Schools

Overview

Education in inZOI is automatic for children and optional for young adults. Children are enrolled in school as soon as they age into the appropriate life stage and attend classes on weekdays. University is an elective path for Young Adults that provides career advantages. Schools function as rabbit hole locations, meaning students disappear into the building during school hours and return home when the day ends. There is no interactive classroom gameplay.

While at school, students build child-specific skills, complete homework assignments, and encounter random events that shape their social development and academic standing. The education system connects directly to the skill system through the aptitude mechanic, which translates childhood progress into adult skill bonuses.

Academic performance is tracked through a numeric Academic Level metric rather than a traditional GPA or letter grade system. This metric can be monitored through the School tab on the smartphone, which also displays attendance records, absence count, and schedule information. Completing homework on time and attending school regularly increase the Academic Level, while missing deadlines or skipping classes cause it to decline.

Enrollment and the School App

School enrollment for children is fully automatic. When a Zoi ages into the Child life stage, they are immediately enrolled in the elementary school serving their home city. No player action is required. The Zoi will begin attending school on the next weekday after aging up.

University enrollment is handled differently. Young Adults must manually apply through the School app on the smartphone (press P to open the phone, then select the School tab). From the University section, the player selects one of the three available majors and clicks Apply. Enrollment is instantaneous with no admission requirements, entrance exams, or tuition fees. The Zoi begins attending university on the next scheduled class day.

The School app also serves as the primary interface for monitoring all education-related information. It displays the current Academic Level, attendance record, number of absences, class schedule, and the Zoi's assigned school or university. For university students, the Career app's My Information section also shows the university name, schedule, academic level, and attendance at a glance.

Education Levels

inZOI has four levels of education, each tied to a specific life stage. Children are automatically enrolled and attend school on weekdays. University is optional for Young Adults.

Life Stage Durations

The length of each life stage determines how long a Zoi spends in each school level. These durations can be adjusted through city settings.

How School Works

All schools in inZOI are rabbit holes. Students disappear into the school building when the day starts and come home when hours end. There is no interactive classroom gameplay; you cannot follow your Zoi inside the school or control what happens in class directly.

While a Zoi is at school, a portrait button appears next to their character icon in the bottom-left UI panel. Clicking this button lets you choose specific actions for the student to focus on during the school day. These focus choices boost certain child-specific skills and influence academic performance. Picking the right focus area for your Zoi's career goals or desired life path can accelerate their development significantly. For example, selecting a physical focus during school hours builds Motor Development, while choosing an academic focus builds Responsibility.

Attendance and Daily Schedule

Students leave for school automatically at the start of the school day. The Zoi will change into their current outfit and walk out the front door toward the school. If the Zoi's needs are critically low (for example, they are asleep, starving, or in a broken emotional state), they may fail to leave on time, which counts as an absence. Making sure your student's needs are green before the school day starts is essential for maintaining a clean attendance record.

Child-Specific Skills

Children (from the Child life stage through Teenager) develop four unique skills that exist only during childhood. These skills cannot be trained directly by adults. They are built through school focus choices, homework completion, random school events, and certain after-school activities at home.

Aptitude System

When any child-specific skill reaches Level 5, it triggers the aptitude system. The game evaluates the child's progress and automatically sets corresponding adult skill levels when the Zoi ages into Young Adult. This is a one-time conversion that happens at the moment of aging up; it cannot be triggered again later.

The aptitude system rewards focused development during childhood. Players who consistently direct school focus and complete homework in specific areas will produce adults with meaningful skill advantages over Zois who spread their development evenly across all four child skills.

Homework

After school hours end, a task list appears on the left side of the screen. These tasks need to be completed before the deadline expires. Completed tasks get checked off the list. Failing to finish homework affects the student's academic standing and may trigger negative emotions.

The homework deadline window is approximately 5 to 6 in-game hours after school lets out. For elementary school students who finish at 2:00 PM, this means homework should be done by around 7:00 to 8:00 PM. High school students finishing at 5:00 PM have until roughly 10:00 to 11:00 PM. University students face an even tighter window, sometimes as little as 1 to 2 hours after their 5:00 PM dismissal, because they receive their assignments later in the day.

Homework comes in four forms:

A bookshelf and a computer at home are essential furniture items for completing most homework tasks. Without these, students must travel to the public library every day, eating into their limited homework window. Investing in home study equipment early saves significant time across the entire education arc.

Random School Events

While students are in school, random events pop up presenting scenarios with multiple choices. A student might face a conflict with a classmate, get invited to a study group, or have to decide whether to help someone. Your choice affects the Zoi's emotions, relationships with classmates, and skill progress. These events give you some influence over the school day even though you cannot enter the building.

Event outcomes are often tied to the four child-specific skills. Choosing to help a classmate typically builds Social, while handling a conflict assertively may build Responsibility. Pay attention to which skill each choice reinforces if you are targeting a specific aptitude. Some events also award or remove small amounts of Meow (the in-game currency), so the financial impact is worth considering for households operating on a tight budget.

Grades and Attendance

Academic performance is tracked through the Academic Level metric visible in the School app. The Academic Level increases through consistent homework completion, positive school event choices, and appropriate focus selections during school hours. It decreases when homework is missed, school events go poorly, or the student is absent. There is no traditional letter grade or GPA system; the Academic Level is a single numeric score that reflects overall school performance.

Attendance and Expulsion

inZOI enforces a strict three-absence rule. If a student misses three or more school days without attending, they face expulsion from the school. Expelled students cannot re-enroll in the same school. This rule applies across all education levels, including university.

Absences happen when a Zoi fails to leave for school on time. This can occur if the Zoi's needs are critically low (sleeping, starving, or in a broken emotional state), if they are stuck in pathfinding, or if the player manually prevents them from leaving. Using Psycat's Emergency Rescue to unstick a student counts as resolving the issue for the current day but does not retroactively fix missed days. The absence counter is visible in the School app, so players should check it regularly and plan ahead to avoid a third strike.

Dropping Out

Students can voluntarily leave school by pressing the Drop Out button in the School tab on the smartphone. A confirmation warning appears before the action is finalized, giving the player a chance to reconsider. Dropping out resets all academic progress entirely. If the student later re-enrolls (for university, via the School app), they start from scratch with no credit for previous work.

Dropping out does not carry a direct penalty on emotions or relationships, but the Zoi loses all skill progress earned through school focus and homework for that enrollment period. Child-specific skill levels earned through after-school activities at home are not affected by dropping out.

Career and Education Conflict

University students cannot hold a full-time or part-time career while enrolled. If a player attempts to select a career for a Zoi who is currently attending university, the game will automatically drop the Zoi from their degree program, resetting all academic progress. This means players must choose between pursuing education and starting work during the Young Adult life stage.

As of Early Access, no career paths in inZOI require a university degree. Degrees do not unlock specific jobs or serve as prerequisites for promotions. However, completing university provides a significant boost to the skills associated with the chosen major, which translates to faster advancement once the Zoi does enter the workforce. The practical benefit is a higher starting position and salary in careers that align with the graduated major.

School Transportation

Students travel to school using the same transportation options available to all Zois. The available methods depend on the household's resources:

Transportation time is not deducted from school hours. The game pauses the student's schedule until they arrive at the school building. However, if travel takes too long and the Zoi is pulled away by low needs, the day may count as an absence. Households located far from the school should consider keeping a personal car or budgeting for daily taxi fares to avoid attendance problems.

School Locations

Each city has its own set of schools. Students attend whichever school is in their home city.

Youngsung School integrates both academics and personal development, overseeing schooling from elementary through university level. Its in-game description reads: "Students who dream of a future with Dowon City are always welcome." The school is a community lot visible on the Dowon map in the northeast section of the city.

Bliss Bay Public School is a community lot in the northern part of Bliss Bay. It serves all pre-university education levels. University students in Bliss Bay attend the separate Bliss Bay University campus.

Schools in Other Cities

Cahaya Harmony School is not a traditional school. It functions as a Swimming Learning Center where Zois aged Teen and older can enroll to learn the Swimming skill. It does not offer degree programs and does not appear as a visible lot on the Cahaya map. Instead, it is classified as a hidden rabbit hole. Children living in Cahaya still attend school (the game routes them to the appropriate education rabbit hole), but the Cahaya school experience is more limited compared to Dowon and Bliss Bay.

If a family moves between cities via the Move Cities feature (added December 2025), the children transfer to the new city's schools automatically. University students must re-enroll at the new city's university through the School app.

University

Young Adults can enroll at either Bliss Bay University or the University of Youngsung through the School app on the smartphone. Which university is available depends on the Zoi's home city. University is optional but provides meaningful career advantages upon graduation. Enrollment is instant with no admission requirements, entrance exams, or tuition fees.

Majors

University students attend three days a week from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM with the same homework expectations as younger students. The workload is adapted for the shorter weekly schedule, though the tighter deadline window (sometimes as little as 1 to 2 hours after class ends) can make university homework more stressful to manage than grade school assignments.

Graduation takes approximately 8 to 10 in-game days, depending on which day of the week the Zoi enrolled. Completing university gives a boost to career starting positions and salary in fields related to the graduated major. While no career currently requires a degree, the skill acceleration and starting salary boost make university a strong investment for Zois pursuing competitive career tracks.

Known Bugs

Cahaya school bug (fixed v0.3.6): In earlier versions, students in the Cahaya neighborhood experienced issues where school attendance was not properly tracked. The student would leave for school but not register as attending, leading to undeserved absences. This was resolved in patch v0.3.6 (September 2025).

Rabbit hole UI icon bug (fixed March 2026): Icons were not displayed correctly in the rabbit hole job and school UI panels. This visual issue was fixed in the anniversary update released on March 26, 2026.

Known Limitations

As of Early Access, the education system has several features that are not yet implemented:

Patch History

Future Education Plans

The 2026 development roadmap lists "Children / School / Education" as a focus category. The developers have stated their goal is to "create a real school, not a rabbit hole," signaling that significant changes to the education system are planned. Specific items mentioned in the official roadmap and developer communications include:

The community has also requested classroom gameplay, teacher interactions, after-school clubs, sports teams, and more detailed academic progression. Whether these features make it into future updates depends on the development team's prioritization as Early Access continues through 2026.

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