Pupil/students assessment

For more general information on this topic, see section 6.3 on monitoring and assessment in grammar schools.

Assessment and reporting processes in VET institutions focus on monitoring and testing the achievements against learning outcomes of relevant curricular documents. For this, internal, hybrid and external assessment procedures are applied. Hybrid assessment is a written examination of a student's knowledge and skills carried out through online applications (online testing). The responsible institution ensures that content and methodologically validated tasks and exams are made available from specific subject areas, and teachers use individual task groups or whole exams and receive feedback on their students' results.

Internal assessment is carried out at the VET institution and in the work environment throughout entire vocational education and is conducted by teachers and mentors at employers. Students/learners self-assess their work. This form of assessment is essential for managing and guiding the teaching and learning process and for independent learning.

Activities in the process of internal assessment of student achievement are carried out continuously and transparently, respecting the student's personality and giving everyone an equal opportunity to develop and achieve the planned outcomes.

The methods, procedures and elements of assessment of the achieved level of competences derive from the national, sectoral, vocational and curriculum of the subject. The levels of adoption of learning outcomes are set at the national level for all teaching subjects, i.e. educational areas.

The specificity of assessment in VET is the testing of the achievement of work-based learning outcomes. Assessment of the achievement of work-based learning outcomes is determined on a three-point scale:

• the prescribed competencies for qualification have been adopted
• the prescribed competencies for qualification have been partially adopted
• the prescribed competencies for qualification have not been adopted.

Adoption criteria for learning outcomes are set for each qualification by the sectoral or vocational curriculum.

Assessment of student/learner’s achievement based on work is carried out by the teacher and mentor at the employer and they keep prescribed pedagogical documentation and records to monitor and assess the level of achievement of learning outcomes during work-based learning. The mentor at the employer reports to the VET institution and parents/guardians about the implemented assessment of the student's progress and achievement at the workplace. The mentor’s report contains information on monitoring student/learner’s progress and is based on examining the achievement of learning outcomes through assessments of responsibility development, self-initiative and self-regulation, communication and collaboration.

Likewise, for the practical part of the employer-provided curriculum, students' achievement assessment is carried out by examining knowledge and skills halfway through the student's education. The examination of knowledge and skills is carried out by a committee appointed by the headmaster of the vocational school, consisting of a teacher of professional and theoretical contents and a teacher of practical training and exercises, i.e. a vocational teacher and a mentor at the employer. If the examination of knowledge and skills reveals that the objectives and tasks of the practical part of the curriculum are not being achieved, the committee shall determine the causes of their non-realisation, the ways and the deadline for their removal.

To assess the progress of students/learners with special educational needs in achieving the anticipated learning outcomes in the world of work, special checklists are created individually tailored to the student/learner. If the student/learner is educated according to a personal curriculum with the adaptation of learning outcomes, all adjustments to the learning and teaching approach and assessment for the student/learner required in the workplace are identified and provided.

Monitoring the achievement of learning outcomes in VET institutions is closely linked to the overall system of qualifications at all educational levels in the Republic of Croatia. For students who fail to achieve the expected progress during full-time education, the process of identifying the difficulties encountered by the student is provided and systematic additional learning support in accordance with international conventions, applicable regulations and other curricular documents is given.

For each qualification and set of learning outcomes, the amount, or average total time spent to acquire that qualification, is determined. The scope of qualification is expressed by the European credit system for vocational education and training (ECVET) and/or the Croatian credit system for general education (HROO) at levels 2, 3, 4.1 and 4.2 and by the European credit system for vocational education and training (ECVET) or the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) at level 5. This ensures a quality system and enables a recognition of the qualifications acquired in the Republic of Croatia in the Croatian and European world of work.

During the qualification, the student/learner prepares a folder of papers (portfolio of works and artefacts) in which the description of competences and evidence of all competences he/she acquired during education is displayed. The student/learner can present himself/herself to the employer with this portfolio.

The teacher assesses the student publicly in the class department or educational group except in exceptional circumstances (instruction in a hospital, at home).

At the end of each class of the vocational school, the student is issued a class certificate. At the end of the vocational school education, the student is issued a certificate on the final paper and the students who have successfully passed state graduation exams, get the certificate on passed exams. A student who has successfully completed the nautical or shipbuilding secondary education programme is issued a certificate and also an additional certificate for each training programme covered by the education programme. At the end of the first semester, the student is notified of the results achieved.

Progression of pupils/students

For more general information on this topic, see section 6.3 on the progression of students in grammar schools.

The progression of students in VET is regulated by the provisions of the Primary and Secondary School Education Act and Vocational Education and Training Act.

The VET system enables horizontal and vertical progression. The conditions and ways of continuing education for higher levels of qualification (vertical progression) are laid down by the minister responsible for education. The conditions and manner of continuing education for the same level of qualification (horizontal progression) are determined by the professional bodies of the VET institution in accordance with the instructions of the Agency for Vocational Education and Training and Adult Education.

The National Curriculum for Vocational Education also stipulates that horizontal progression allows students to change their profile and level of qualification during their secondary education. Horizontal progression may be conditioned by passing additional exams or recognizing acquired learning outcomes. Depending on the content differences between the vocational curriculum provided by the vocational education institution the student/learner attends and the one provided by the vocational education institution in which he/she wishes to continue education, the additional contents that the student/learner should master and in which period are determined. The need, manner and course of passing the additional contents are autonomously decided by the VET institution where the student/learner wants to continue his/her education.

Vertical progression enables students to change their level of qualification during full-time secondary education. A change in the qualification level may be conditioned by an additional examination of the competences attained. The need, manner and course of passing the additional contents, which proves the required level of acquired competences for the transition from one level of qualification to another, is decided by the VET institution where the student/learner wants to continue his/her education. The instruments prescribed by the CROQF shall be taken into account.

Certification

For more general information on this topic, see section 6.3 on monitoring and assessment in grammar schools.

The Ordinance on the Final Paper Preparation and Presentation prescribes the content, conditions, requirements, methods and procedures of the final paper preparation and presentation for full-time students or adult learners enrolled in vocational or art programmes.

The final paper is the student's work whose preparation and presentation are used to verify, evaluate and assess the student's vocational or artistic competences of a certain level, in accordance with the acquired qualification. The goal of the final paper preparation and presentation is to verify, evaluate and assess the acquired vocational or artistic competences attained by education in accordance with the prescribed professional-theoretical and practical parts of the teaching plans and programmes. It enables the completion of the enrolled education programme and the acquisition of the necessary conditions for entry into the labour market. Final paper preparation and presentation is organised and implemented by the school, or the institution certified in the implementation of a particular education programme, pursuant to annual plan and programme or school curriculum. A timetable of the final paper preparation and presentation, adopted by the school board on the headmaster's proposal, is a constituent part of the annual activities plan and programme or school curriculum.

Students with disabilities prepare and present their final paper with adapted technology and other conditions, according to instructions issued by the competent agency. Students taught in the language and script of their ethnic minority can prepare the written part of their final paper and present the paper in the language and script they were taught in.

The final paper includes the preparation and presentation. The preparation includes the work which can be a project, an experiment with the report, a practical work, a more complex test task or other similar work in compliance with the teaching plan and programme.

The student can accede to the presentation if he/she has successfully completed the last year of education in vocational or art programme and whose preparation has been accepted by the mentor who suggested a positive mark.

The preparation, presentation and overall attainment in the final paper are assessed as follows: excellent (5), very good (4), good (3), sufficient (2) and insufficient (1). The student whose preparation was assessed with insufficient (1) mark cannot accede to the presentation and has to do the preparation again, but with a different topic.

The student who gets a positive mark in preparation, but is assessed with insufficient in presentation, has to repeat the presentation without doing the preparation again. The student is considered to have successfully prepared and presented his/her final paper if he/she is graded with a passing mark. Overall attainment in the final paper preparation and presentation is the arithmetic mean value of marks attained in preparation and presentation. The student who has successfully presented his/her final paper is issued the certificate on the final paper. It is a document confirming the acquired vocational or artistic competences and the completion of secondary education in vocational or art programmes. It is issued by the institution and signed by its headmaster.