STA, 12 July 2021 - A total of 5,461 final-year secondary school students or some 97% passed the national school-leaving exam, known as the matura exam, up from 94% last year and 95% in the pre-distance learning year of 2019. Full marks in the exam were achieved by 15 students, whereas 10 Slovenian students got all points in the international matura.
A total of 302 students who collected 30 points or more out of 34 available and will hence received a special commendation is also the highest in the past three years as the figure stood at 280 last year and 236 in 2019, show data by the National Examinations Centre released on Monday.
The number of those with the maximum yield of points in the spring exams is higher than last year (11) or in 2019 (8).
The international version of the matura exam could be taken at three grammar schools in the country. A total of 64 Slovenian students and 28 foreigners did the exam in Slovenia with ten Slovenians scoring all points.
Meanwhile, the national school-leaving exam for vocational students was passed by 8,058 or almost 94% of students, which compares to 93% both last year and in 2019. The number of those to receive a special commendation increased from 388 to 552, while the number of those with the maximum score (23 or 20 points) was up from 112 to 179.
The matura exam is a test that determines educational possibilities after secondary school. The autumn exams will take place between 24 August and 3 September.
The newspaper Delo reported today that 200 final-year primary school students have not made it to the secondary school of their choice this year. Head teachers have been warning for years that enrolment criteria for secondary schools should not be based merely on grades, Ciril Dominko, the head teacher of the Bežigrad Grammar School, told the paper.
"In the past two years we've witnessed zoom grades that are very high. Hence, students from Ljubljana will be driving to grammar schools elsewhere," he said, referring to the fact that most of those who have not been successful in the first round of enrolment are from the capital.
