What Are Your Education in Malta Options in 2024?

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The RIF Trust Overview of Maltese Education

Shukri Harfoush is our Maltese Residency and Citizenship by Investment specialist and clients regularly ask him about the education in Malta. This subject interests them if they’re applying for the Malta Permanent Residence Programme (MPRP), the country’s Residency by Investment. It’s also a concern if they plan to apply for Malta’s Citizenship by Investment, Maltese Exceptional Investor Naturalization.

Our Malta expert reasons: “Residency and Citizenship by Investment is a family-friendly solution. Many of the programmes offer educational benefits, with Malta no exception.”

“One of the advantages of raising a family in Malta is that English is one of two official languages on the archipelago. So, it’s a language they’ll educate your children in, whether that be in the state establishments or the acclaimed international schools.”

Beginning Your Family’s Education in Malta

Children officially start school aged 5 in Malta. There are pre-school options available on the archipelago, however. Maltese nurseries accept children under 3 and kindergartens generally cater for your children aged 3-4.

Nurseries are also known as créches. This is a free service if both parents provide a Maltese residence address and show that they both work on the archipelago and make social security contributions. You will not need to pay irrespective of the nursery being a public or private institution.

Pre-school education in Malta is not mandatory. You’ll find independent kindergartens and those attached to state primaries and larger international schools. Do your research as there are kindergartens where watching TV forms part of the curriculum and others, including the Montessori establishments, where it doesn’t.

Maltese Primary Educational Options

Primary education in Malta is available to children from 5 to 11. There are 3 types of primary school education in Malta: state (public), religious (church), and independent (private). Typically, there’s a Monday to Friday timetable, from 8:30 am until 2:30 pm.

11 colleges oversee 50+ primary schools in Malta. There used to be a British-style eleven plus exam to determine if your child entered the prestigious junior lyceum or more regular secondary school. The lyceums have been phased out and a new national test to take at the end of the primary.

There are over over 30 church schools in Malta, although the majority offer both primary and secondary education. Malta is a Roman Catholic country, just like nearby neighbour Italy which is accessible by ferry and plane.

You’ll find 20+ private schools in Malta. Again, their pupils range in age from 5 to 18. These are schools with an international outlook where the majority of the curriculum mirrors that taught in the UK’s independent schools.

Maltese Secondary Educational Options

Secondary education runs from 11 to 18 in Malta, although children can legally leave school aged 16. Again, there’s a division between the state secondary schools, the Catholic secondary departments, and the private ones.

At the end of Year 11, your child will receive a Secondary School Leaving Certificate and Profiling (SSC & P) if they’re adjudged to have successfully completed their compulsory schooling. The SSC & P grades them on formal, non-formal (within school), and non-formal (after-school) activities. This is a national standard practice that applies to both state and non-state schools.

If public and religious students want to proceed to university education, they’re going to have to earn a Matriculation Certificate based on the International Baccalaureate which they study for between the ages of 16 and 18.

Private school students meanwhile must pass the International Baccalaureate itself, British A-levels, or American high-school qualifications to continue on to higher education in Malta or elsewhere.

Higher Education in Malta

This is also known as tertiary education in Malta. The 3 main sectors are the public university sector, the private university one, and Higher Education Institutes.

L-Università ta’ Malta (UM) is Malta’s sole public university. It was established by the Pope as the Collegium Melitense in 1592. The University of Malta is located in easterly Msida, and specializes in Business, Economics, Education, and Psychology.

Private universities in Malta include the American University of Malta (AUM) and Queen Mary in Malta. The latter is affiliated to the University of London. It offers a 5-year Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) programme “taught by Queen Mary’s Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, a member of the Russell Group of leading research-led UK universities.”

Another private university is the European Graduate School (ESG). Its Malta campus is located in the capital city of Valletta. ESG offers education in either Philosophy, Art & Critical Thought (PACT) or Arts, Health & Society (AHS) courses.

Prominent Higher Education Institutes comprise GBSB Global Business School who have a campus in Birkirkara in the centre of the main island, London School of Commerce (LSC) in Valletta, and Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST).

Moving Towards MPRP or MEIN

RIF Trust only promotes Residency and Citizenship by Investment programmes that align with our SMILE ethos. Both the MPRP and MEIN do. Malta is a stable country which guarantees the Security of the programmes.

Secondly, you’ll enhance your global Mobility with MPRP. You’ll do that through being able to travel freely through the EU Schengen Area with your Maltese Residency by Investment. With MEIN, you’ll qualify for a Maltese passport with visa-free access to 176 destinations.

Next, both Maltese Residency and Citizenship by Investment represent an Insurance policy to mitigate against the risk of geopolitics. What’s more, the Mediterranean Lifestyle of Malta is another draw. The final plus point is the Education you’ll be able to offer your children as Maltese residents or citizens.

One last thing to bear in mind is that you cannot directly apply to the Residency Malta Agency, a Government department in charge of MPRP.  Neither can you directly invest in citizenship via the Community Malta Agency, who oversee MEIN. This is the case with the vast majority of Residency and Citizenship by Investment programmes.

Whether you want to invest in Maltese residency or citizenship, you’re going to have to go through a licensed intermediary. RIF Trust is licensed to guide HNWIs like you through applying for either MPRP or MEIN. So, contact us now and we’ll show you how to proceed towards obtaining Maltese residency or citizenship.