Maturità, the decree with the exam subjects for the oral and second written exam is coming. What changes from this year

In the coming days, the new legislation that has changed the state exam at the end of high school will come into force. It will go back to being called the 'maturity exam' and will have to go beyond the questioning of the various subjects. The first to test it will be the 500,000 or so fifth-year students who are anxiously awaiting to know the subjects of the oral and written examination. But let us proceed in order.

The new baccalaureate, according to the Ministry of Education and Merit, is not only a final check on the knowledge, skills and competences acquired, but also takes on an orientation function for the continuation of studies or entry into the world of work: it accompanies students in their future choices, helping them to evaluate with more awareness whether to continue their studies at university level, in Afam institutions or in the Its Academy, or to begin a professional career. The new name of the Pcto, i.e. school-to-work training, is also part of this orientation key.

With the new rules, therefore, from June 2026 the oral exam will be limited to four disciplines that MIM will choose in January together with the second written test, and the commissions will be mini: five members instead of seven, two of whom will be internal and two external like the president. As a result of a double change introduced in the committee, the endowment to be allocated to training courses for commissioners increases by 3 million in 2026 and 11 in 2027, and the bonus that can be awarded to candidates with marks of 90 and above (and no longer 97) becomes three points.

The planned interventions are quite incisive, as some key aspects of Legislative Decree 62/2017 are amended. Stop willful silence: the Matura is only valid by participating in all the tests, the two national written papers and the interview. Those who will voluntarily play dumb at the oral will fail. The aim is to avoid evasive strategies and to ensure that all candidates take the assessment seriously. Goodbye then to the knowledge assessment on all subjects. From now on there will be a focus on four characterising subjects, identified annually by the department in Viale Trastevere. The start of the interview for each candidate starting from the analysis of a material chosen by the commission is therefore eliminated, with the aim of encouraging discussion on the conceptual nodes characterising the various subjects and their interdisciplinary relationship, a method that had created uncertainty and excessive diversity in the conduct of the test.

The change aims to make the examination more focused and in-depth, with greater seriousness and serenity, avoiding the dispersiveness of an overly broad interview and focusing attention on an essential core of knowledge. The other disciplines do not disappear but remain assessed by means of the three-year school credit, creating a balanced system that combines the verification of the entire school career with a targeted in-depth examination of the most representative skills.