Matura

Matura or its translated terms (Mature, Matur, Maturita, Maturità, Maturität, Maturité, Mатура) is a Latin name for the high-school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Ukraine.

It is taken by young adults (usually aged from 17 to 20) at the end of their secondary education, and generally must be passed in order to apply to a university or other institutions of higher education. Matura is a matriculation examination and can be compared to A-Level exams or Abitur.

The official name is Matura Shtetërore (State Matura) which was introduced in 2006 by the Ministry of Education and Science replacing the school based Provimet e Pjekurisë (Maturity Examination). The Matura is the obligatory exam one must pass after finishing the gjimnaz (secondary school) to have one's education formally recognized and to become eligible to enroll in universities. Vocational schools are part of the Matura with a somehow different exam structure.The Matura is a centralized affair, conducted by the AVA (Central Evaluation Agency) which is in charge of selecting tasks, appointing national examiners, grading the sheets; the MoES (Ministry of Education and Sports) does the general administration and logistics of the nationwide exams. A second Agency (APRIAL) modeled after the UK University & Colleges Admissions Service and the German Zentralstelle für die Vergabe von Studienplätzen is in charge for the admission to all Albanian (public so far) universities the applicants have applied for.

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