The final mark in the A-levels: how to get 100

Since the last academic year, 2024–25, in order for a student to be admitted to the final examination, all the requirements listed in Article 13(2) of Legislative Decree 62/2017 must be met, including the requirement concerning the completion of school-work training activities carried out over the last three years. One of the changes introduced for the June examination concerns the composition of the examination boards: compared with previous years, the number of external and internal examiners has been reduced to two plus two for each class instead of three plus three, in addition to an external chairperson. As regards the grading bands for the awarding of marks, reference should be made to the table set out in Annex A to the ministerial regulations. The final mark for the school-leaving examination comprises an assessment of the student’s academic record and an assessment of their performance in the examination papers.

School credits are the mechanism through which a student’s academic progress is recognised. Specifically, during the final assessment, the class council takes into account the final three years of study, awarding credits at the end of each year up to a maximum of twelve, thirteen and fifteen respectively. Credits are awarded by taking into account the student’s average marks for each year of the course (third, fourth and fifth years) in accordance with Annex A. The provision contained in Law 150/2024 amended Article 15, paragraph 2-bis, of Legislative Decree 62/2017, stipulating that the highest mark within the band, awarded on the basis of the average marks, may be awarded if the conduct mark awarded is nine-tenths or higher.

School-work training activities contribute to the assessment of the subjects to which they relate and to the assessment of behaviour, thereby contributing to the calculation of the average mark and, consequently, to the award of academic credit. The criteria defined by the teaching staff for determining the final mark within the grading band, once the average has been established, also influence the awarding of academic credit. The maximum value for the course of study is forty points, and this forms the basis to which the marks for the three examination papers assessed by the examination board will be added.

The other change introduced for the examination relating to the 25/26 academic year concerns the format of the interview. Ministerial Order 54/2026 stipulates that the interview ‘begins with a brief reflection by the candidate on their academic and personal journey, taking into account the information contained in the student’s curriculum vitae. The interview continues with questions and in-depth discussion on the four subjects referred to in Article 1, paragraph 1, letter b), of Ministerial Decree 13/2026, with a view to highlighting the level of responsibility and maturity attained by the candidate’. In particular, the use of the interview starter material has been discontinued; this was the material around which the candidate used to construct a multidisciplinary pathway involving all the subjects for which the examination commissioners, both internal and external, were qualified.

The new structure of the interview has required changes to the national assessment grid, drawn up by the Ministry, which now comprises four indicators, each worth five points, rather than the five indicators into which the marks were divided up until the last academic year.