1 Pupil/Student assessment

2 Progression of pupils/students

3 Certification

Pupil/Student assessment

The general and specific rules for student assessment, the award of marks and progression are established in the Legea educației naționale nr.  1/2011, with its subsequent changes and additions, as well as in the subsequent legislation, namely the Regulation for the Organisation and Functioning of School Education Establishments (Ministerial Order 5447/2020).

The purpose of assessment is to guide learning and to optimize learning.Assessments are conducted based on the national assessment standards for each subject.

Assessment is centred on competences, provides real feedback to students, parents and teachers and underlies the individual learning plans. 

The assessment of school achievement takes place on a permanent basis, throughout the school year.  

In secondary education, the assessment results are expressed as marks from 1 to 10 (where 10 is the maximum mark). 

At the end of grade 6, all schools organise and conduct student assessment, called ”The National Assessment at the End of Grade 6” with two cross-disciplinary tests:

• A language and communication test. This includes Romanian and the first modern language. For students in classes where teaching is delivered in one of the minority languages, the test includes the mother tongue as well. 
• A mathematics and sciences test

For the school year 2019-2020 the National Assessment at the end og grade 6 was suspended due to COVID-19 restrictions, according to Ministry of Education and Research Order 4019/2020.

For school-based assessment the assessment tools are chosen based on the age and the psychological and pedagogical particularities of the students and on the specificity of each subject. These are: 

• oral questioning 
• tests, written works
• experiments and practical activities
• reports
• projects 
• practical tests
• other tools chosen by the methodological committees and approved by the head teacher or developed by the Ministry of  Education and Research/School Inspectorates in compliance with the national legislation. 

The assessment results are recorded in the class book, in blue ink, with the form: “Mark/Date”. The mark awarded by a teacher after each assessment must be communicated and explained to students. Teachers also have to record the students’ marks in their mark books, in the section dedicated to their subject and to indicate the date of the assessment.

The number of marks awarded to each student every semester, for each taught subject, excluding the mark at the written semester test paper (the thesis), must be at least equal to the weekly number of hours indicated in the Framework Curriculum. An exception is made for the subjects which are taught just one hour per week and for each the minimum number of marks is two. 

The subjects requiring written semester test papers  and  the periods when these test papers are taken, are determined through an Order of the Education Minister. The marks awarded to the written semester test paper  are analysed together with the students during a special lesson. They are recorded in the class book. The written semester test papers (theses) are kept in school by the end of the school year. 

At the end of each semester and of the school year, teachers will  conclude the students’ final evaluation, and to record it in the class book and in the students’ mark books.

The annual final average mark for each subject is registered in the School Records of each school. The students’ official school data for the entire period of their schooling are those recorded in the class books and in the School Records. Thesedocuments must be permanently kept first in the archive of the school, and then in the State Archives.

The class teacher, following a consultation with the other teachers of that class, must award to each student a mark for conduct every semester. Conduct marks lower than 6 (on the scale from 1 to 10) are decided by the Teacher Council of the school.

At the end of each school year the class teacher awards distinctions to the students who obtained the first three general average marks in that class of students and the average mark 10 for conduct.

Considering the results of continuous assessment, teachers may decide whether remedial education activities are necessary for the students with low achievement. 

The students who complete grade 8 participate in the National Evaluation at the end of grade 8, a national examination which is used as a summative assessment of competences acquired throughout lower secondary education. The results at the National Evaluation are recorded in the student’s educational portfolio. The organisation procedures, the timetable, the subjects assessed at the National Evaluation and the curricula on which the development of the assessment items is based are all decided by the Ministry of Education and Research through an Order of Minister. The average general mark obtained at the National Evaluation is one of the criteria for admission to public high-school education. 

Progression of pupils/students

In secondary education, students can progress from one grade to the next if they obtain at least a 5 for each subject and at least a 6 for conduct as a final mark.

The assessment results are used to develop students’ individualised learning plans and for a pre-decision regarding the future choice of a particular high-school. The assessment results and the individualised learning plans are communicated to parents and students and are recorded in the student’s educational portfolio.

For some students the final evaluation cannot be concluded at one or several subjects due to any of the reasons indicated below:

• They were absent, for a good reason or for no reason, from at least 50% of the hours in a semester. They had permission from the head teacher to miss classes during the period of their participation in festivals and professional, cultural-artistic and sport competitions, national and international.
• They benefitted from a scholarship recognised by the Ministry of Education and Research.
• They attended school, for a definite period, in other countries.

The final evaluation for these students will be postponed for a semester or for the entire school year.

The students who obtained an annual average below 5 for more than 2 subjects fail their year.

The re-examination covers the entire subject matter provided by the curriculum for a particular school subject and grade. The re-examination is taken before a board appointed through a decision of the school head teacher, made of a chair and two members.   One of the two members is the teacher of the student concerned.

Depending on the decision of the head teacher, the re-examination includes two of the following three possible tests:

• an oral test - students draw a note with an examination variant from the variants prepared by the examination board. Students are allowed to change the note twice, with a corresponding decrease of the awarded mark. During the oral test, the students answer to the questions written on the note; teachers may ask additional questions related to the topic. 
• a written test - the duration is 90 minutes, and students may choose between two examination topics.
• a practical test.

In most cases, the combination used is oral test – written test. An exeption is made for those subjects which are mainly based on practical activities ( area curricular Technologies).

Each teacher who is a member of the examination board independently awards one mark for each test. . The final mark of the re-examination is the round arithmetic average of the final marks awarded by the teachers. The final mark of the re-examination is considered the final annual mark for that subject and is recorded in the class book and the school records. The students who do not pass the re-examination at a single subject  may be re-examined again before the beginning of the school year – based on a request made by the parents and the approval of the head teacher.

At the end of the school year, some of the students will have to repeat a year (grade retention):

• the students who obtained a final average mark of less than 5 at more than two subjects
• the students who obtained an annual average mark for behaviour of  less than 6
• the students who failed and did not pass the re-examination; the postponed students who did not pass the (re) examination the expelled students, who have the right to re-enrol.

The students who are “held back” may register for the appropriate grade in the next school year, with the same school or with other school. 

In compulsory education, individuals who are by more than 2 years older than the regular  age of a specific grade are considered to be in a drop out situation. For them, other forms of compulsory education may be organised – evening classes, part time education, and distance education. The Ministry of Education and Research may also approve the organisation of courses for individuals aged more than 14 who have not completed compulsory primary as “second chance education”.  

The students’ final evaluation at the end of semesters and of the school year is validated by the Teacher Council. The secretary of the Teacher Council indicates in a report the students’ final evaluation for each class of students. There are named the students who passed, those who failed, those who were “held back” and those were postponed. The final evaluation of the students who failed, “were held back” and postponed is communicated in writing to their parents. ; Parents must also be informed about the period when the re-examination takes place. Although there is no explicit provision in the legislation to that effect, most schools organise intensive periods of remedial education in the summer holiday. 

Progression from lower secondary education to high-school education or vocational/dual vocational education takes place based on a process of counselling and academic and professional guidance. 

The general and specific rules for student assessment, the award of marks and progression are established in the Framework Regulation for the Organisation and Functioning of School Education Establishments (Order of Minister 5447/2020) and by the Orders of the National Education Minister concerning the final examinations.

Certification

All students who complete lower secondary education receive a completion certificate and the transcript of marks, which is a part of the educational portfolio. The transcript is issued by the school and lists all the subjects studied in grades 5 - 8 with the corresponding annual average marks, as well as the general annual average marks for each grade.

For the students who do not continue their education in the same school, the transcript is obligatorily sent to the school where each student moves to.