Matyáš Lerch Grammar School

About The School

Matyáš Lerch Grammar School is a leading co‑educational institution located in Brno, the capital of the South Moravian Region and the second‑largest city in the Czech Republic. Gymnázium Lerchova was founded in 1961; however, in 1996/1997, the school moved to a newly constructed building and has since existed under its new name, Gymnázium Matyáše Lercha. The school offers a comprehensive curriculum, in which key subjects remain compulsory until the final year of study, covering both sciences and humanities, with a range of optional classes available to students in the penultimate and final years. Our school has earned a reputation as one of the most outstanding in the region and the Czech Republic, with many of our students going on to study at some of the world’s most prestigious universities.

Mission

Our aim is to provide high‑quality education in a supportive environment, addressing every student’s individual needs and fostering their natural talents to ensure they succeed in their future endeavours.

Accreditation

Matyáš Lerch Grammar School is fully accredited by the Czech Ministry of Education and recognized as part of the state school network.

Student Body

Each academic year, the school opens one class for an eight‑year program (where pupils begin at the age of eleven) and three classes for a four‑year program (for fifteen‑year‑old entrants). A unique branch of study is the six‑year Czech‑French bilingual program, which focuses on sciences (for 13‑year‑old entrants). In total, there are 851 students across 29 classes in the school, including four classes at the lower level (equivalent to a four‑year junior high school), three to four classes in the six‑year program (equivalent to a two‑year middle school), and twenty‑two classes at the upper level (equivalent to a four‑year senior high school).

Admission

Matyáš Lerch Grammar School is highly selective. Students are admitted based on their performance in state entrance exams, which consist of standardized tests in mathematics and the Czech language. The school also considers outstanding results from pupils' previous studies, achievements in academic and sports competitions, and foreign language knowledge, as demonstrated by certificates. Each year, approximately 600 students apply for our eight‑year program, out of which only 30 are selected; around 300 students apply for the six‑year program, from which 30 or 60 are selected; and approximately 450 students apply for the four‑year program, with 90 students being admitted.

Faculty

There are around ninety members of permanent pedagogical staff, all of whom are highly qualified in their respective subjects.

Curriculum

Students at Matyáš Lerch Grammar School follow the General Education Program for Czech grammar schools and are awarded the Czech high school leaving qualification (Maturita exam). The scope and content of the four‑year program correspond to the standard curriculum of Czech high schools, with a range of optional subjects available in the final two years. The eight‑year program follows the national curriculum, with a specialized focus on German language studies, culminating in the internationally recognized Deutsches Sprachdiplom exam. Our six‑year bilingual program is part of a network of schools cooperating with the French Institute in the Czech Republic, providing general education with a focus on mathematics and other sciences according to both Czech and French standards. In this program, after two years of intensive French language study, students are taught most subjects in French, following both Czech and French high school curricula.

Grading

Matyáš Lerch Grammar School does not rank students. Instead, we use a precise numerical grading system, common across Czech state schools. The grading scale ranges from 1 (the best) to 5. Our grading standards are exceptionally high, placing strong demands on our students' academic performance.

Mark	1	2	3	4	5
Assessment	Excellent	Very good	Good	Satisfactory	Unsatisfactory

Final Examination Results

Students from our school traditionally achieve the highest scores in standardized final examinations in the Czech language, foreign languages, and mathematics (Maturita exam) of all schools across the Czech Republic. The school also organizes its own school‑leaving exams in the full range of subjects offered by the curriculum.

Advanced Placement

Matyáš Lerch Grammar School cooperates with the Center for Talented Minds, an academy providing educational programs in English. Our students participate in international courses and sit for standardized tests offered by the Center. Each year, around 10–12 students take online courses and AP exams through the Center. For instance, in the 2023/2024 academic year, 9 of our students passed a total of 15 Advanced Placement exams with the highest scores. In the 2022/2023 academic year, two of them were awarded the AP Scholar prize for achieving top scores in three AP tests in a single year.

University Admission

The vast majority of our students continue their studies at higher education institutions. Each year, about 98% of students are admitted to top universities both in the Czech Republic and abroad. Our students have been accepted into some of the world’s leading institutions, including Oxford, the London School of Economics, King’s College London, Princeton University, and other European universities and colleges.

Extracurriculars

Our school offers a wide variety of extracurricular activities. Students participate in various state‑wide competitions, such as Olympiads in mathematics, sciences, languages, and other humanities, in which they traditionally excel. Students with specific interests regularly take part in Students’ Professional Activities (SPA), achieving excellent results at the national level, with the most recent outstanding accomplishments being two students selected to represent the Czech Republic in the USA and Taiwan. Students with musical talent may join the school choir Swan Song or one of the music bands. Our French students' theatre group has attained international success, regularly winning awards at theatre festivals across Europe. Politically minded students take part in simulations of European and intercontinental institutions (MEP, EYP, UN). In 2020, our school joined the international Duke of Edinburgh´s Award programme, and since then, many students have participated and gained silver or gold awards. Sport is considered a natural part of education, and many of our students are nationally and internationally successful in their sports, supported by the school.