What will the examination requirements be?

In 2021, the eighth-grader and matura exams will exceptionally be conducted on the basis of the examination requirements contained in the annexes attached to the regulation, rather than, as in previous years, on the basis of the requirements set out in the core curriculum for general education.

The oral matura exam will not be compulsory

As in 2020, the matura exam will be conducted only in written form.

Responding to numerous requests sent to the ministry, Minister of Education and Science Przemysław Czarnek decided that in 2021 the oral part of the matura exam in Polish, a national-minority language and a modern foreign language would not be compulsory. As in 2020, graduates who need the oral examination result in a given subject for recruitment to a foreign university will be able to take it.

Results of consultations on the draft examination requirements

The examination requirements prepared by teams of experts were submitted for public consultation. Anyone interested could send their opinions to the Ministry of National Education. We received almost 2,500 of them (2,487). They came from teachers, students, academic teachers, research institutions and associations.

After analyzing the opinions sent to us, the subject-matter teams introduced further changes to the examination requirements. Examples of changes include:

  • in the case of the eighth-grader exam:
    1. in Polish – “Tędy i owędy” by Melchior Wańkowicz was removed from the list of required reading,
    2. in mathematics – requirements concerning operations on radicals and solid geometry were reduced,
      3. in English – the past perfect tense and reported speech were removed from the list of grammatical structures;
    • in the case of the matura exam:
    • in basic-level mathematics – requirements concerning functions and prisms were reduced; requirements concerning solids of revolution and the requirements concerning pyramids from the fourth educational stage were eliminated entirely,
      2. in advanced-level geography – some factual content and topics difficult to discuss during remote learning were removed, including some issues concerning the geological history of Earth, the characteristics of river regimes in Poland, changes in the functions of rural areas around the world, and the linguistic diversity of the world’s population.
Examination papers

By December 31, the Central Examination Board will publish appendices to the information brochures on its website (www.cke.gov.pl). However, CKE has already provided information on the most important changes to the format of examination papers for individual subjects in the 2021 exams.

Eighth-grader exam in 2021

Polish

    Conducted on the basis of examination requirements containing a limited scope of the core-curriculum requirements, including a shortened list of required reading.
    • Duration: 120 minutes.
    • A maximum of 45 points can be earned for solving the tasks (5 points fewer than in previous years), including:
    • part 1: reading comprehension, argumentation, knowledge and understanding of literary works, interpretation of cultural texts, knowledge of the rules of and ability to use correct Polish – 25 points (approximately 20 tasks based on two texts; approximately 50% open-ended tasks),
    • part 2: extended response – 20 points.
    • A choice of two extended-response topics: an essay or a story.
    • In the extended response, the student may refer to any required reading that meets the topic requirements.
Mathematics

    Conducted on the basis of examination requirements containing a limited scope of the core-curriculum requirements (for example, no tasks concerning geometric proofs and reduced requirements concerning operations on radicals and solid geometry).
    • Duration: 100 minutes.
    • A maximum of 25 points can be earned for solving the tasks (5 points fewer than in previous years), including: 15 points for closed-ended tasks and 10 points for open-ended tasks.
    • Number of open-ended tasks: 4 (compared with 6 in 2019–2020).
Modern foreign language

    Conducted on the basis of examination requirements containing a limited scope of the core-curriculum requirements and a limited range of grammatical structures. The expected average level of language proficiency, including the range of language structures in written statements (on the CEFR scale), is A2.
    • Duration: 90 minutes.
    • A maximum of 55 points can be earned for solving the tasks (5 points fewer than in previous years), including: 34 points for closed-ended tasks and 21 points for open-ended tasks.
    • Fewer open-ended tasks testing listening comprehension, the ability to respond and knowledge of language structures, as well as fewer closed-ended tasks testing reading comprehension and knowledge of language structures.
Matura exam in 2021

Polish as a compulsory subject

    Conducted on the basis of examination requirements containing a limited scope of the core-curriculum requirements.
    • Duration: 170 minutes.
    • A maximum of 70 points can be earned for solving the tasks, including:
    • part 1: reading comprehension, argumentation, knowledge of the rules of and ability to use correct Polish – 20 points (approximately 12–15 tasks, mainly open-ended, based on two texts)
    • part 2: extended response – 50 points.
    • A choice of three extended-response topics: two essays and an interpretation of a poetic text.
    • One essay topic with a specified required reading, and a second essay topic based on a text outside the required-reading canon.
    • Oral part – not compulsory. It may be taken by people who need the oral-part result for the recruitment process for a higher-education institution.
Mathematics as a compulsory subject

    Conducted on the basis of examination requirements containing a limited scope of the core-curriculum requirements (for example, reduced requirements concerning functions and prisms, complete removal of requirements concerning solids of revolution and requirements concerning pyramids from the fourth educational stage).
    • Duration: 170 minutes.
    • A maximum of 45 points can be earned for solving the tasks (5 points fewer than in previous years), including: 28 points for closed-ended tasks and 17 points for open-ended tasks.
    • Number of open-ended tasks: 7 (compared with 9 in 2015–2020).
Modern foreign language as a compulsory subject

    Conducted on the basis of examination requirements containing a limited scope of the core-curriculum requirements and a limited range of grammatical structures. The expected average level of language proficiency, including the range of language structures in written statements (on the CEFR scale), is A2+ (B1 for listening comprehension and reading comprehension).
    • Duration: 120 minutes.
    • A maximum of 50 points can be earned for solving the tasks, including: 40 points for closed-ended tasks and 10 points for open-ended tasks.
    • Oral part – not compulsory. It may be taken by people who need the oral-part result for the recruitment process for a higher-education institution.
Advanced-level subjects (additional)

    Conducted on the basis of examination requirements containing a limited scope of the core-curriculum requirements.
    • For modern foreign languages, the range of grammatical structures is limited and the overall average language-proficiency level is lowered, including the range of language structures in written statements (on the CEFR scale), to B1+ (B2 for listening comprehension and reading comprehension).
    • Taking the advanced-level exam is not compulsory. Candidates may take exams in a maximum of six additional subjects.
Other changes to the exams

There will be no requirement to take the matura exam in one additional subject at the advanced level. A candidate may take exams in up to six additional subjects if they need the results for the recruitment process for a higher-education institution.

It will be possible to change the declaration to take the matura exam.

The regulation also describes the conditions for passing the 2021 matura exam and obtaining the maturity certificate, including obtaining the certificate by graduates from previous years.

The rules for taking the eighth-grader and matura exams by people educated in schools that are part of the Centre for the Development of Polish Education Abroad have also been specified.

More details on the Ministry of National Education website.

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