide their own admission and charge fees.
National assessments
- Aristas: a national assessment of learning run by the national institute for educational evaluation, INEEd, which offers information about achievement in subjects such as reading and mathematics.
- PISA: Uruguay takes part in this international sample assessment of fifteen-year-olds.
- Professional titles: after finishing the degree, graduates ask the university for their title and register in their professional bodies.
Because Udelar is open, an international exam such as a language test matters more for students who plan to leave for graduate study abroad.
Studying in Uruguay
Spanish is the language of instruction. The Rioplatense accent of Montevideo shares features with Argentina, and speech with Portuguese influence is heard near the border with Brazil. Montevideo contains the large majority of the university facilities, with regional centres of Udelar in towns such as Salto, Maldonado and Rivera.
A practical plan for Uruguayan students:
- Choose a Bachillerato orientation that matches the faculty you want, as it supplies the background expected in the first year.
- Look at the faculty programme in the summer before enrolment and read the first-semester subjects.
- Practise self-directed study, because large first-year courses give students more independence than school did.
- Join a study group in your faculty, and use the library and the online learning platform of the university.
- For study abroad, prepare a language test or an international aptitude test early, since the school calendar leaves little room in the final term.
Preparing with GetMyMockTest
Uruguay does not yet have a local exam bank on this site beyond a first Bachillerato practice set. Check the official format with each organiser.
- Bachillerato Udelar Uruguay: practice questions in English on topics from upper secondary studies.
- IELTS, TOEFL, SAT and IB Diploma: free English-language practice for students who plan to study abroad or follow an international curriculum.
Every question, explanation, mock test and flashcard deck is free.