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In Cyprus, SEN stands for special educational needs: a child needs additional support with learning. In the state system, the decision on such support is made not by a doctor but by the District Committee of Special Education (DCSE), after it has assessed the child’s educational needs. A medical diagnosis and a school decision on support are two different things.
A parent can start the process themselves. Submit a referral for assessment to the DCSE. The form is available at any state school and at the DCSE office, and it can also be downloaded from the website of the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth (MoESY). The committee then brings together several specialists, who assess the child, and on the basis of their findings it decides what support the child needs.
Not only the school. A referral can be made by a parent or guardian, or by another person. Parents have the right to take part in the assessment, to bring a specialist of their own, and to submit additional reports and recommendations.
A deadline is set only for the first step: no later than two weeks after the referral, the committee holds a preliminary review of the case. The ministry does not publish an overall deadline for the whole assessment.
The DCSE does, after a comprehensive assessment: it decides where the child will be educated and what support they will receive. If you disagree, first send the committee a written objection. If you are not satisfied with its final decision either, you can appeal to the Central Committee of Special Education within 30 days of receiving the final report. The Central Committee replies within three months at the latest.
Bring the diagnosis, assessment results, therapists’ reports, the individual plan (IEP/EHCP) and school reports: parents have the right to submit them to the DCSE. However, we found nothing in the published rules about a foreign IEP/EHCP being recognised automatically as a Cypriot decision on support. Support at a state school is still determined by the DCSE.
By decision of the DCSE, a child may receive special education lessons, speech therapy, an individualised programme, an adapted curriculum, special equipment and technical aids. At secondary school, the committee may add support lessons in examined subjects and exempt the child from subjects that are not examined. Exemptions from examined subjects are not granted.
Yes, if the DCSE decision provides for one. The official MoESY title is Care Assistant. At a state school, the assistant is hired by the school board once the DCSE has made its decision. The role is to help and accompany the child; a Care Assistant is neither a private tutor nor a special education teacher.
It is a unit within a mainstream state school. The child is enrolled as a pupil of that school and belongs to the class for their age; children from the special unit join the lessons and activities of the mainstream class according to their abilities and individual needs.
The ministry publishes separate lists of the schools that have special units. According to the October 2026 lists, they are found in 39 state kindergartens, 107 primary schools and 44 secondary schools; technical schools also have special units.
Yes, there are nine state special schools. Four are in Nicosia, two in Limassol and one each in Larnaca, Famagusta and Paphos.
Yes, if the DCSE has placed the child at a school outside their own area. In that case the ministry either takes the child to and from school free of charge itself, or pays a travel allowance if the school is more than 2.4 km away. The allowance is applied for through the school, and the ministry announces the application period every year.
They are two separate systems. School support comes through the ministry and the DCSE: the educational setting, special education, a Care Assistant, an adapted curriculum. GESY is the healthcare system: speech therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and clinical psychologists, with a doctor’s referral and a covered diagnosis.
Yes. Speech therapists are among GESY’s allied health professionals. You need a referral from a personal doctor or a specialist doctor and a covered diagnosis; the co-payment is €10 per visit. For a child under 21, all GESY co-payments in a year together come to no more than €75.
On paper, yes; in practice, hardly at all. Occupational therapists are among GESY’s allied health professionals: you need a referral and a covered diagnosis, and the co-payment is €10 per visit. However, very few private occupational therapists have joined GESY so far, and occupational therapy under GESY is provided mainly by state health facilities (OKYPY). Before relying on GESY, look up the particular therapist in the provider search on the GESY website.
Yes. Both are among GESY’s allied health professionals, provided there is a referral and a suitable diagnosis; the co-payment is €10 per visit. A clinical psychologist under GESY is not the same as a school psychologist in the ministry’s system.
Yes. The Health Insurance Organisation (HIO), which runs GESY, sets a maximum number of visits per year, depending on the covered diagnosis and the category of specialist. There is no single number of sessions for all children. Switching to another GESY specialist does not increase the number of visits under the referral.
Check the professional register, not just Google and Instagram.
For GESY to pay for treatment, the specialist must also work with GESY.
Yes. The larger cities have therapy centres and private specialists who say they work in English or Russian. Check the language in the profile of the particular specialist: the language of a website or a surname proves nothing on its own.
There is no single model. Look specifically for Learning Support and SEN provision, not support with English as an additional language (EAL). For example, The International School of Paphos has an Enhancement Centre, a learning support centre for children with SEN and specific learning difficulties that also offers EAL and curriculum support; American Academy Larnaca publishes its Learning Support policy.
Private schools have their own admission criteria and their own limits on the support they can provide. We have not found a law that would oblige a private school to accept any child with SEN. The Private Schools Law (147(I)/2019) does, however, require every school to publish an annual handbook before enrolment opens, stating what SEN support it provides and on what terms it admits pupils. Ask for it before you pay for a place.
Yes, if the child meets the access arrangements rules of the particular exam board. The school or exam centre applies for them on the basis of the required evidence; a diagnosis on its own does not automatically give extra time.
Rather than looking for ‘the best city’, look at the set of services you actually need: a special unit or special school, GESY specialists, private specialists, learning support at school and the daily journey. The state SEN system covers every district, and every district also has special schools and special units.
There are four district committees: in Nicosia, Limassol and Paphos, and a joint one for Larnaca and Famagusta.
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