Organization of final exams
Tartu International School offers basic education, which is the mandatory minimum general education requirement and is acquired in grades 1 to 9 (ages 6 to 15). In order to receive a graduation certificate from TIS, the students will need to meet the following requirements: have passed the national curriculum to at least a satisfactory level; have carried out a creative project in the third stage of study; have passed three final exams (Estonian as a foreign language or as the mother tongue, mathematics, and one exam in a subject of the student’s choice). The students must decide in which subject they would like to take the third exam by 1st February, and a written application for this needs to be submitted to the principal of the school.
Final examination papers are prepared by the Estonian National Examination and Qualification Centre. The examinations are identical for all schools in Estonia and held simultaneously. Examinations take place in the first half of June. The examination papers are assessed by final examination committees at the schools. The examination centre analyses the quality of the scoring and provides feedback to randomly selected schools.
Children with special educational needs who have attended special coping classes and have completed their individual study programmes are issued a basic-school graduation certificate, which is decided by the teachers’ council.
The students receive their graduation certificates after their last exam, at a formal ceremony that takes place at school.
Exams in the school year 2024/2025
Estonian as a native language: written – 22nd April 2025;
Estonian as a foreign language level B1: written – 21st April 2025, speaking– 22th-24th April 2025;
Estonian as a foreign language, school-organized exam: written and oral – April 2025;
Mathematics: written – 7th May 2025;
Elective Exam: written (and oral if the exam is in a language subject), 12th-14th May 2025.
Estonian as a native language, Estonian as a foreign language (school-organized), Mathematics and the Elective exam are supervised by an examination board composed of our schoolteachers.
B1- and B2-level Estonian as a foreign language exams take place externally.
By 1st February the students will need to have written an application to the principal of TIS saying which elective exam they would like to take.
The graduation ceremony will take place in June 2025.
