Matura
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Matura (Matur, Maturita, Maturità, Maturität, матура) is the word commonly used in Austria, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Italy, Liechtenstein, the Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Ukraine (obsolete in Ukrainian language) for the final exams young adults (aged 18 or 19) take at the end of their secondary education. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia it is officially called maturita, in Poland egzamin maturalny, in Italy it used to be called esame di maturità and now esame di stato, in Austria Reifeprüfung ("examination of maturity"), but matura is used colloquially in these five countries. In Hungary, the same system is used, but it is called érettségi (vizsga) ("examination of maturity"), the equivalent of matura and in Israel it is called bagrut. In Bulgaria, the official name is държавни зрелостни изпити (darzhavni zrelostni izpiti, "state matriculation examinations"), but the name матура (matura) is almost always used instead. In South Africa, matura is taken after 12 years of schooling and is referred to as the Senior Certificate or Matric examination. Matura also occurs among the minority populations in other countries as an additional besides high school - a Canadian of Ukrainian descent, for example, can finish their matura after having achieved the corresponding credits.
This happens usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling. Each candidate who passes their final exams receives a document that contains their grades and which formally enables them to go to a university. In countries such as Austria and Slovenia, this document alone allows entry to any university, as the grades themselves are irrelevant; whereas in other countries there can be numerus clausus, meaning that certain standards need to be met in the Matura grades before acceptance at a university.
The equivalent British term (except Scotland) is "A-levels", the Scottish is "Higher", the Irish is "Leaving Certificate", the German is "Abitur", or simply "Abi", the French is "le baccalauréat", or simply "le bac" and the Romanian is "bacalaureat". In Swiss French, it is called La Maturité or, informally, "La Matu'".
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[edit] Matura in Austria
The official term for Matura in Austria is Reifeprüfung. The document received after the successful completion of the written and oral exams is called Maturazeugnis.
In the Gymnasium (AHS), which, as opposed to vocational schools, focuses on general education, the Matura consists of 3–4 written exams (referred to as Klausurarbeiten, 4–5 hours each) to be taken on consecutive mornings (usually in May) and 3–4 oral exams to be taken on the same half-day about a month later (usually in June). All examinations are held at the school which the candidate last attended. Candidates have the option to write a scholarly paper (called Fachbereichsarbeit) to be submitted at the beginning of the February preceding the final exams, which, if accepted, reduces the number of written exams by one. This paper also needs to be defended in the corresponding oral exam.
The grading system is the one universally used in Austrian schools: 1 (sehr gut) is excellent; 2 (gut) is good; 3 (befriedigend) is satisfactory; 4 (genügend) is passed and 5 (nicht genügend) means that the candidate has failed. In addition, a candidate’s Maturazeugnis contains a formalized overall assessment: "mit ausgezeichnetem Erfolg bestanden" (pass with distinction: an average of 1.5 or better, no grade below 3), "mit gutem Erfolg bestanden" (pass with merit: an average of 2.0 or better, no grade below 3), "bestanden" (pass: no grade below 4); and nicht bestanden (fail: at least one grade 5). Candidates who have failed may re-take their exams in September/October or February/March of the following school year.
Compulsory subjects for the written finals are always German and Mathematics, as well as a foreign language (usually English, French, Spanish, Latin or sometimes Ancient Greek). Schools with a focus on science may require their students to take written finals in Biology, Physics or Chemistry.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of the Austrian Matura is that it is a decentralized affair. There is only one external examiner: Candidates are set tasks both for their written and oral finals by their own (former) teachers. Formally, however, there is an examination board consisting of a candidate's teachers/examiners, the headmaster/headmistress and one external Vorsitzende(r) (head), usually a high-ranking school official or the head of another school. Oral exams are held publicly, but attendance by anyone other than a candidate’s former schoolmates is not encouraged, and indeed rare.
It is, of course, possible for Austrians of all age groups to take the Matura. Adults from their twenties on are usually tutored at private institutions of adult education before taking their final tests, held separately before a regional examination board.
[edit] Matura in Bulgaria
In Bulgarian the matura is formally called Държавен Зрелостен Изпит (Romanization: Dârzhaven Zrelosten Izpit) or ДЗИ (DZI), but usually it is called simply матура (matura). There is only one compulsory subject - Bulgarian language and literature, but students are required to select an additional subject of their choice; they can also request a third subject. Each exam consists of a single written test. The second subject must be chosen between:
- A foreign language (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian)
- Mathematics
- Physics and astronomy
- Biology and health education
- Chemistry and environmental science
- History and civilization
- Geography and economics
- cycle of "Philosophy"
In 2008, according to the statistics in the web site of the Bulgarian Ministry of Education, 76013 students have registered for the Matura exams. Of them only 1748 students have registered for a third, voluntary subject. Because of the exam's challenging nature, students who request a third subject have a significant advantage in the university admissions process.
[edit] Matura in Poland
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In Poland, matura is not obligatory, however it is required for those wishing to pursue higher education. It consists of two parts: written and oral.
There are three written compulsory subjects: Polish language, foreign language (choice: English, French, German, Spanish, Russian and Latin. Also languages of minorities like Czech or Kashubian are available, though usually no more then a 100 people take them) and one subject chosen from biology, chemistry, physics with astronomy, geography, history, history of music, history of art, mathematics, society studies, and dance studies. Compulsory subjects can be taken at a basic or extended level. Pupils can also choose up to three additional subjects that they want to sit at extended level. There are few more subjects (including Kashubian language, Ancient cultural studies and Information Technology) that can be only chosen as additional. Pupil may choose to take an additional part of some exams in a foreign language.
The oral part consists of Polish and foreign language interviews.
The results are measured in percents. 30% is required to pass the exam. To pass matura, a student has to pass all compulsory exams (3) and interviews (2). Points from both levels are treated separately. If the pupil takes an exam on the basic level, he or she gets 0 points from extended level. The points from basic level, if the pupil chose the extended level, are calculated according to the following pattern:
Note: These information may change because of rapid changes done by Ministry of Education. From 2010 mathematics will be fourth written compulsory subject.
[edit] Maturità in Italy
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The test official name is now "Esame di stato".
It is the final exam for upper secondary school. You have to pass this test in order to be admitted to college/university.
The test is divided into a written section and an interview section.
Test topics change according to the type of school the student attended.
Pass score is 60, ace score is 100. (Previously -up to the late 1980's- pass score was 36 and ace score was 60).
The score is calculated by adding up:
(A) Credits: up to 20 points for school career.
(B) Written tests: pass is 30 points, up to 45 points. The candidate takes 3 written tests. For each test pass score is 10 points, ace score is 15 points.
(C) Interview: pass score is 22 points, up to 35 points.
(D) Bonus: an extra 5 points can be attributed to the candidate final score by the examining commission. In order to get the extra 5 points (A) score must be at least 15 points and (B)+(C) score must be at least 70 points.
(A)+(B)+(C)+(D)= final score
The exam structure and scoring system is undergoing changes.
[edit] Matura in Slovenia
In Slovenia, the matura is an obligatory exam one must pass after finishing gimnazija (upper secondary school) to have one's education formally recognised and to become eligible to enrol in colleges and universities. It should not be confused with the poklicna matura (vocational leaving exam), which is the final examination at vocational schools and does not lead to university studies. Since there is no entrance examination at the vast majority of Slovenian universities programmes (notable exceptions are only art and music programmes, architecture studies and sports studies), the score on this exam is the sole criterion for admission.
There has been a heated debate lately whether this leaving exam should once again be completely abolished. As of January 2007, the position of the Ministry of Education remains that the "matura" will still be the only way of completing secondary education. The decision on whether universities should introduce entrance examinations and reduce the importance of the leaving exam to a mere pass/fail has not been made yet.
The nation-wide leaving exam was reintroduced in Slovenia in 1994, after all upper secondary schools had been suspended in 1980s and reopened in 1991. The exam is conducted in two terms, the first one being in spring (May/June) and the second one in autumn (September). Due to the university admittance procedure, of which the first call concludes in July, applicants passing the exam in September have usually a very limited choice of university programmes for that year.
The leaving exam is a centralised affair, conducted by the National Examination Centre, which is in charge of selecting tasks, appointing national examiners, grading the sheets and sending the scores to all Slovenian universities the applicants have applied for.
It consists of three compulsory and two elective subjects. One must take Slovenian (Italian or Hungarian for members of minorities), Mathematics and one foreign language (usually English, although French, German, Spanish, Russian, and Italian are provided, as well). The elective subjects can be chosen among all the other subjects, one has encountered during his schooling (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, History or History of Art, Philosophy or Sociology or Psychology, Music or Graphic Arts, Economics, Informatics, Biotechnology, Electrotechnics). It is possible to choose the second foreign language as one of the elective subjects.
Grading is somewhat complicated, as there exist three different criteria for different sets of subjects. Slovenian is unique and is graded on scale of 1 to 8. It is possible to take mathematics and all foreign languages on a higher or basic level. Basic marks range from 1 to 5, whereas marks for the higher level are 1, 2, 4 (3+1), 6 (4+2) and 8 (5+3). The examinee may only take two subjects on the higher level (two foreign languages, or mathematics and one foreign language). All other subjects are graded from 1 to 5. The only negative score is 1; all other scores are positive. Thus, it is possible to gain from 10 to 34 points. Students who have achieved 30 or more points are awarded leaving exam diplomas cum laude and are usually congratulated by the president of Slovenia at a festive reception in September.
Structure of particular exams:
- Mother tongue - Slovenian (Hungarian or Italian for members of minorities respectively)
- Sheet 1: Students write an essay (1000 words) on the two pieces of literature (in 2007: Pimlico by Milan Dekleva, The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera). The national committee for Slovenian (Državna predmetna komisija za splošno maturo za slovenščino) publishes the titles of the two works the examinees are expected to know one year ahead. This sheet represents 50% of the final score.
- Sheet 2: Students are given an unknown text from a newspaper, magazine etc., followed by some 30 tasks, testing their ability to read, interpret, and understand the text. Also, students' knowledge of Slovenian grammar, word-formation and spelling is tested. The last task is to form a certain type of text, being an invitation, a letter of complaint, biography etc. This sheet represents 30 % of the final mark.
- Oral exam: A candidate is given three questions. The first two are related to the world literature, whereas the third asks about the historical development of literary Slovenian from its beginnings in the year 1551 to the present. It is possible to gain 20%.
The final score is expressed in points from 1 (failure) to 8 (the highest standard of knowledge).
- Mathematics
It is possible to take this subject on a higher or basic level.
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- Sheet 1: Students are given approximately ten tasks, evaluating their knowledge of different fields in mathematics. This sheet accounts for 53.3% (on a higher level) or 80% (on a basic level).
- Sheet 2 (only on a higher level): Students are given three more difficult tasks. This sheet is worth 26.7%.
- Oral exam: An examinee is given three questions, testing their ability to prove certain theorems or explain some mathematical axioms and definitions.
The final score is expressed in points from 1 (failure) to 5 (the highest mark on a basic level) or 8 (the highest mark on a higher level).
- Foreign languages
- Chemistry
- Physics
- Geography
- History
- Sociology, Philosophy, Psychology
