EXAMINATION AND CERTIFICATION SYSTEM AT THE END OF UPPER SECONDARY GENERAL EDUCATION IN SLOVENIA

Upper secondary education programmes in Slovenia are of two to four years' duration, students' age is from 15 years on. The programmes consist of:

• general academic courses (the Gymnasium - 4 years) prepare students for higher education (in most cases university studies or higher professional studies) and end with the Matura examination. Students must pass the Matura examination at the end of the final year. The Matura is based on examinations, which are made up and marked externally. It consists of five subjects, three of which are compulsory (the mother tongue, mathematics and the foreign language), the other two are optional. Some subjects require, in addition to a written test, practical or project work, or an oral exam. Students are awarded the Matura certificates after having completed the general curriculum and the Matura examinations successfully;
  
• technical courses (4 years) and vocational/technical courses (3 + 2 years) prepare students for post-secondary vocational education or higher professional studies and end with the final examination (the Zaključni izpit);
  
• middle vocational courses (3 years) and lower vocational courses (2 years) end with the final examination and lead to the labour market;
  
• post-secondary non-tertiary vocational courses (the Poklicni tečaj) last up to 1 year and provide access to employment; the students who do not pass the Matura and those who decide to change their occupation can obtain vocational education by completing these vocational courses.
  

• post-secondary vocational education (2 years) which is considered a separate sub-system of education and
  
• higher education:
  
• university studies (4-6 years) and
  
• higher professional studies (3-4 years).

The Gymnasium offers the most general type of curriculum. 4,800 periods of academic work make up 80 % of the 4-year compulsory subjects (the mother tongue and literature, mathematics, the first and second foreign languages, history, geography and physical education) and other compulsory subjects (biology including ecology, chemistry, physics, arts, psychology, sociology, philosophy and information technology). Depending on its possibilities, the school leaves 14 % of the periods in the 3rd and 4th years to the students' choice provided this is connected with their preparation for the Matura (the science, linguistic part to be chosen) or optional sports part (in the Gymnasium with sportsmen and sportswomen). They differ from compulsory classes in the method of work and content (workshops, courses, field trips, social work, research camps, work practice, etc.).

The proportions of the different parts of the timetable vary between different years, e.g. the timetable is almost entirely fixed in the first year (only one non-fixed period out of 32 per week). The number of non-fixed periods increases for students in the fourth year (two thirds of the timetable are fixed, while one third is determined according to their interests, i.e. the chosen Matura subjects).

Students receive a report card at the end of each year of upper secondary general education, including the final year. Report cards give information on grades and the overall achievement grade received in each year.

3. Examinations at the end of upper secondary general education

Upper secondary general education ends with the Matura, while technical education normally ends with the final examination which is internal and is usually chosen by students who have decided to go to work or to study at an appropriate higher education institution. The overall responsibility for the Matura and for its regulations and procedures lies with the National Matura Commission which is made up of representatives from the two universities, the Secondary School Association, the Ministry of Education and Sport, the Council of Experts of the Republic of Slovenia for General Education, the Slovenian Academy of Science and Arts, and the National Subject Commissions. The examination papers and marking schemes are set by the National Subject Commissions, who are also responsible for marking the students' scripts. The National Examination Centre is responsible for printing and distributing papers, for organising marking, and for collecting and analysing the result data. Furthermore, it plays a central role in supporting the subject commissions and supervising the quality of question papers.

The practical or oral part of the examination is marked internally, however, the questions are prepared by external experts. 80 % of the examinations in the three compulsory subjects are prepared and marked externally, 20 % of the examinations (oral examinations) in these subjects are prepared externally but marked internally. Most of the two optional subjects are prepared and marked externally, although in some cases the subject examination can have an internal part too (project work, experimental work).

Mathematics and foreign languages are offered at two levels of difficulty: standard and higher. The subject is still the 'same' (with additional content and/or more depth), however, the candidates who take the subject at the higher level are awarded extra points (1 to 3) at the overall grading for the Matura examination. At the higher level, the candidates take another question paper in addition to the question paper(s) at the standard level.

The Matura examination syllabuses act as a 'contract' between the candidate and the examination authority and determine the content of the examinations as well. Each Matura subject must be offered in the final year. A certain amount of periods is added to the instruction of these subjects. The recommended time for the preparation for the Matura subjects is, for example, for the Mother Tongue - 560 periods, all four years, for Physics - 280 periods in class with extra 35 periods recommended for consolidation and 35 periods in the laboratory.

Students' responses are marked by means of sample answers and by predetermined and published criteria. External examiners use marking schemes to mark responses. 25 % of the sample is double-marked by two external examiners. All written essay-type question papers are double-marked. In cases when assessors disagree for more than 20 %, the question paper is re-marked by a senior examiner. External examiners are contracted for their work with the National Examinations Centre.

4. Certification at the end of upper secondary general education

Students are awarded Matura certificates after having completed the general curriculum and the Matura examinations. The student must achieve a positive mark in all five subjects or have sufficient compensation from other subjects in the case of a 'nearly-pass' in one. The grading scale for subjects is from 1 to 5, however, candidates receive bonus points for taking subjects at the higher level. The grades of all the subjects are added up in order to give the overall grade for the Matura examination with the maximum value of 34 points.

Upon completing the technical curriculum and taking the final examinations, students receive the final examination certificates with the title of the course and the qualification of the technician they have achieved (specifying the relevant occupation or range of occupations).

5. Admission requirements to higher education

Applicants must pass the Matura in order to be admitted to university courses. In addition to the candidates who have passed the Matura, those who have passed the final examination after an appropriate 4-year technical course can enrol for the higher professional courses. The admission requirement for some university or higher professional courses can also consist of a test of certain skills, such as art and music talents and psychophysical abilities. In the case of numerus clausus", higher education institutions define their own admission requirements for each study programme separately.

The basic rules concerning the application procedure are defined by the minister. The procedure begins with the pre-enrolment announcement of the number of places available for new applicants. It is usually published in February. It includes basic information on courses, the number of places available, the admission requirements, and the application procedures and deadlines. The announcement is adopted by the university or the free-standing higher education institution with the consent of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia. There are two application terms: Spring and Autumn. In the Spring term, candidates send their applications to the central higher-education application-information service. The application can include up to three courses in which the candidate would like to enrol. The candidates are admitted to the first course for which they meet the requirements.

In case of the numerus clausus, the student's overall achievement at secondary school and the Matura or final examination results are taken into account. In such cases the Matura score normally amounts to 60 per cent and the results of the last two years in secondary education to 40 per cent in the selection procedures.

If any specific skills are required for a particular course, the student's achievements in tests of these skills are taken into account. The candidates who are not admitted in Spring try to qualify for the remaining places in the Autumn term. The applications are no longer sent to the central admission service but to individual higher education institutions. The same requirements are applied as in the Spring term.

Dr. Sergij Gabršček (sergij.gabrscek@guest.arnes.si)
Director of the National Examination Centre

Ms. Tatjana Plevnik (tatjana.plevnik@mss.edus.si)
Ministry of Education and Sport, EURYDICE Unit Slovenia