Pupils/Students assessment
Student assessment should be carried out throughout an entire semester by the teachers working with a particular class of students, regularly and for all subjects/ modules. For subjects, each semester includes periods dedicated to the consolidation and assessment of the competences acquired by students (formative assessment and summative assessment), which are determined by the teacher working with the class. For modules, summative assessment is provided at the end of each module. The period for consolidation and summative assessment is usually established at the end of a semester or at the end of a module, and teachers aim to:
improve the outcomes of the teaching – learning process
organise the knowledge acquired by students
stimulate the performance of low achieving students.
The assessment methods and tools are determined by teachers depending on their students’ psychological peculiarities and taking also into consideration the specificity of the subject/module. Assessment may be oral, written, based on practical activities, papers and projects, interviews, portfolios, as well as other tools developed by the teachers of the school (possibly in cooperation with the partner economic operators) and approved by the head teacher, or developed by the Ministry of Education and Research and the School Inspectorates.
In post-secondary non-tertiary education, students’ performance at each subject/module is assessed with marks from 1 to 10, corresponding largely to the following levels of achievement: from 1 to 4 – insufficient, from 5 to 7 – sufficient, from 7 to 9 – good, and from 9 to 10 – very good. Student assessment is conducted according to the Vocational Training Standards and the Curriculum approved by the Ministry of National Education.
The marks awarded by teachers after each assessment must be communicated and explained to students. Teachers have also the obligation to record the marks in the Class Book and in the students’ mark books, in the section corresponding to the subject/module and indicating the date of the assessment. The final average marks for each subject/module are recorded in the Class Book and in the students’ mark books at the end of each semester (upon the completion of a module respectively) and at the end of the school year. The final average mark for each subject/module is also recorded in the Enrolment Register of the school. The students’ official school data for the entire schooling period are those recorded in the Class Books and in the Enrolment Register – documents with a permanent archive regime at school level, and then in the State Archives.
The number of marks to be awarded to a student each semester for each subject must be at least equal to the number of hours per week stipulated by the Framework Curriculum. For subjects/modules with one hour per week, teachers must award at least two marks per semester/duration of a module to each student. At the end of each semester or upon the completion of a module and at the end of the school year, teachers have the obligation to conclude the final evaluation for every student for each subject/module. The conclusion of the final evaluation consists in calculating and recording the average mark for each subject/module (through rounding for semester average marks) in the school documents. The semester average mark is considered “legally established” if it is calculated based on the minimum number of marks stipulated by the Regulation for the Organisation and Functioning of School Education Establishments.
The class teacher has to calculate at the end of the school year the general average mark for the students who passed all subjects/modules as an arithmetic average without rounding of all final average marks awarded at all the subjects/modules. The annual general average mark is recorded in the Class Book, in the Enrolment Register of the school and in the students’ mark books. Following the consultation of the other teachers, the class teacher must award to each student a mark for conduct for each semester. Conduct marks lower than 7 are decided by the Teacher Council of the school.
Progression of pupils/students
In post-secondary non-tertiary education, students may progress from one grade to the next if they obtained for each subject/module studied in the course of the school year at least the final average mark 5 and at least the mark 6 for conduct. Students are declared postponed for a semester or for a school year if their final evaluation could not be concluded at one or more school subjects/modules for any of the following reasons:
they were absent, justifiably or unjustifiably, from at least 50% of the hours provided for those subjects/modules in a semester, and because of this they could not be assessed and their final evaluation could not be concluded
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 attended school, for a definite period of time, in other countries.
The students who have been declared postponed for the first semester may have their final evaluation concluded in the course of the first four weeks of the second semester. The final evaluation of the students who were postponed for the second semester or for the entire school year is concluded in a period determined by the governing body of the school, before the special examination period; the postponed students who do not pass may participate in the special examination session. The final evaluation of the students who have been postponed is completed according to the rules for special examinations.
Students who do not obtain at least the annual average mark 5 at a subject/module are declared failed at that subject/module. The students who failed no more than two subjects/modules may progress by taking the special examination organised at the end of the summer holiday, in a period decided by the Ministry of Education and Research. For the special examination, students must obligatorily prepare the entire subject matter provided for by the curriculum for that subject/module and that grade. The special examination is taken before a board, established by a decision of the head teacher of the school, composed of a chair and two examining members, one of the two being the teacher who taught the student concerned. Depending on the decision of the head teacher, the special examination is composed of two of the following three possible tests: an oral test, a written test, a practical test. In most cases, the combination used is oral test – written test, except for those subjects/modules which are mainly based on practical activities. The duration of the written test is 90 minutes, and students may choose between two examination topics. For the oral test, students draw randomly a note containing an examination topic from the variants prepared by the board. Students are allowed to change the note twice, with a corresponding decrease of the mark awarded. During the oral test, the students answer to the questions written on the note; teachers may formulate questions related to the topic.
Each teacher who is a member of the examination board independently awards one mark for each test, and calculates the final average round mark. The final mark of the special examination is the round arithmetic average of the final marks awarded by the teachers provided that the difference between the two marks is less than 1 point; if there are such differences, the chair of the board ensures the mediation between the two examining teachers. The final mark of the special examination is considered the final annual mark for that subject/module and is recorded in the school documents – the Class Book and the Enrolment Register. The students who do not pass the special examination at a single subject/module (the final average mark is lower than 5) may be re-examined before the beginning of the school year.
According to the legislation in force, the students who, at the end of the school year, are in one of the situations that follow are declared held back (grade retention): they obtained a final average mark lower than 5 at more than two subjects/modules; they obtained an annual average mark for conduct lower than 6 (lower than 7 in the pedagogical and theological high-schools); they failed and have not passed the special examination; they have been postponed and have not passed one subject/module at least neither in the session for the conclusion of their final evaluation, nor in the special examination session; they have been expelled and have the right to re-enrol – for this students, the school documents mention Held back through expelling with a right to re-enrol at the same school or other school. The students who have been held back may enrol for the grade they are repeating the next school year, at the same school or at other school within the limits set nfor the number of students per class stipulated by the National Education Law.
The students’ final evaluation at the end of semesters/upon the completion of modules and at the end 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, naming the students who passed, failed, were “held back” and those postponed. Although there is no explicit provision in the legislation to that effect, most schools organise intensive periods of remedial education during the summer holiday for the purpose of supporting the students who failed one or more subjects/modules.
At the end of the first semester and at the end of the school year, each school has the obligation to report the students’ statistical situation both to the County School Inspectorate and to the local branch of the National Institute of Statistics. The head teacher of the school must indicate the students’ final evaluation in the Head Teacher’s Semester and Annual Report. The statistical data are centralised by the National Institute of Statistics and by the Ministry of Education and Research and become a part of the Statistical Yearbook and of the Annual Evaluation Report of the Ministry of Education and Research.
Certification
The certification examination for a vocational education and training qualification for the graduates of post-secondary non-tertiary education consists of a practical test, a written test and the completion and presentation of a project.
The topics for the practical test for each qualification, as well as the assessment criteria are determined by the specialised methodological commission of the school/educational institution assigned as examination centre, with the consultation of partner enterprises/institutions for students’ practical training.
The topics for the written test are developed considering the Vocational Training Standard of each vocational education and training qualification, the units of learning outcomes/competences specific to a qualification.
The completion of the project must give to the candidates the possibility to present their achievement related to the use of the acquired competences in order to solve practical problems related to the organisation and application of technological processes, actions and activities in the field of the vocational education and training qualification, theoretical solutions to practical issues, solving case studies, etc.
The assessment of the practical test and of the project presentation in the framework of the qualification certification examination is ensured by a specialist teacher who guided the student’s practical training and the completion of the project for the certification examination, and by an external assessor, who can be a representative of an economic operator/public institution with which the school has concluded partnerships related to students’ practical training, or by a specialist teacher from other school.
For the written test, assessment is carried out by specialist teachers from other schools than those from which the candidates assigned to an examination centre come from, except when there is a single centre at county/Bucharest level for the qualification concerned.
The certificate is issued by the school and the graduates holding it have the right to exercise the profession indicated on it on the labour market.
The methodology for the certification of graduates of post-secondary education is regulated through the provisions of the Order of the National Education Minister no. 5005 of 2.12.2014 on the approval of the Methodology for the organisation o f the certification of the vocational education and training qualification for graduates of post-secondary non-tertiary education.
The EUROPASS Certificate Supplement for a Qualification Certificate is regulated by the Order of the National Education and Research Minister no. 3742 of 06.05.2016 on the approval of the model of the Descriptive Supplement to the Qualification Certificate/Vocational Qualification Certificate, EUROPASS.
For those graduates who not pass the examination, the school may issue, upon request, a certificate specifying the educational level completed and the qualification, mentioning clearly without certification examination.
Public post-secondary non-tertiary education is funded from the local budgets of the administrative-territorial units. It also may be funded by those who request this, natural or legal persons, through a contract concluded with the providing school.
The vocational education and training credits obtained in post-secondary education may be recognised by universities for those graduates who hold a Baccalaureate Diploma, based on a decision of the University Senate, as units of transferable credits for the Bachelor Degree level.