When studies are started immediately after the acquisition of secondary education, people often start planning for the future directly with thoughts of further learning in a particular university. However, it is certainly worth assessing the situation in the long term: in which professions your skills, qualities and knowledge will be assessed by employers and what opportunities the education acquired will provide in the labour market. A major role in the study is also played by the results and achievements that have been achieved in the specific subjects. Look at the steps to be done from far to the nearest: taking into account your strengths and weaknesses, find out what work you will do best, then what education is needed, and then what university and study programme would be the most appropriate. It will reduce the likelihood that you will start constantly changing curricula or educational establishments in the hope of confronting the “real” that will deliver fulfillment and allow for successful inclusion in the working environment. Identify your target, only then the ways to reach.

Career tests and counselling

Getting to know yourself as a potential employee, knowing the main characteristics of your character and attitudes is very important when making choices about future careers and studies that will help you get to it. One of the easiest ways to find out your interests, abilities and values in the context of careers and studies is different tests. They are available in contact with the State Employment Agency for Career Consultants.

If you want to receive personalised information about the educational or professional pathway of your interest and ask questions to a knowledgeable specialist, career advice is a good choice: every citizen who has an up-to-date choice of the curriculum, choice of profession and job, career planning, etc. can apply for it. State Employment Agency Provises Free Career consultation, during which the assessment of professional fitness and training capacity is determined. A career adviser is also tasked with providing psychological support and educating clients on career choices and planning issues. Advice may be given to:

• Unemployed persons and job seekers registered in the State Employment Agency;
• people with current career planning – workers, pupils, students and any other lead.

Information on available career services and their progress can be obtained by the State Employment Agencies website. Job descriptions and job tasks of interest can be obtained by the State Employment Agency in electronic form. List of fields and professions of training. Meanwhile, the profession classifier is available at the Ministry of Welfare website.

Individual counselling is also available in higher education career centres. They offer a variety of free counselling and practical assistance to prospective and existing students, as well as graduates. Advisers can help set targets and design a plan to achieve them, find the right jobs or places of practice, choose the direction of studies, and so on. The services of career centres shall be provided by:

• University of Latvia;
• Riga Stradins University;
• Riga Technical University;
• etc. higher education institutions.

Practices, volunteering and career opportunities, including abroad

No theory-based instrument will provide such a good idea of the everyday and necessary knowledge of the profession as practical experience. This can be provided by business practices or voluntary activities. Places of practice can be searched for by questioning parents, friends and acquaintances, as well as by looking for published practice offers on different job vacancy and practice portals. You can also ask about different practices in university career centres.

Portal www.profesijupasaule.lv there is an opportunity to broaden your views on the diversity of professions or posts and to obtain information on the content of the work and the requirements of those professionals or professionals. The portal contains a description of the profession, an interview with the professional, a gallery of photographs and the possibilities for acquiring the profession. The portal provides the opportunity to get acquainted with the selected profession www.prakse.lv by offering a wide range of video Virtual practices on the day-to-day works, specifics and nuances of the various professions, as well as information on a whole range of professions Latvian Business. Porta lwww.prakse.lv it is possible to apply for a place of practice in a particular company, institution or organisation.

You can also find a place of practice abroad, with foreign language training being added to the benefits. Extensive opportunities for foreign practices are available through the resources offered by the European Union:

• Practices of organisations and bodies of the European Union for students and graduates;
• ERASMUS for Students;
• Practice in the European Parliament.

Volunteering is most often focused on helping a social group, an organisation dealing with charity, environmental issues, etc., and can include very different activities. Volunteering can provide insight into the work of many industries and offer a broad profile of experience. You may be interested in the possibilities of volunteers:

• The municipality;
• University of Latvia Career Centre website;
• Youth International Programme Agencies website;
• portal www.europa.eu.

Citizens of the Member States of the European Union under the age of 30 may apply for a European Voluntary Service which helps young people to participate in voluntary projects abroad. More information:

• European Commission website;
• The European Youth Portal.

Every citizen of a Member State of the European Union has the right to work, study, travel and apply for employment in one of the Member States. In addition, these rights shall be implemented in accordance with the same rules as those applicable to nationals of the Member State concerned. Information on job opportunities in other Member States can be obtained via the EURES website of the European Employment Services and Job Mobility Network or through contact with the National Employment Agencies for EURES advisers. As well as every Friday, with the exception of holidays, on the European Job Mobility Portal from 13.00 to 15.00 by Latvian time (12.00 – 14.00 (CET)) EURES Chat. It is a great opportunity to ask and get answers online to questions of interest.

The initiative created by the European Commission proposes to set up online both their CV and their language passport and provide examples and recommendations for the production of a proof of mobility, an attachment to a diploma and evidence of formal qualifications that will be useful for applying for vacancies abroad.

If you are familiar with your areas of interest and have an idea of what course of study would be the most appropriate, the next step is to choose a specific study programme. Only accredited universities or colleges are entitled to issue a nationally recognised diploma. Accreditation is a procedure for evaluating the performance and quality of an institution or college for the implementation of study programmes. The list and contact details of higher education institutions and study programmes accredited in Latvia can be consulted by the Ministry of Education and Science website or Higher Education Quality Agencies on the e-platform.

Latvian education system to be considered infographic. In higher education, study programmes are broken down by level: basic studies, higher-level and doctoral studies. The first two-tier studios can be full-time and part-time. Full-time studies mean 40 are getting in the academic year credit score that is to say, studies are devoted to a total of 40 weeks of full-time study work (the duration of the academic hour is 45 mins). Basic study programmes shall be studied in full-time studies within three or four years. Part-time studies, in turn, have a lower level of study per academic year, i.e. less than 40 credits per year. Basic study programmes in part-time studies shall be completed in three and a half-five years.

The duration of studies also depends on whether you will study in an academic or professional program that will also give professional qualifications alongside an academic degree. Higher education offers to acquire a bachelor's, master's or doctorate in one of the sciences, while higher vocational education offers professional qualifications and an appropriate level of professional degree in a particular speciality. Degrees to be obtained in medical and dental studies (six - and five-year studies, respectively) give the beneficiaries the right to continue their studies in doctoral or residential studies.

Higher education institutions website read the following information:

• the content of study programmes offered by the higher education institution;
• the number of places of study in the programme and the distribution of fees and budget places;
• tuition and tuition discounts;
• the possibility of acquiring a study programme in full or part-time studies;
• procedures for applying for a specific training programme, requirements and necessary documents.

If you want to find out which graduates are most employed, then the State Employment Agencies Labour market forecasting tool offers to meet TOP 15 universities at employment levels. Information is available in different sections, such as education levels and educational programmes offered by universities.

Portal Latvija.lv using the available e-service Electronic application to study in undergraduate programmes it is possible to apply for studies in twelve Latvian high schools:

• Bank High School;
• In Business, Arts and Technology Heights RISEBA;
• Daugavpils University;
• In economics and cultural higher education;
• Information System Management School;
• Latvian Agricultural University;
• At the University of Latvia;
• University of Liepājas;
• Rezekne Academy of Technology;
• Riga Technical University;
• Ventspils High School;
• Vidzeme High School.

On-site approval of the application will not be required under the following conditions:

• secondary education has been obtained in Latvia and the data of the secondary education document are available in the unified State registers (Latvia's secondary school graduates, starting in 2019, have access to data in the unified State registers, may not have),
• the centralised examination in a foreign language shall not be replaced by the international test
• be a citizen or non-citizen of Latvia,
• meeting the reception requirements in the selected study programmes and not requiring other data that are not available in the single data records (for example, you are exempted from centralised examinations, there are benefits to be certified by documents, etc.),
• an application registration fee has been made in the e-service.

Important! If one of the above criteria is not fulfilled at the time of the electronic establishment and approval of the application, the application must be confirmed on-site.

You will be able to apply electronically, or you will be able to complete the application by another person if you provide the necessary educational data. When applying electronically, each applicant may mark up to 10 programmes and 20 priorities, such as studies on public funds or personal resources. Following the approval of an application on-site, there is a possibility of changing the priorities of the study programmes. Results can be received on the portal Latvija.lv, in the form of SMS and e-mail.

Applicants who have already acquired the coveted place of study in the first round shall be required to enter into study contracts at the times specified by the institution of higher education. However, those who have failed Round 1 have to confirm their participation in Round 2. Otherwise the study site will be lost! More information about applying for studies is available on the portal Latvija.lv.

Upon arrival at reception, please bring:

• attestation or diploma;
• Annex – Statement of Success;
• centralised examination certificates;
• documents demonstrating the advantages of Olympic Games, competitions for scientific works, etc. (if any);
• marriage certificate (if the documents are with another surname).

Riga Stradiņš University can apply for studies electronically e-Reception System, Business High School Turkeness offers electronic registration questionnaire.

It is also helpful to use the ability to look at statistical data. Statistical data shall represent the number of approved applications for each reception programme in 12 Latvian universities. The data is updated every hour. Use e-service to do this Statistics on applications for basic study programmes.

In individual study programmes, one of the selection criteria is the results reported in interventional checks. In order to prepare for municipal checks, prep courses offered.

If you have already obtained secondary education, but to enter into the intended study programme you need a centralised examination that you have not sorted, the assessment obtained is insufficient or you want to improve the result, each year there is an opportunity to apply for centralised examinations in universities that have concluded a cooperation agreement with National Educational Content Centre. The conduct of centralised examinations in higher education shall be organised at the same time as the course of the examinations in schools on a uniform basis. An examination may be taken once in the course of that training year. If the assessment obtained is not satisfied, the examination may be re-applied for in the following school year.

It is increasingly popular among young people to choose to spend part or full study time abroad. Every citizen of Latvia as a Member State of the European Union has the same right to study in one of the Member States. Similar opportunities are also available in the European Economic Area (EEA) countries, such as Norway, etc. When studying outside the European Union and the European Economic Area, additional conditions are likely to be required for visas, higher fees for studies, etc. The choice of a national and study programme may be influenced by the national education system, study fees, cost of living, etc. The various information resources and services provided by the State can make it easier to choose and help to make a reasoned decision.

Study programmes

You can find out about studies abroad by the National Agency for Development of Education website. National Education Development Agency has compiled a list of European countries national education capacity databases where you can search for information on practical studies, residence and financial affairs, necessary documents, and find useful links to educational and governmental websites.

The right to study in the Member States of the European Union shall be exercised in accordance with the same rules and rights as apply to nationals of the Member State concerned. The payment of studies to all nationals of the Member States shall be equal. In countries of the European Economic Area, foreign students tend to have higher tuition fees. The State Education Development Agency shall provide detailed information on the higher education system of the Member States of the European Union, including formal study requirements in Europe.

The Latvian diploma, attestation or other documents which need to be submitted abroad may be certified or legalised. This is done to bring public documents drawn up in one country into legal force in another country. Read more about this by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.

Recognition of a diploma obtained abroad

If you have acquired an education in foreign states, an expert-examination may be performed for the educational document obtained in order to determine which Latvian academic degree or educational document it may be assimilated to. Such an expert-examination shall be carried out and a statement shall be issued by the Academic Information Centre and shall be a fee service. Read more about this at the Academic Information Center website. A statement may be necessary if it is planned to continue the studies in Latvia or if the employer so requests.

On the basis of a statement issued by the Academic Information Centre, the institution of higher education will decide on the recognition of an academic degree or educational document obtained abroad for the continuation of studies. The recognition of diplomas does not apply to diplomas issued in Estonia and Lithuania since 2019, since the agreement on automatic recognition of educational documents has been concluded between the Baltic States.

International exchange programmes

Information on international exchange programmes, studies and practice mobility may be consulted in the website section of the State Agency for Development of Education for students as well as in their chosen higher education institution.

Students from higher education institutions have the opportunity to participate in learning mobility. This possibility is provided Erasmus + programmes in the framework. Mobility activities are allocated to mobility of studies and mobility of practices. It is recommended that you be interested in a specific application procedure for the mobility of studies or practices in the higher education institution in which you are a student.

Student mobility provides an opportunity for students to spend an integrated period of study in one of the universities of the Member States or partner countries of the Erasmus + programme with which the student's higher education institution has a cooperation agreement. The program aims to provide students with valuable academic, language and cultural experience by studying abroad for a certain period of time.

Practice mobility enables students to practice in foreign companies or institutions in one of the Member States or partner countries of the Erasmus + programme. Erasmus + 's practice aims to help students adapt to the European Union's labour market requirements, to provide an opportunity to develop student skills (including language skills) and to improve understanding of economic and social culture in the country concerned in the context of acquiring work experience.

General conditions for mobility:

• students enrolled in a higher education institution that has been awarded the Erasmus Charter for Higher Education (ECHE) may apply for mobility under the Erasmus + Programme;
• students may enter studies from the second year of study;
• in the context of learning mobility, recent graduates of higher education should start and fully implement the practice no later than one year after graduation. It should be noted that the practice of recent graduates should be applied for in the last year of study;
• the practice of recent graduates is only available in the Erasmus + programme Member States;
• the mobility participant shall receive funding for the implementation of activities from his or her sending university;
• within a single cycle of study (during bachelor's studies, including level 1 vocational higher education or college, master's, doctoral studies), the total duration of the student's mobility of studies and/or practice may not exceed 12 months.

The exchange of experience between higher education institutions in the Northern and Baltic region is supported by Nordplus Higher Education Programme which also includes student-exchange projects. As part of the programme, students are offered three types of mobility:

• long-term student mobility: students in higher education institutions (students of the bachelor's and master's degree programme) may receive a scholarship from 3 to 12 months of full-time studies or practice in another Northern region or in the Baltic State;
• short-term student mobility: students in higher education institutions (students of the bachelor's and master's degree programme) may receive a scholarship through higher education for 1 or 2 months of full-time studies or practice in another Northern region or in the Baltic State;
• intensive mobility: Higher education students (students of the bachelor's and master's degree programme) may receive support for short-term (at least 1 weeks - five working days) studies.

It is desirable for every resident of Latvia travelling abroad, as well as for students travelling to study abroad, to register the intended journey and future absence in the Consular Register so that in the event of a crisis (natural disasters, political unrest, war activities, etc.), in any of the countries of the world, the necessary consular assistance can be communicated with the person and provided operational assistance.

Registration in the Consular Register shall be voluntary and free of charge. Registration may also be outside Latvia. The information contained in the consular register shall be confidential, accessible only to the consular post and used only in cases of crisis. Get the most comfortable way to register your planned trip:

• using e-service Electronic registration in the consular register;

• write an application, sign with secure electronic signature and send to the MFA's  e-address or to mfa.cdep@mfa.gov.lv;

• on-site at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

General information on domestic conditions in the European Union and European Economic Area countries can be found at the State Employment Agency website.

For students, the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) is useful when travelling to one of the Member States of the European Union, the Member States of the European Economic Area or the Swiss Confederation, which confirms the right to receive the necessary or emergency healthcare to the same extent as it is provided to the people of the country concerned. The EHIC is a plastic card. The card is intended for use in foreign countries for a temporary period of up to three months. This means that during the period of validity of the EHIC, the card holder can travel for a duration of not more than three months and the card will be valid. If the journey is longer, the card will not be valid, even if the journey is part of the EHIC term of validity. For students, however, when they go to study or practice, the EHIC is issued for the entire period of study/practice.

An EHIC card can be applied for electronically:

• via e-service To apply for a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC);

• e-Health the portal, under the heading “Family Doctor and EHIC”;
• when sent securely  electronic signature sign an application form on the National Health Service  e-address or to an e-mail address nvd@vmnvd.gov.lv.

The EHIC shall be issued free of charge and shall be valid for three years. You may receive a new card free of charge after the expiry date of the card (or within one month before the existing EHIC expires).

It should be noted that the EHIC does not cover the patient's contribution or repatriation (transportation) costs, for example in case of a patient's serious illness. Consequently, it is necessary to assess whether to purchase in addition private insurance covering these costs.

Education system in Latvia

The Law on Higher Education Institutions

Answers to specific questions about choice of study

The Academic Information Centre (AIC)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA)

The Ministry of Education and Science (MES)

The National Health Service (NHS)

The State Employment Agency (SEA)

The State Education Development Agency (SEDA)

The National Center for Education (NCE)

Student support

Useful information when abroad

Recognition of a foreign diploma

Work, Taxes and Salary Tax Book