A few days separate the 526,317 students who will have to take the final exam this year. It starts on June 19th at 8.30 am with the first test, the same for everyone, and continues the following day, again at 8.30 am with different tests according to the disciplines characterizing the individual study paths. An interview is then scheduled with the aim of ascertaining the achievement of the educational, cultural and professional profile of each candidate. The candidates are 512,530 internal and 13,787 external, they will be examined by 14,072 commissions, for a total of 28,038 classes. The highest number of candidates comes from high schools, equal to 266,057, followed by those from technical institutes, which are 172,504; finally there are 87,756 from professional institutes. In detail, the first test ascertains both the mastery of the Italian language (or of the different language in which teaching takes place) and the expressive, logical-linguistic and critical skills of the students. The test has a maximum duration of six hours. Candidates can choose between different types and themes: the ministry makes seven tracks available for all study areas which refer to the artistic, literary, historical, philosophical, scientific, technological, economic and social fields. Students can choose, among the seven tracks, the one they think is best suited to their preparation and interests. The test can be structured into several parts. The second test concerns one or more of the disciplines that characterize the course of study. In the new professional institutes, however, the test focuses on skills and fundamental thematic cores of direction and not on disciplines. In classical high school the second test is a version of Greek; to science it’s mathematics. Third written test will be held only in some particular cases, such as for the schools of the autonomous Region of Valle d’Aosta and the autonomous Province of Bolzano or for the schools with Slovenian teaching language and with bilingual Slovenian/Italian teaching in Friuli Venezia Giulia.
The interview takes place after the writings and also concerns the transversal teaching of civic education. This is a multi- and interdisciplinary interview: the commission evaluates both the candidate’s ability to grasp the connections between the knowledge acquired and his educational, cultural and professional profile. It will start from an initial starting point chosen by the Commission. It is the phase of the exam in which to enhance the student’s training and growth path, skills, talents and ability to elaborate, in a multidisciplinary perspective, the most significant themes of each discipline. During the interview, the candidate explains, through a short report and/or a multimedia essay, the PCTO experience (transversal skills and orientation paths) carried out during his studies. Some confusion has created a novelty this year, the ‘masterpiece’ but, as the ministry has clarified, it will not be analyzed and evaluated during the oral exam. The ‘masterpiece’ section of the E-Portfolio was created solely to help students select and preserve their most important work from the school year.
In the final ballot, the class council assigns the score for the credit gained in the second two-year period and in the last year up to a maximum of 40 points: 12 for the third year, 13 for the fourth year and 15 for the fifth year. The behavioral evaluation contributes to the determination of the school credit. The final grade of the State Exam is expressed in hundredths divided as follows: maximum 40 points for school credit; maximum 20 points for the first piece of writing; maximum 20 points for the second paper; maximum 20 points for the interview. The commission can award up to 5 “bonus” points to those who are entitled to them. The sum of all these points results in the final grade of the exam. The maximum score is 100 (with honors possible). The minimum score is 60/100.
Source: Lasicilia.it
