Pupil/students assessment

Student assessment is used for the continuous improvement of the management and day-to-day running of schools.  It is an integral part of the instruction and learning process.

In order to conduct assessments, schools use a set of techniques and approaches:

• Diagnostic assessment is carried out at the start of a school year in order to record prior student performance and inform lesson planning and instruction
• Formative assessment is conducted during the learning process in order to determine if learning objectives specified by the current curriculum for each subject have been met.  The ultimate purpose is to support the instruction process and learning outcomes
• Assessment of knowledge and skills needs to be reliable, comparable and consistent.  This is achieved through summative assessment.

Distinction of taught subjects at vocational upper secondary school

Attendance in day and evening vocational upper secondary schools (Epaggelmatiko lykeio-EPAL) lasts for 3 years ( l. 4547/2018). It includes grades A, B and C. According to  l. 4610/2019, the subjects taught in vocational upper secondary schools are classified as follows:

EPAL (Vocational upper secondary school) grade A subjects:

• General education
• Direction
• Flexible

EPAL grade B subjects:

• General education
• Technological - vocational (sector subjects)

EPAL grade C subjects:

• General education
• Specialisation

General education subjects split into fields are:

• Maths (Algebra and geometry)
• Natural sciences (Physics, chemistry and biology).

Sector and specialisation subjects are characterised as:

• Theoretical
• Laboratory
• Design
• Mixed (theoretical and laboratory part).

As far as the format of progression, graduate and degree exams, subjects or subject fields are characterised as:

• Tested through written exams
• Not tested through written exams

Student assessment during terms and in the progress or graduation exams of EPAL is determined by Ministerial Decision Φ4/72379/Δ4/09-05-2019.

Student assessment is specific to each subject and is the exclusive responsibility of the instructor. Assessment procedure

The teaching of subjects includes two teaching periods called terms.

The first term (term A) lasts from 11 September until 20 January and the second term (term B) lasts from 21 January until the end of lessons.

There is separate assessment per subject for all terms. End of term exams follow immediately after the end of term B and concern only subjects that can be tested, through written exams.

Each teacher is entirely responsible for conducting assessment relevant to the subject he/she teaches.  Results are produced at the end of the school year by calculating the sum of oral performance for each subject and performance achieved in progress (grades A and B) and graduation (grade C) written examinations taken at the end of the second term.

Midterm oral, practical and written examinations:

The progress of students is assessed with midterm written, oral or practical evaluation tests, at the discretion of the teacher. Students are tested either orally, practically or by taking written exams and are marked for their performance in each assessment. Their performance is taken into account in the oral grade received in each term.

The midterm written examinations include the following categories:

1. Written tests of short duration, which are an alternative way of examining students in the lesson of the day and are carried out without warning depending on the particular subject-matter of the day's lesson. The topics of the short written tests must be of appropriate scope, form and content, in order to be answered in the foreseen time. The number of short-term written tests per term is decided by the teacher.
2. Written hourly repetitive tests, which cover a series of taught chapters / sections are conducted, after warning the students. Especially for the subject "Modern Greek" and subjects related to design/drawing, the duration of the written test is two hours. In terms of their form, these written tests combine different types of questions (developmental, short answer, closed or objective type, multiple choice, etc.) and different levels of difficulty. Written tests mainly test the assimilation of taught material, the ability of synthetic and critical analysis and its application in daily practice and, in general, the progress of students.

In order to assess the performance and diligence of students during term, in addition to midterm oral and practical tests and the short written tests,  assessment tests are carried out at the end of the term and aim at a most complete and objective assessment of students and a continuous feedback of the educational process.

Term evaluation tests are taken by hourly tests, which can be repeated throughout the term. Tests are either individual or take the form of group synthetic/interdisciplinary creative work. Testing can also make use of the features of the flipped classroom model. Only one test may take place during a separate school day and not more than three tests are allowed in a week.

A written exam during the first term is mandatory for subjects that are tested in written exams. This mandatory first -term assessment test related to subjects tested in writing can be also given in the second term.

Besides orientation-specialisation subjects, subjects, that are not tested in the end of school year written exams, such as Health Education, Music, or Physical Education, should be examined once per term, by written projects, oral or practical testing or a combination of them during the first and second term.

Assessment of student performance during terms (oral marks)

Student assessment during terms includes:

1. Participation in the educational process
2. Diligence and interest in this specific course.
3. Performance in the midterm written and oral tests, and the end of term evaluation tests (l.4610/2019)
4. The assignments prepared at home or ατ school.
5. The optional creative assignments of students on a voluntary basis.
6. The pupil’s portfolio which includes educational performance and activities. 
7. In particular, assessment of the students' performance in the school written, practical and oral tests during terms, includes questions that are phrased in a way the students are able to answer in time. Assessments take into account various elements such as:

•  The acquired knowledge of the student
• Comprehension of coginitve elements
• Ability to ctitically evaluate and draw conclusions
• Process, use and apply theoretical knowledge
• Data evaluation
• Complex thinking
• The ability of students to use their knowledge and skills together, in order to solve exercises and problems, and draw and produce conclusions.

The teacher submits the students' score to the school head.  First and second term results are recorded into the electronic system at the end of each term. Regarding the second term, results are recorded before the beginning of the written, graduation and degree examinations.

When results have been finalised and recorded, guardians/parents are updated on student performance, diligence, attendance and behaviour, and receive the individual progress report.

Written progress, graduation  and degree exams

The written progress, school-leaving (graduation) and degree exams at vocational upper secondary schools are carried out right after the end of the school year instruction time at the end of the second term by responsibility of the school head and teaching staff.  These are two-hour exams that concern subjects tested in written exams. Students are tested on their knowledge, skills, ability to integrate them in everyday life, combining and critical thinking, analysis and drawing conclusions and generally their progress acquired during the teaching year.

In EPALs, subject to assessment in the progress, school-leaving and degree exams is two third (2/3) of the total syllabus.  It is not possible to assess less than half of the syllabus.  Teachers are responsible for selecting and properly defining the syllabus content that will be assessed.  This content is then submitted to and approved by the school head.  It is announced to the students 5 working days before the beginning of the examinations.

Exam papers and test questions for progress and graduation exams per subject as well as for the respective exams of the special exam periods are produced by the respective teachers. The particular type of exam questions for each subject is specified in the syllabus during the school year in question. These questions are in accordance with questions from the school textbooks and the guidelines of the Institute of Educational Policy (IEP). Exam questions should cover the maximum possible syllabus range, testing a wide variety of learning outcomes and teaching goals, and should be of differentiated difficulty. (law 4610/2019).

Exam questions for student assessment and promotion to Grade A and Grade B  of the Day and Evening EPAL schools can be taken from the “Exam questions bank” which contains questions of variable difficulty, established by Ministerial Decisions   Φ4/116552/ΓΔ4/17-09-2021  and Φ4/141050/ΓΔ4/04-11-2021).

The above Ministerial Decisions also determine the "written examination" subjects, the examined material and assessment methods per subject.

Rating Scale

The rating scale for the calculation of pupil performance in all subjects is 0-20 bearing also verbal characterisations as follows:

The written and oral parts of progression, graduation and degree examinations are marked in whole numbers on a scale of 0 -100 and the final mark of the written part is reduced to a scale of 0-20 (mark may be decimal to one place).

Oral test results are administered in the form of whole numbers.  The average of the oral scores achieved during both terms is the total oral performance grade (may be decimal to one place) achieved for each subject, for the school term as a whole.

The annual performance score for each subject is the average of the annual oral performance and the respective written performance scores (may be decimal to one place).

Progress/graduation marks in day/evening epaggelmatiko lykeio (EPAL)

Progress marks ( for grades A and B) or graduation marks (for grade C of day and evening EPALs) are the product of the general average i.e. the average (may be decimal to one place) of the annual performance scores for all subjects except for physical education.

Graduating marks for EPAL

The school-leaving /graduation mark for the day and evening three-year EPAL, as distinguished from the 4^th optional year, which is the apprenticeship year, is the average of the annual performance in the specialisation subjects of grade C.

Minimum general average

At the end of the progress, and/or graduation and degree examinations, the school- teacher' board decides upon:

• The progression and the award of graduation degrees
• Students who have to re-sit examinations at the following special exam period or repetition of grade.

Progression of pupils/students

Students may progress to the next grade or graduate when the following requirements are met:

Grade A and B students with a general average less than 9,5 have to repeat exams (oral and written) held in the special exam period of June of the same year in the subjects in which their annual score is less than 9,5. The exams are both written and oral. Students are qualified to progress to the next year if their general average is at least 9,5. If no progress is made, during the special exam period of June, students have to repeat the same grade.

To achieve graduation, the average of annual performance scores for grade C specialisation subjects has to be a minimum of 9,5.  None of these annual performance scores must be less than 8.

Grade C students of day and three-year evening EPAL who are not qualified to graduate or receive a vocational degree, have to re-sit the special exams in June or September of the same school year.  In the special exams of June and September, they are examined (in writting and orally) in all subjects where their general average score was less than 9,5. Students with a general average score of at least 9,5 are qualified to graduate.

As regards laboroatory courses, students are examined (written and orally) by showing their skills in performaing a lab task. The school head decides upon the form of the exam, after the proposal by the instructors of the subject.  The test can have one specific form or be a combination of various tasks.

Grade A and B, students who fail in the exams of June have to repeat the grade.

Grade C day and three-year evening EPAL and grade D evening EPAL students who, after the results of the special exam period of September, are not qualified to graduate:

• Will either have to repeat the same grade, after making a personal statement, submitted by their guardians or themselves, when not under-age
• Or may sit on the next written or oral exam period of any school year and be examined orally or  take a written exam.

Sufficient attendance

Another necessary prerequisite for the progression or the graduation of pupils in all grades of the upper secondary schools is their adequate attendance during the relevant school year.

Attendance is characterised as adequate or inadequate, based on the total number of absences.  Absences are enumerated one per teaching hour and must not exceed 114 per school year (with some exceptions).

In the case of evening upper secondary schools, it is plus 16 absences.  This applies to other categories of schools, too (ministerial decision 79942/ΓΔ4/21-5-2019).

If a pupil exceeds the threshold, the pupil is required to repeat the grade, as attendance is deemed insufficient.

Progression, graduation and reference to the special exam period of June/September or repeat of the grade depends on the current legislation.  Parents are not allowed to be involved in this decision process.

Certification

Pupils successfully graduating from EPALS are awarded the epaggelmatiko lykeio (vocational upper secondary) graduation certificate, as well as a professional specialisation degree of a level 4 professional rights if they sit for the special written exams of their specialisation.  Graduates of the apprenticeship class are awarded a professional specialisation degree with level 5 professional rights.

The graduation certificate describes the pupil’s detailed grades per course during the school year, as well as their academic performace, which corresponds to the general average of the grades in the subjects part of the general graduation degree.  The certificate states the specialisation of the graduate, as well as the conduct and behaviour of the student throughout the school year. It also states the sector and the specialisation of the student.

The degree states the general degree of annual progress corresponding to the general average of the grades of the individual specialty courses of the 3rd grade.  At the same time and apart from the general degree, it also states the specialisation of the graduate.

The vocational lykeio graduation certificate, as well as the degree, are issued by the school unit from where the pupil graduated and constitute official state documents.  They also bear the signature of the school head, as well as the signatures of the document author and the members of the school- teacher board.
The lykeio graduation certificate and the degree are drafted after the issuance of the results for each year of graduation, on the basis of the relevant provisions that are valid for and applicable to all lykeia in the county.  They bear the emblem of the Hellenic Republic, the name and seal of the school unit issuing it, as well as that of the regional  primary and secondary education directorate and of the local secondary education directorate, under which the school falls, as well as a protocol number and a date.

With regard to their content, the graduation certificate and the degree bear the photograph of the pupil, whereas under the title of the school and the type of the studies degree there are the personal details of the pupil - based on the details mentioned in the ID card or the passport or the certificate of marital status of the pupil.  These personal details include their name and surname, father’s and mother’s name, date of birth, the municipal register number for boys, the municipality, the county, the school register number, date of birth.

Students with a vocational upper secondary school leaving certificate have the following opportunities:

• To enter tertiary education and non-tertiary schools of higher vocational education after taking the national exams (pan-hellenic exams)
• To enrol at vocational training institutes (IEK)
• To enrol at the apprenticeship class, which implements the dual education system.

The vocational lykeio graduation certificate gives students the ability to directly enter the labour market.