Matura - Matura in Slovenia

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 main criterion for admission (grades achieved during studies also play a small part).

It consists of three compulsory and two elective subjects. One must take Slovene (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 (Greek language, Latin language, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, History or History of Art, Philosophy or Sociology or Psychology, Music or Graphic Arts, History of drama, Economics, Informatics, Biotechnology, Electrotechnics, Mechanics, Materials Science). It is possible to choose the second foreign language as one of the elective subjects.

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.

Grading is somewhat complicated, as there exist three different criteria for different sets of subjects.

  • Slovene 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 range from 1 to 8. The examinee may only take up to 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 failing score is 1; all other scores are passes.

It is also possible to pass matura with grade 1 in one subject, however, two conditions must be met:

  • The examinee has achieved at least 80% of the points required for grade 2 on a basic level in this subject, and
  • The examinee received at least grade 2 in all other subjects, whereof
    • At least 2 subjects have received grade 3 or higher (if the subject passed with grade 1 is a compulsory subject), or
    • At least 1 subject has received grade 3 ot higher (if the subject passed with grade 1 is an elective subject).

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 (Slovene: zlata matura, lit. golden matura) and are usually congratulated by the president of Slovenia at a festive reception in September.

Structure of particular exams:

  • Mother tongue – Slovene (Hungarian or Italian for members of minorities respectively)
    • Sheet 1: Students write an essay (1000 words) on the two pieces of literature (in 2010: Prišleki by Lojze Kovačič, Dreams of My Russian Summers by Andreï Makine; in 2011: Ločil bom peno od valov by Feri Lainšček and Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert). The national committee for Slovene (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 Slovene 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 Slovene 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.

    • 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
  • Information technology, Computer science (separate)
  • Physics
  • Geography
  • History
  • Sociology, Philosophy, Psychology

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.

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.

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