Search for homeschooling guidance about Georgia and you will mostly find Atlanta. Search in the right hemisphere and you will mostly find pages citing a law that changed in 2024. This guide fixes both problems: it is about Sakartvelo — Tbilisi, Batumi, the Caucasus — and it is planned to the statute as amended in July 2024, not as the internet remembers it. The short version: Georgian law validates externally completed education through the eksternati form, structured education beside any enrolment is always open, and since 2024 the compulsory span runs through grade ten — with everything after it at the family’s choice.
The structure — as amended in July 2024
The Law of Georgia on General Education (2005) governs a twelve-year system, and the amendments of 18 July 2024 reshaped it: primary education runs six years (grades I-VI), basic education now runs four (grades VII-X), and secondary education runs two (grades XI-XII). Under Article 27 of the Constitution, primary and basic education are compulsory — which since 2024 means grades one through ten, to about age sixteen, deliberately aligned with the minimum working age. This is the fact most online guidance has not caught: the old nine-grade compulsory rule is gone, and families planning today should plan to the ten-grade one.
The eksternati route: what it is and how it works
Georgian law’s mechanism for completing general education outside daily attendance is the eksternati (external studies) form: the programme is mastered independently and validated through written examinations organized by the Ministry. The architecture is specific. Primary-stage examinations are taken at the school where the student is enrolled and prepared by that school; basic and secondary stage examinations are taken at schools defined by the Ministry’s territorial bodies; resource centres defined by the Ministry can prepare and conduct the final examination of complete general education, or examinations in particular subjects; and a Special Appeals Committee reviews procedural complaints. It is official, it is structured, and it works — for families who arrive documented.
The honest practicalities
Two things deserve plain statement, because trust in this space is built on them. First: parental-choice homeschooling as a named right is not what Georgian law establishes. The eksternati form is a validation mechanism — a state-facing process run through territorial bodies — not a homeschool statute, and families should expect paperwork, scheduling conversations, and official examinations rather than a notification-and-freedom model. Second: expect the state track in Georgian. The language of instruction in Georgian general education is Georgian, and external validation runs against the national programme — which makes Georgian-language preparation a year-round component of any internationally oriented plan, exactly the dual-track discipline our Hungarian and Azerbaijani families apply next door. The heavy overlap in mathematics and the sciences means the Cambridge curriculum carries much of the load; the language work is what remains, and it is planned from the first week.
The three configurations that cover nearly every family
In practice, three lawful configurations serve nearly everyone. The supplement — always the cleanest: a school enrolment (public, private, or international) carries the obligations while live Cambridge subjects run in the late-afternoon slot, one hour ahead of our Nairobi teaching base, building toward external sittings at Tbilisi’s authorised provision. The eksternati track: the national programme completed externally with Ministry-organized validation, while the live Cambridge curriculum runs beside it as the education’s academic spine — the structured timetable, teaching records, and examined results that make every territorial-body conversation easier. And the window: from about sixteen, no framework at all.
After grade ten: the window
Secondary education — grades eleven and twelve — is not compulsory in Georgia. A teenager who completes grade ten may lawfully spend the following years in full-time live Cambridge A-Levels: no national programme, no eksternati examinations, nothing to satisfy, with sittings at Tbilisi’s authorised provision and the British Council. Note the post-2024 precision: the window now opens at about sixteen rather than fifteen — one year later than the old structure — and stating that precisely is part of planning honestly. The entire A-Level phase remains at the family’s choice, the same structural window our Hungary, Greece, and Azerbaijan guides document across the region.
Where the pathways lead
The destinations point outward and home at once. Cambridge A-Levels feed UCAS natively and are accepted in 160+ countries; the IB is recognised globally; the Common Application serves US plans. And Georgia’s own English-taught tier is genuinely strong for its size: Kutaisi International University — the country’s English-taught flagship — the capital’s medical schools teaching thousands of international students in English, and business programmes, all serving international qualifications with requirements confirmed per programme, while the state admission track runs through the Unified National Examinations. A family that plans the compulsory years properly and the A-Level window after them finishes holding every door.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is homeschooling legal in Georgia (the country)?+
Georgian law validates externally completed education through the eksternati form — Ministry-organized written examinations arranged via territorial bodies, with resource centres for the complete-general-education finals and a formal appeals process. It is a state-facing validation mechanism rather than a notification-style homeschool right, and supplementary education beside any enrolment is always open.
What changed in July 2024?+
Basic education was extended from three years to four: the structure is now primary (I-VI), basic (VII-X), secondary (XI-XII), and compulsory education runs through grade ten — to about sixteen. Most guidance online still cites the old nine-grade rule.
What language are the eksternati examinations in?+
Expect Georgian — the language of instruction in Georgian general education — which is why Georgian-language preparation runs all year in our dual-track model, with the mathematics and science overlap carrying much of the remaining load.
What happens after grade ten?+
Secondary school is optional — the A-Level years run entirely at the family’s choice, with no framework to satisfy and sittings at Tbilisi’s authorised provision. Post-2024 the window opens at about sixteen.
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