Assessment of the Tests

In the first stage of criterion-referenced assessment, the test performance is assessed preliminarily by a teacher from the candidate’s own general upper secondary school. In the assessment, the teacher makes use of the regulations of the Matriculation Examination and the preliminary test-specific features of a good answer. The subject sections have prepared these preliminary features of a good answer well in advance of the test date, at a time when candidates’ answers are not yet available.

The final checking and assessment of test performances is carried out by the Matriculation Examination Board (Act 502/2019, Section 18). Censors award points in accordance with the assessment criteria jointly decided by the Board and each subject section in the censors’ meeting. When the examination results are published, the final features of a good answer are also published, setting out the final assessment guidelines adopted at the censors’ meeting. When determining the scoring, account is taken of what each task is intended to measure and how the candidates’ competence is demonstrated. Any markings made by teachers or censors in the test performance, or the absence of such markings, are considered to be of a note-taking nature and therefore do not directly indicate how the assessing criteria have been applied to the test performance.  

In subjects where there are at most a few dozen test performances, one censor assesses all tests. Other censors are used only for quality assurance of assessment and for handling requests for administrative review. In larger subjects, there are several censors. The law requires that the division of work among the experts carrying out assessment be kept confidential for one year after the completion of assessment (Act on the Openness of Government Activities 621/1999, Section 24). A censor may not assess test performances from a general upper secondary school where they teach or of a candidate to whom they are related. 

Determining grades 

The Matriculation Examination Board determines the grade boundaries for each examination round after the assessment process has been completed. Grade boundaries are established on the basis of the scores achieved by regular candidates. Regular candidates are those taking the examination for the first time and completing the Matriculation Examination based on the general upper secondary school curriculum. Consequently, for example, the number of candidates retaking an examination and the scores they receive do not affect the grade boundaries.

The Board’s actuary calculates preliminary grade boundaries for each subject. Based on the actuary’s calculations, the Board’s committees determine the grade boundaries. The final approval of the grade boundaries is given by the plenary session of the Matriculation Examination Board.  

In determining grade boundaries, the Standardized Composite Score Mean (SCS mean) method is used in subjects where the score distribution allows for its application. In examinations with a small number of candidates or a highly skewed distribution, a criterion-referenced approach is used instead. In these cases, statistical analyses may still be used to support setting grade boundaries, but the boundaries are not directly based on those analyses.

Read more about the SCS mean method.

Ensuring the quality and consistency of assessment 

A substantial amount of standardisation work is carried out for the final assessment to enable different types of responses to be assessed consistently. The censors’ meeting has access to a wide range of responses, and further clarifications are made in the final assessment regarding typical merits and errors. As a result of these clarifications to the assessment guidelines, an individual candidate’s scores may increase or decrease compared with the preliminary assessment. Changes made during the censors’ meeting are one significant reason why candidates’ scores may differ between the preliminary and the final assessment.

Each censor is required to compare their own assessment with the preliminary assessment. The assessment service interface guides the censor to pay attention to situations where there is a discrepancy between the preliminary and the final scores. If the difference is large, the response is usually assessed by a second censor and, where necessary, by a third. The use of multiple censors forms part of quality assurance in assessment and improves consistency. The quality of assessment is also ensured, for example, through spot checks.

A decision by which a test performance has been assessed may be subject to administrative review by the examination board. See the instructions for submitting a request for administrative review.