Bagrut

Te'udat Bagrut (Hebrew: תעודת בגרות‎) is the official Israeli matriculation certificate attesting to graduation from high school. Bagrut is a prerequisite for higher education in Israel. A Bagrut certificate is awarded to students who pass the required written (and in some cases oral) examinations with a passing mark (56% or higher) in each exam.

Overview

Bagrut examinations assess knowledge on subjects studied in high school. They are frequently compared to the New York State Regents' Exams and ETS Advanced Placement (AP) tests. Bagrut scores are one of the criteria examined in applications to elite military units and Israeli academic institutions.

Bagrut scores represent an average of the test score and the grade received on that subject in school. .

The process of matriculation in Israel is supervised by the country's Ministry of Education. The exams of all compulsory subjects and most elective subjects are designed and written by the Ministry, thereby creating a standard measure of the students' knowledge throughout the country. In academically oriented high schools, the last two years of studies are geared to preparing students for the bagrut exams.

Bagrut exam sheet

Compulsory subjects

• Tanakh or the Scriptures of Christianity or Islam, in the relevant sectors of the population
• Language
  • Hebrew or Arabic grammar
  • Hebrew or Arabic composition
• English language (written and oral)
• Mathematics
• Knowledge of the nation and state
  • Civics and Minorities studies
  • History of the Jewish People
• World History
• Hebrew/Arab and world literature
• At least one elective, such as geography, physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, Arabic, French, social sciences etc.
• Physical Education (only for students who studied in a traditional high-school setting, i.e. not those studying under the "external" track)

In most subjects, students may choose the number of units in which they are tested. In order to receive a "full" matriculation certificate, the student must take and pass at least one subject matter exam at the 5-unit level of difficulty and earn a total of at least 21 combined study units in all bagrut exams taken. Correspondingly, the make up of a student's classes during his or her high school years is matched to the student's expected units of study they will test in their bagrut exams. So for example, a student who is planning to take the 5-unit mathematics exam will take mathematics courses specifically designed for a 5-unit level of difficulty all throughout their high school career.

History

A copy of the 2010 mathematics exam (in the four and five units levels) was leaked to students, but a teacher reported it to authorities and all tests were replaced.

In 2011, the percentage of 17-year-olds who passed the matriculation exams rose to 48.3 percent and the number of students sitting for the exams in both the Jewish and the Arab school systems increased.

Christian Arabs tend to have had the highest rates of success in the matriculation examinations (Bagrut), both in comparison to the Muslims and the Druze and in comparison to all students in the Jewish education system.

See also

• Education in Israel
• Psychometric Entrance Test