Secondary School Choice by Ninth-Grade Pupils in the Central Bohemian Region

The choice of secondary school significantly affects primary school pupils’ opportunities for further study and future employment. This choice is influenced by a number of factors, including parents’ level of education and place of residence. Pupils from less educated backgrounds more often choose less demanding programmes, usually those that do not lead to the Maturita examination. A specific feature of the Central Bohemian Region is that approximately two fifths of applicants for four-year programmes submit at least one application to a secondary school in Prague. The project focuses on the choice of secondary schools among ninth-grade pupils in the Central Bohemian Region and pursues two main goals:

1. To determine the relationship between pupils’ first-, second-, and third-priority choices of secondary school and their educational and professional aspirations.
2. To explore the strength of individual and contextual factors influencing the choice of secondary school among ninth-grade pupils in the Central Bohemian Region.