The Grading System

Marks given to primary and secondary school students are as follows:

• 5 – Excellent
• 4 – Very Well
• 3 – Good
• 2 – Sufficient
• 1 – Insufficient

The only exception are 1st grade primary school students; they are not given numeral marks, but certain written remarks or doodles such as flowers or smiley faces.

The Teachers’ Gradebook

The Teachers’ Gradebook is a large book used by teachers for filling in marks they give to students. There is an individual gradebook for each class and it is used throughout the year.

The students’ names are listed alphabetically. There is a section for each student and subject. Teachers can only fill in the information about the subjects they teach.

Tests and Test Scores

Students don’t have final exams. Instead, during each of the two school terms, they are given oral and written tests by their teachers.

Teachers can decide on the number and difficulty level of the tests on their own. On average, there are about two written and two oral tests per subject every term.

Teachers grade the tests and write the marks into the Gradebook.

The Students’ Gradebook

All students are required to have The Students’ Gradebook, a small book where their official grades are written. It is considered an official document and its’ forgery is a serious violation.

Only the Class Head (a teacher responsible for a particular class of students) can write the grades into the Students’ Gradebooks.

Near the end of each of the two terms, the students bring their gradebooks to the school. They are given their gradebooks back on the Gradebook Assignment Day, which is held a few days after the term ends.

The Final Grades

The Final Grades are official grades that students receive for each subject at the end of both terms.

At the end of a term, teachers sum up the marks that students received on tests. They only consider the marks from the Teachers’ Gradebook. Then, tbey decide on the Final Grade for each subject.

Students get the Final Grade for all subjects except Religion and Civics. They also get the Final Grade for Behaviour.

The most usual way to determine The Final Grade is to calculate the average result of the marks received during the term; however, it is not always the case as some teachers have their own ways of determing the final grades.

The Average Grade

The Average Grade is the official mathematical average calculation of Final Grades.

The Average Grades are the most important of all grades as they are the nužber one indicator of students’ performance.

Students receive the Average Grade for both 1st and 2nd term. However, the 2nd term Average Grade is more important as it is ‘the final grade’ and the 1st term one is more ‘preliminary’.

The Average Grade in some grades is also important for enrolling into the secondary school or University.

The passing Average Grade is anything from 2.00 to 5.00. The Grade of 1.00 is the failing grade.

At the end of the 1st term, if a student receives one or more Insufficient (1) final grades, their Average Grade will be 1.00, regardless of other final grades. They can have as many 1s as possible; however, they need to study really hard in the 2nd term in order to correct them.

The situation is different for the 2nd term. If a student receives up to two Insufficient final grades for the 2nd term, they need to take The Correction Exam, which is held during the summer vacation, about two weeks before the next school year begins.

The Correction Exam is a chance to improve the failing grades (and if they do really well on the exam, they can even get a 3). If they fail one or both of the sunjects on the exam, they have to repeat the grade.

On the other hand, if students have more than two official 1s for the 2nd Term, they automatically fail and have to repeat the grade.