As usual written and oral exams tend to accumulate once the end of the school year approaches. For many students attending primary or secondary schools, the external examination period starts today. External exams come in the form of the so-called “general matura” in secondary (grammar) schools and the “national knowledge testing” in primary schools.

The spring examination period for final-year secondary students and other candidates has started with essay writing as part of the exam in the student’s mother tongue – Slovenian, Italian or Hungarian. As the national examinations centre reported, 8,037 candidates had applied for the essay exam, which requires the students to read four literary works. This year, the list consists of Hamlet by Shakespeare, The King of Betajnova by Ivan Cankar, The Physicists by Friedrich Dürrenmatt and The Great Brilliant Waltz by Drago Jančar.

Essay writing typically takes place earlier than the rest of the spring-period general matura. The main part starts on 2 June this year. On 14 July, the National Examinations Centre will notify the candidates of their results. According to the centre’s statistics, 84–87% of the applied candidates pass the general matura on average in spring.

The national knowledge testing has started in primary schools today, too. For the first time it will be compulsory for pupils in their sixth year of primary school, while external examination is obligatory for final (ninth) year students from its introduction. Today’s test examined the knowledge of mathematics and will be followed by a test of Slovenian language – or Italian or Hungarian in ethnically mixed areas – on Wednesday and a third subject, which varies from school to school, next Monday. Sixth-year pupils will be tested in their knowledge of their first foreign language.